Oklahoma State Must Start Fast in Waco; A Look at the Recent History

Oklahoma State goes on the road Saturday for their first road game of the season as they take on No. 16 Baylor in Waco. The Cowboys (2-1) face the highest ranked team in the conference in the Bears (3-0), who have outscored their opponents 133-30 in their first three games of the Jim Grobe era. Baylor has done it against non-Power five foes like Northwestern State, SMU, and Rice.

A surprising trend has emerged early this season for the Bears, and not one you might expect. Despite putting up video game numbers in the final box score, they’re not doing it out of the gates. Through the last two games against Rice and SMU, they have put up zero (0) points in the first quarter. The sluggish starts are something that is on head coach Jim Grobe’s radar going into this weekend.

“We’ve played pretty good overall, Grobe said in his weekly press conference. “But with the Big 12 games getting cranked up, we’d like to get started faster, no question.”

And for this matchup in recent history, the fortune favors the team who jumps out early. In the past 10 years since 2006, the team who has scored the most points at halftime has gone on to win the game. In 2015, Baylor jumped out to a 24-14 lead at half and went on to win 45-35. And in 2014, the Cowboys gave up a dreadful 21 points in the first quarter and trailed 28-14 at half — they went on to lose 49-28. That is the largest margin of victory for the Bears in the all-time series.

Oklahoma State has started well in each game this season, putting up 31 at half against Pitt, 17 against Central Michigan, and 31 against SE Louisiana. And for OSU to have a shot this weekend, they’ll need to get out to a fast start in Waco and continue that trend in their first road game of the season in primetime.