Oklahoma State football manhandled Texas Tech on Saturday night in Lubbock, stymying the Red Raiders in every way possible in a 23-0 win.
The Cowboys (10-1, 7-1) clinched their first-ever berth in the Big 12 championship game and will now face their top rival, Oklahoma, in the annual Bedlam series this upcoming Saturday. The Red Raiders (6-5, 3-5) will try to pick up the pieces a week after a 41-38 confidence-boosting victory against Iowa State that saw a 62-yard field goal as time expired.
Mike Gundy and OSU lost in their last trip to Lubbock in 2019 by a score of 45-35, but this year’s Cowboys squad seemed undaunted by the large crowd and the flying tortillas on Saturday night. The Cowboys gained 427 total yards behind quarterback Spencer Sanders, who threw for 239 yards and a touchdown.
Here are the best statistics that demonstrate OSU’s dominance of Texas Tech in Week 12 of the 2021 season:
5. Spencer Sanders rushed for more than the entire Texas Tech team.
OSU’s quarterback made good decisions for the most of the night, even if his passing accuracy (only completing 19-of-37 throws) was a bit off at times. He rushed for 48 yards, which was nearly twice as much as the entire Red Raiders team (25 yards) gained.
OSU’s run defense was its normally solid self — the Cowboys rank fourth in the nation in allowing only 85.8 yards per game.
4. OSU hadn’t shut out a Big 12 opponent since 1995.
OSU’s 23-0 win against the Red Raiders was a program first in 26 years — a shutout of a conference opponent, the first in OSU’s time in the renamed Big 12 Conference.
The 1995 OSU Cowboys squad was under first-year head coach Bob Simmons and limped to a 3-8 regular-season record before a season-ending trip to Hawaii (which also resulted in a win).
OU, on the other hand, was in its first and only season under Howard Schnellenberger. Seems that getting shut out against a rival that you normally beat isn’t a good way to keep your new job, especially considering that the Sooners hadn’t lost a Bedlam game before this one in 18 previous seasons.