In their own words: Oklahoma players, coaches break down 27-14 win over Baylor
Well, it wasn't pretty.
But the Sooners did what they needed to do to get back to Arlington.
With a 27-14 victory over Baylor on Saturday night, Oklahoma earned the right to defend its Big 12 championship at AT&T Stadium, a prospect that seemed like a pipe dream a matter of weeks ago. Though Spencer Rattler and the offense struggled to find their groove against the Bears, a depleted Sooners defense turned in a near-perfect performance on a cold night at Owen Field. Theo Wease grabbed five catches for 66 yards and a touchdown, while D.J. Graham snagged his first career interception. A fourth-quarter touchdown strike from Rattler to Brayden Willis put the final nail in Baylor's coffin, and Oklahoma emerged victorious in their 2020 home finale.
Here's what the Sooners' players and coaches had to say in the aftermath.
Spencer Rattler celebrates a Rhamondre Stevenson touchdown run.
Photo: Bryan Terry / The Oklahoman
Lincoln Riley took the blame for Oklahoma's inability to move the ball, saying that "our guys weren't coached worth a damn this week." The Sooners logged just 269 total yards, and failed to reach the 28-point threshold for the first time since a 45-24 loss to Ohio State in September 2016.
"I went more the conservative route this week, thinking we gotta get these guys to the game. Poor job by me. Poor things we did schematically. Then combination of taking five days off, probably all that was why the performance was what it was tonight. It was not a good plan by me. ... I didn’t do a very good job in any part of my responsibilities offensively, and didn’t set our guys up for much success at all."
Nevertheless, where the offense fell short, the defense picked up the slack. Alex Grinch and company stifled Charlie Brewer and the Baylor offense all night, and the Sooners' 27 points proved to be more than enough. Oklahoma led 10-0 at halftime, and a meaningless touchdown run from Brewer in the final minute made the score appear much closer than the game truly was. Grinch, whose defense has allowed 14 or fewer points in four of their last five contests, said he wasn't surprised that his unit stood tall despite the absence of several starters.
"I think you see guys taking pride in the fact that this is the expectation. The expectation is that when you take the field, that you’re supposed to perform at a certain level. And so, I don’t know that ‘surprise’ is the right word, but ‘proud’ certainly comes to mind. And I think the other thing I would say is, it’s a step in the right direction to... walk out of the stadium and say, ‘We may not play our best football, but winning football despite a lot of circumstances.' "
Defensive backs Patrick Fields, Brendan Radley-Hiles and Woodi Washington all sat out due to COVID-19, as did team sack leader Nik Bonitto. Nevertheless, even with Bonitto sidelined, the Sooners' front four functioned flawlessly. Baylor rushed 26 times for 25 yards as a team, and Isaiah Thomas notched 2.5 of the Sooners' three sacks. As Thomas noted after the game, Oklahoma continues to receive contributions from a multitude of players in the defensive trenches.
"We trust each other to do our job. I've got Perrion [Winfrey]'s back. Jon-Michael [Terry] has Perk's [Ronnie Perkins'] back. So if it's anybody out there, we have each other's back and we trust each other, and we also trust the guys behind us to come fill in gaps and take on blocks if need be."
Center and team captain Creed Humphrey, always a man of few words, was characteristically succinct in summing up the Sooners' overall performance. Though he acknowledged that the Oklahoma defense dominated, Humphrey also cited plenty of room for improvement across the board.
"We just had to do our jobs at a higher level. And we did a better job in the second half. I still think we left a lot of stuff out there that could've been better. But we'll get in there tomorrow, look it over and fix it and get ready for the next game."
At the end of the day, however, the Sooners punched their ticket to the Big 12 championship game on Dec. 19, where they'll get another shot at Iowa State. The Cyclones upset Oklahoma 37-30 in Ames on Oct. 3, and according to Rattler, that loss marked a turning point in the Sooners' season.
"We knew we had to flip our switch and start winning games. The culture here is not losing. We never have a losing mindset. Just knowing we had to flip that switch and start playing like we know how to play. I think that kind of put a fire under us. We're still going through that. Like I said, we've got a game in Morgantown this upcoming week. We're going to prepare for that one and see where it goes."
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