Stillwater, Okla. ? Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy had enough trouble convincing All-American receiver Justin Blackmon he wasn’t going to get to play again after taking a shot to the head.

He’s hoping he won’t have the same problem a week later.

Gundy said he believes Blackmon will be able to play for the third-ranked Cowboys against Baylor (4-2, 1-2 Big 12) today after he was held out of the second half of last week’s victory at Missouri. Oklahoma State (7-0, 4-0) will already be without another starting receiver after Hubert Anyiam suffered a season-ending foot injury a week ago.

Gundy said Blackmon, the nation’s top receiver last season, probably could have played after he took a blow to the head and started experiencing headaches last week. He stopped short of saying whether Blackmon had a concussion.

“Back when I played, they didn’t know what it was. They just put you back out there and you were OK one way or the other, which I think is wrong because nobody knew what they were back then,” Gundy said. “Precautionary measures are taken now for all the right reasons.”

Gundy said Blackmon was eager to get back into the Missouri game and he considered taking away the Biletnikoff Award winner’s helmet to make sure he didn’t go back in.

“Whether we’d like to admit it or not, some of those players that are really, really good, they’re put together differently than normal people,” Gundy said. “They don’t think the same way. You just look at the history of the game. There’s very few of those really good players that are just normal like we are.”

The Cowboys’ offense kept clicking without Blackmon and Anyiam, but the running game became the major focus. After attempting passes on 37 of 46 first-half plays — including 24 straight at one point — Oklahoma State tried more rushes than passes in the second half.

Still, Gundy said he has confidence in Isaiah Anderson, Michael Harrison and other backups who’ll play a bigger role with Anyiam out — and even more if Blackmon doesn’t play.

“They’re guys that have been around our program and understand, and now they have to step up and make more plays,” Gundy said. “We’ve been fortunate here for the last few years that whenever we turn it over to them and say, ‘You’re the guy,’ that they’ve stepped up and played pretty well.”

The Cowboys rank second in the nation in passing (387 ypg) and scoring (48.6 ppg) and third in total offense (549 ypg). They will be facing another attack that ranks near the top.

Robert Griffin III is the Bowl Subdivision’s most efficient passer and he leads the way for a group that ranks just ahead of Oklahoma State in total offense (550 ypg) and sits sixth in scoring (44.3 ppg) and seventh in passing (341 ypg).

For both teams, defense will be at a premium.

“If they stop them, we’ve got to go score. If they don’t stop them, we’ve got to go score. So it doesn’t change our job on offense,” Griffin said. “We know we can put up points in a hurry and that’s what we’re looking to do.”