It’s not an unusual theme for the Oklahoma vs. Baylor game to be a matchup between a team gunning for a shot at the national championship versus a very good team hoping to stay relevant.
But the 2013 showdown this Thursday has new roles for the two participants.
Baylor is the team with BCS title aspirations, while a loss to Texas has Oklahoma looking for the best bowl bid possible.
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said that Baylor’s high-powered offense is a challenge that he hopes his squad is ready to handle. The Sooners finished the 2012 season giving up big yards to West Virginia and Oklahoma State to end the conference season and then to Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl. This past offseason, Stoops revamped the defense to include five defensive backs and only three down linemen. He hopes the warm-up against Texas Tech in a victory on Oct. 26 was good preparation.
“We did it for most of the teams we see in our league,” Stoops said of the alteration of the defense. “We just saw it with Tech, and Baylor is also a part of that. We felt it gave us more versatility. It played to our strengths better, and it put more speed on the field. Hopefully, it will continue to help us.”
Baylor leads the nation in total offense and passing offense, precipitating the extra defensive back. But the Bears also can run the ball. They are seventh in the country in rushing yards per game, led by Lache Seastrunk, who is averaging better than 124 yards per game.
“At the end of the day, there’s only so much you can do,” Stoops said. “You have to be able to play. You’ve got to be able to cover them out there, and you’ve got to be able to stop the run game with what’s left in here.”
NOTES, QUOTES
–Bob Stoops stands just one win behind Barry Switzer all-time at Oklahoma. He is 156-38-0 in 14-plus seasons. Switzer was 157-29-4 from 1973-1988.
–Baylor is 17-1 dating back to the beginning of 2011. The only loss was a 49-21 loss to TCU last October.
–No Big 12 team has more wins against a conference opponent than Oklahoma’s 13 wins against Baylor.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
–QB Blake Bell probably can’t outplay Baylor’s Bryce Petty, so he should focus on running the offense according to plan. The Sooners do not have a smash-mouth offense either, but the best way to keep Petty and the Bears’ offense from scoring is to keep them off the field.
–RB Brennan Clay will not have his lead blocker, Trey Millard, who tore his left ACL in the victory over Texas Tech. Clay will have to find his own holes in the Baylor defense.
–DB Aaron Colvin and his mates in the secondary will need a big game to contain the Baylor passing game. Originally a question mark at the beginning of the season because of inexperience, the OU secondary is now a strength. This will be the biggest test so far.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “I know the stresses of it. Not that it can prevent it, but I’m checked by my doctor routinely and monitored, even cholesterol. I’ve got a lot of issues that I’ve got to manage. I think everybody should. That’s the one positive thing about coaching — we’re around great medical teams. So use them to make sure you’re in as good a position as you can be. It still doesn’t mean you can prevent anything, but hopefully you lessen your percentage.” — Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops on dealing with the stresses of coaching after two NFL coaches suffered health issues over the weekend.