“We really emphasize third downs in practice and I think that’s one of the things that has helped us come out on the field and convert,” Osborn said. “(Offensive coordinator Adam Dorrel) had done a great job. He puts a lot of pressure on us in practice, and I think it makes things a lot easier in games.”

Northwest receiver Kendall Wright caught a career-high 11 passes for 157 yards

“Wright caught five of (the third-down conversions), all for eight yards or more ... they just out-executed us.,” Broyles said. “I would think if there is (21,316) people, all but maybe four of our guys on the field knew who was going to get the ball thrown to them. Everybody else knew.”

Osborn was sparkling in dissecting the Gorilla defense with mid-range passes. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound senior completed 21 of his 28 passes, including a 21-yard scramble-and-heave scoring strike to Nick Rhodes. His only real mistakes — a pair of third-quarter interceptions on back-to-back possessions — resulted in just three Pittsburg State points.

“It was kind of disappointing that we didn’t get more points,” Broyles said. “All in all they were a lot better team today than we were. They out-executed us.”

The Bearcats were dominant early, especially on defense.

Northwest held the Gorillas to just 35 yards of offense before Pitt State put together a 70-yard scoring drive on its final first-half possession.

The Gorillas went three-and-out on their first two drives before the Bearcats matched 71 yards on 12 plays, taking a 7-0 lead on Council’s 6-yard run.

Marcus Martin and Evan Wilmes sacked Smith on fourth down to end Pitt State’s next drive and, seven plays later, the Bearcats had a 14-0 lead.

“We kind of knew what they were going to do,” Smith said. “We just didn’t come out in the first half and execute. We got behind and we were just playing catch up from then on.”

The Gorillas fell behind 21-0 before Smith led a six-play, 70-yard drive and found Harrison Kush for a seven-yard touchdown with 1:45 to play in the first half.

Pitt State cut it to 21-10 with Jared Witter’s 32-yard field goal late in the third quarter, but that was all the offense the Gorillas could muster.

“This isn’t what you dream of all week and coming into your senior year,” Smith said. “You want this to be a big game, but we just didn’t play like we should have or how we’re capable. We just have to win the next five and hopefully we’ll see them in the playoffs.”