Oklahoma-Baylor — Q4 Report: OU dominates defensively, clinches title game rematch
NORMAN — In a year filled with disruptions and doubts, imperfections and hesitations, Saturday night seemed all too appropriate.
No. 11-ranked Oklahoma withstood multiple internal complications and held off Baylor in a 27-14 victory in the home finale at Owen Field — and clinched a return to the Big 12 Championship Game on Nov. 19.
With four defensive starters out due to COVID protocol as well as several coaches, the Sooners overcame a glitchy offensive performance with lockdown defense — more evidence that Oklahoma’s defense has turned a corner in its second season under Alex Grinch.
The Sooners were without their defensive coordinator for much of the week after COVID tests and contact tracing put his availability in doubt. A week after having to postpone a road trip to West Virginia because of a Coronavirus outbreak in the OU athletic department, head coach Lincoln Riley even enlisted the help of his old boss, Bob Stoops, to help out at practice as Grinch and others were limited in their participation.
News also broke late in the fourth quarter that the Sooners would soon be losing offensive assistant Shane Beamer, who has reportedly been hired as the new head coach at South Carolina.
Up next for Oklahoma — presuming no more viral flareups — is next Saturday’s makeup game at West Virginia.
But on this chilly night, the Sooners survived an uncharacteristically uneven performance to set up a Big 12 title game rematch in two weeks with first-place Iowa State. The Cyclones beat OU 37-30 in Ames back on Oct. 3, but the Sooners have won six in a row since then.
The latest W in that winning streak was among the most challenging.
OU kicked a field goal on its opening drive, then didn’t score again until just before halftime, when Rhamondre Stevenson cashed in a short touchdown run for a 10-0 halftime lead.
Spencer Rattler threw to Theo Wease from 9 yards out to open the third quarter and extend the Sooners’ lead to 17-0, but Baylor answered with a 25-yard TD pass from Charlie Brewer to Tyquan Thornton to cut it to 17-7.
Gabe Brkic added another field goal — this one from 50 yards out — to open the fourth quarter, and after the OU defense forced another Baylor punt, Rattler threw to Brayden Willis for a touchdown and a 27-7 lead with 5:17 to play. It was Willis’ first trip to the end zone since his tying touchdown late in the game against the Bears in Waco last season.
OU dominated defensively, with six passes batted down at the line of scrimmage, interceptions by Tre Norwood and D.J. Graham, three quarterback sacks and seven tackles for loss.
It was the first time since a 55-0 shutout at Kansas State in 2015 that the Sooner defense had held a Big 12 opponent scoreless over an entire first half.
Baylor scored on Brewer’s touchdown run with less than a minute to play — capping a 96-yard drive — but got little else all night.
The Bears’ only other score was the product of a massive OU mistake: Brewer was sacked on fourth-and-8 by Marcus Stripling and Perrion Winfrey to apparently end the scoring threat, but Stripling was whistled for lining up offsides, and Brewer and the Bears converted their second chance with the TD.
Baylor and OU staged a pair of classics last season — the one in Waco became OU’s largest comeback win in school history, and the one in Arlington was an overtime thriller that produced the Sooners’ fifth consecutive Big 12 Championship.
OU played Saturday without starting linebacker Nik Bonitto, free safety Pat Fields, nickel safety Brendan Radley-Hiles and cornerback Woodi Washington, all out due to COVID protocol following last week’s outbreak.
Also missing from the defense were backup linebacker Brynden Walker, backup safety Justin Broiles and backup safety Bryson Washington.
That put little-used Robert Barnes — converted from safety to linebacker in the offseason — back at nickel safety to start the game. Nickel corner Jeremiah Criddell found himself back at free safety, and Norwood — who frequently plays multiple positions — played both safety and nickel early. Barnes ended up playing mostly free safety, and Criddell played mostly nickel.
Also, senior Jon-Michael Terry returned from missing the Sooners’ last game and started at rush linebacker for Bonitto, and Jaden Davis, who was previously the starter at corner before Washington took over the position, was back in the starting lineup at corner.
On offense, OU was without tight end Austin Stogner for the second straight game as well as two backup offensive linemen — none of which explained the inordinate amount of dropped passes and missed blocks prominent throughout the first half.
One reason for the Sooners’ struggles offensively might have been the absence of offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh. OU averaged just 1.6 yards per rush in the first half and gave up three quarterback sacks before getting things ironed out in the second half.
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