WACO, Texas (AP) — Sawyer Robertson had three touchdown passes and ran for another score, helping Baylor end an eight-game home losing streak in Big 12 games with a 38-28 victory over Oklahoma State on Saturday.
Robertson and three other players combined for 345 yards rushing a week after the Bears (4-4, 2-3 Big 12) ended an eight-game overall conference losing streak with a blowout of Texas Tech in Lubbock.
The victory, which came on homecoming, was the first in the Big 12 for Baylor at McLane Stadium since a 35-23 win over Kansas on Oct. 22, 2022. The Bears had their first 300-yard rushing game in three years.
“The step today was, man, we won a game, there’s all the pressure of trying to win games,” Baylor coach Dave Aranda said. “Everybody understands the situation here. … I think we’ve got some things to build on after this step that we took.”
Oklahoma State (3-5, 0-5), which is on a five-game losing streak for the first time since 2014, pulled within 31-28 with five minutes remaining on the second of Ollie Gordon II's two rushing touchdowns. Gordon finished with 77 yards.
Dawson Pendergrass answered with a 55-yard touchdown run, bouncing off several tacklers on the biggest of his six carries for 142 yards with two TDs.
“I told the team that we were not disciplined today,” Cowboys coach Mike Gundy said. “We had 84 yards in penalties, which is not like us. I felt like we missed opportunities.”
Bryson Washington had 78 yards rushing, Robertson finished with 73 on the ground with a 41-yard TD and Richard Reese added 52.
Robertson was 11 of 19 passing for 222 yards with an interception. His touchdown tosses were 12 yards to Hal Presley, 1 yard to Matthew Klopfenstein and 33 yards to Ashtyn Hawkins, who led Baylor with 74 yards receiving.
“This week, it was honestly really good to win a close game, because it’s something (that) hasn’t happened in a while,” Robertson said. “The team is starting to gel. We’re not done yet.”
Oklahoma State receiver Brennan Presley had 183 yards on 15 catches, both just shy of his career highs. Presley hauled in a 33-yard TD catch from quarterback Alan Bowman, who completed 28 of 42 passes for 359 yards with the touchdown and an interception.
Oklahoma State: Since that five-game skid a decade ago, the Cowboys have had 13 winning streaks of at least four games. They had lost three in a row only twice in that span before their current streak. Oklahoma State entered the season ranked No. 17 and was 13th entering Big 12 play.
Baylor: The Bears have won consecutive games for the first time since that 2022 home victory against Kansas was followed by road wins at Texas Tech and Oklahoma. The embattled Aranda has a chance to build late-season momentum and a case for returning in 2025.
Oklahoma State is home to take on Arizona State next Saturday night.
Baylor is home to take on TCU on Saturday night.
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