Next to Iowa State, Baylor is the conference opponent Oklahoma football has had its most success against all-time, and the Bears will be in Norman on Saturday for the Sooner’s fourth home game of the 2018 season.
Oklahoma and Baylor have played a total of 27 times down through the years and 22 times as members of the Big 12. The Sooners are 24-3 all-time against Baylor and 19-3 as members of the Big 12. Moreover, OU was 20-0 against Baylor before the Bears defeated the Sooners for the first time, in 2011. Since that time, Oklahoma owns a 4-2 record over Baylor.
Baylor’s only victories in the series came between 2011 and 2014 during the time Heisman-winner Robert Griffin III and Bryce Petty were the Baylor quarterbacks), when the Bears defeated the Sooners in three out of four games. Since then, however, Oklahoma has won the last three meetings between the two teams.
Coming off a game in which they received a giant scare from Army and had to go to overtime to preserve their unbeaten record, the Sooners are probably happy to see Baylor coming in as the next opponent, but OU better not get too comfortable because the Baylor offense is a lot better than Army’s and considerably more balanced, which is a lot tougher to defend.
Baylor, which comes into the Oklahoma game with a 3-1 record, ranks 28th in the nation, averaging 486.8 yards of offense per game and 7.00 yards per play. The Bears defeated Kansas last Saturday 26-7. Their lone loss was to Duke, 40-27. In its three wins, Baylor’s average margin of victory has been 19 points.
Here are some more numbers to help prepare Sooner fans what to expect when Baylor comes calling on Saturday:
6-5 — Baylor’s record since 2011 against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 10.
13 — Baylor has scored all 13 times it has reached the Red Zone on offense this season, and 10 of the 13 times have resulted in touchdowns.
26 of 27 – Oklahoma has ranked in the top 10 in 26 of the last 27 Associated Press college football polls.
33 — Tackles for loss by the Oklahoma defense through four games (8.3 average per game). That ranks 18th nationally. Last season OU averaged 5.4 tackles for loss per game.
60 — Oklahoma ranks second nationally and is first among FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) teams with four plays of 60 or more yards this season. The Sooners also lead the Big 12 in plays of at least 50 yards (8).
71.6 — In 11 games at quarterback for Oklahoma, five of them starts, Kyler Murray has completed 71.6 percent of his pass attempts (78 of 101) for 1,387 yards and 14 touchdowns.
109-10 — Oklahoma’s home record at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium since the beginning of the 1999 season.
500 — The Oklahoma offense has produced at least 500 yards of offense in 31 of the 44 games, including 21 of the last 28, since the beginning of the 2015 season (when Lincoln Riley arrived in Norman as offensive coordinator)
Statistical information for this article was extracted, in part, from the Oklahoma Football Game Notes for the Baylor game on Sept. 29.