Oklahoma football: Storylines for another pivotal Big 12 game with Baylor

The Oklahoma football team is back on home on Saturday with the opportunity to turn a two-game winning streak into three games but with a big challenge facing a very good Baylor Bears team.

The last time these two teams met, a year ago in Waco, it was No. 4 and undefeated Oklahoma, at 9-0, going up against once-beaten and 18th-ranked Baylor (7-2) in what might have been an elimination game for Baylor in terms of a potential spot in the Big 12 Championship.

In 2021, coming into the showdown with Baylor, the Bears had already lost two Big 12 games (to Oklahoma State 24-14 and to TCU, 30-28, the week before the OU game). The Sooners meanwhile came to Waco with a perfect 6-0 record and a chance to effectively eliminate Baylor by handing the Bears a third conference loss.

The 2021 game was tied 7-7 at halftime and remained close entering the final quarter with Baylor clinging to a 10-7 advantage. The Bears scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and then tacked on a controversial field goal with no time remaining on the game clock to pull out a 27-14 win. Baylor went on to win its final two regular-season games and then edge favored Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship game to win its second conference crown but first outright.

That brings up almost 365 days forward to Saturday’s game at the Palace on the Prairie. Neither team is ranked this year, although both teams began the season in the Associated Press Top 25.

Oklahoma was the AP preseason No. 9 team, with Baylor right behind at No. 10. Eight games into the season, both teams sport 5-3 overall records, although the Bears are a game up on the Sooners in Big 12 play with a 3-2 conference record. OU stands 2-3 in Big 12 action after losing its first three conference games.

Here are five main storylines associated with OU vs. Baylor on Saturday:

• Baylor wants to run the football and stop the run on defense. The Bears average 201.5 yards rushing and have been running the ball very well in recent games with freshman Richard Reese averaging nearly 160 yards a game in his last two. The Sooners rank 114th in the country against rushing offenses. The Sooners also like to run the football (16th best among FBS teams), but this will be a huge challenge against an elite Baylor defensive front that ranks 22nd in the nation in rushing defense. Keep an eye on OU’s Eric Gray and Baylor’s Reese, two of the best running backs in the Big 12. Gray’s 6.8 yards per carry average leads the Big 12 and ranks seventh nationally.
• Baylor’s three losses this season have been by a total of 20 points. By comparison, Oklahoma’s three losses have been by 87 points.
• The teams have two common opponents this season: Kansas and Iowa State. Baylor defeated Kansas 35-23 in Waco; OU defeated Kansas 52-42 in Norman. Baylor won 31-24 at Iowa State; the Sooners defeated the Cyclones 27-13 a week ago in Ames.
• Oklahoma and Baylor played 13 times while Brent Venables was an assistant under Bob Stoops at OU. The Sooners were 12-1 in those games and in nine of the games, the OU defense held Baylor to 17 or fewer points.
• In the three seasons Dave Aranda has been the head coach at Baylor, when an opponent scores 20 or more points, Baylor is 9-12. When Baylor leads at halftime, the Bears are 5-1 this season and 16-3 under Aranda.