No. 9 Oklahoma State is in full control of their own destiny in terms of getting a spot in the Big 12 Championship game and a possible invitation to the College Football Playoff.

The Cowboys (9-1, 6-1) are playing their best football at just the right time. They blasted TCU 63-17 Saturday. That win coupled with Baylor’s upset of No. 12 Oklahoma put OSU in a tie with OU atop the Big 12. Every other Big 12 team has at least two league losses.

OSU will travel to Lubbock, Texas, Saturday at 7 p.m. to play Texas Tech on Fox. Texas Tech (6-4, 3-4) upset Iowa State 41-38 Saturday in Lubbock.

If OSU beats Texas Tech and loses the Bedlam game, they will still go to the Big 12 title game because they beat Baylor earlier this year. If OSU loses to both Texas Tech and OU and Baylor and OU both win their last two games, OSU would be left out.

But if OSU beats Texas Tech and OU and then OSU wins the Big 12 Championship, the Cowboys could get into the playoff.

That victory march got a big boost with the win over TCU (4-6, 2-5 Big 12).

“I was proud of our guys,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said after the game. “I told them afterwards that it’s just fun for me to be along for the ride and be the coach and watch these guys practice during the week. Their focus, their discipline, their toughness, their willingness to exert themselves during the week and just play hard. They have a smile on their faces, they compete, they like each other. It’s a lot of fun for us as a coaching staff.”

OSU running back Jaylen Warren ran for three touchdowns and racked up 103 yards only 14 carries against TCU.

“I think we can go downhill and run the football whenever we want to essentially and be able to rotate guys through,” Dunn said. “Being fresh. So obviously Jaylen is a great running back and he’s our guy but if he has to come out for a series or two or play or whatever we just put the next guy in and it the next guy up. Dezmon has been through a bunch of battles and Dominic has been through a bunch of battles and those guys have all collected 100-yard games.”

“Mike (Gundy) and Oklahoma State’s got a really great football team, I think that’s very evident…” said TCU interim coach Jerry Kill. “They’ve got all the formulas to go a long, long way and they out-physicaled and out played us, out coached us. There’s not a whole lot to say when you get beat like that and I’ve been in the business a long time.

“That’s the most complete team we’ve faced this season, without a doubt. No disrespect to Baylor or anybody else we’ve played, OU and so forth, but nobody that physical. That comes with when you run the ball like that, you become a physical football team on both sides.”

OSU won the war of the trenches.

“We just blocked – we were physical,” Gundy said.

Former Oklahoma State running back Barry Sanders was honored Saturday. A 9-foot bronze statue of the 1988 Heisman Trophy winner was unveiled outside of Oklahoma State’s Boone Pickens Stadium before the game. Former Oklahoma State coach Pat Jones was among the speakers.

At halftime, Sanders’ name and No. 21 jersey number were put in the Cowboy Football Ring of Honor inside the stadium.

“This day was for the greatest college running back ever,” Gundy said. “I don’t think that’s even up for debate.”

But it wasn’t just the running game that the Cowboys dominated.

“We were good in all three phases,” Gundy said. “I don’t really need to get into statistics or all that… I was just proud of our guys. We were able to get a number of young players in the game, and they performed well.

“We had a couple of mistakes… but for the most part, those guys that played in the game in the end have had as many reps as the ones have had dating back to last year so that’s why they could go out and play well and stop them and go downfield and score. I’m proud of those guys and proud of everyone in the organization. It was a good night for us.”

Young players are getting valuable experience.

“When the younger guys came in and like Coach Gundy was talking about we’re practicing our twos and threes a lot so when they get in they can function,” Dunn said. “And they did a nice job of trying to close the game.”

OSU quarterback Spencer Sanders efficiently led the offense.

“He made good decisions and as best I remember most of his throws were pretty accurate,” Gundy said. “I didn’t hear anybody on the headsets concerned with his reads so obviously he must have played pretty well. Sometimes the other team gets a chance to call good plays and make good plays too so everything is not going to work so at the position he’s playing, second-and-10 is a lot better than trying to force something and give the other team an advantage. He was good at that tonight.”

Sanders sees momentum in the offense.

“I think they played great,” said Sanders. “The offensive line blocked well. We’ve got a couple guys that are replacing some other guys that are hurt right now, but the offensive line just really dominated up front today, and that really helped our backs. And, our backs made a couple guys miss and made some wonderful plays.

“I feel like we just keep getting better every week. The offensive line is blocking their tail off like I said, and they handled the line of scrimmage today… Obviously, the running backs ran well. The receivers caught the ball today. We just executed.”

The OSU defense started slow but built momentum.

“We gave up a few more big plays, explosive plays than we would like,” said OSU defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. “They presented a lot of different formations early on. They did a good job of mixing it up so it took us a second to catch our breath. We have a lot of great veterans and we can adjust. We go in at halftime and make adjustments and we started off the second half with two TFL’s so that kind of set the tone.”

OSU’s red zone defense has been effective.

“I think it’s the fact that they can respond to my calls so quickly,” Knowles said. “Every game you go into it with a game plan but the other team has a game plan so they’re going to really start out with some things you maybe haven’t seen before. There is no lag time with our guys. If I make a different call, they can adjust to what they’re doing and they respond.”

Gundy’s focus with his team now is on Texas Tech.

“I spend my time stressing to them the importance of what tomorrow brings and what’s got them here,” he said. “What’s got them to this point is their focus, their discipline, their toughness and staying the course. And it’s just so difficult in the world today with social media and the outside people who now are going to tell him how great they are and more than ever for them to stay focused.”