Oklahoma Can't Rein in Mistakes Early, Can't Stop Baylor Late

NORMAN – Oklahoma needed another stop. Or another score. Or just another moment without a crippling mistake.

The Sooners got neither as Baylor gave OU a 38-35 loss on Saturday at Owen Field.

Baylor sealed it in the final minute when Craig Williams busted a 43-yard run on a third-and-3 from midfield. Williams slid down inside the 10-yard line and quarterback Blake Shapen took a knee on the final three plays to hand the Sooners their fourth loss of the season.

Williams, a backup, ran 25 times for 192 and scored two touchdowns.

“The other team was more physical," OU coach Brent Venables said. "Why is that? I don’t know. We gotta be better there. We gotta improve that. That’s an area we’ve got to continue to work on and improve.”

The Sooners (5-4 overall, 2-4 Big 12) couldn’t cut out critical mistakes, and the Bears (6-3, 4-2) took advantage of multiple OU miscues throughout the day.

OU finished with 499 yards compared to Baylor’s 419, but the Bears amassed 143 in the fourth quarter, while the Sooners managed only 70.

Maybe one of the key factors was Baylor on fourth down. The Bears, who are among the nation's leaders at going for it on fourth, were 3-for-3 on Saturday.

“The most critical moments in the game," Venables said, "they were able to convert.”

Oklahoma got big performances from running back Eric Gray and wide receiver Marvin Mims, but couldn’t overcome three interceptions by Dillon Gabriel.

“That’s never any good. Again, we’re throwing it high, getting tips, and tips are picks. Baylor’s a good, disciplined football team, and took advantage.”

Gabriel finished 22-of-34 for 261 yards, but it wasn’t enough to erase the mistakes.

"It's a short story for us," offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby said. "Turnovers are why we're sitting here the way we are."

And even though Baylor's offense was mostly one-dimensional – Blake Shapen completed just 14-of-23 passes for 132 yards with an interception – the Sooner defense couldn't do anything about it.

Mims had a nice bounceback after one of his worst games last week at Iowa State, catching a 63-yard touchdown pass from Gabriel in the first quarter and stretching the Baylor secondary for much of the day. Mims finished with 120 yards on four catches.

Gray ran 23 times for 106 yards and scored twice, and also led the Sooners with eight receptions for 58 yards.

“He’s a very dependable player," Venables said. "He makes those plays when he gets the opportunity.”

But Gabriel threw three interceptions in the first half alone – one deflected off a Baylor defender at the line of scrimmage, one deflected off tight end Brayden Willis’ hands, and one forced into coverage behind Jalil Farooq.

Baylor turned two of those into 10 points and led 24-21 at halftime.

“I’ve seen moments where we’ve played with great discipline," Venables said. "Today, we had moments when we didn’t.”

OU had an opportunity to tie it at half on Zach Schmit’s 55-yard field goal attempt, but it sailed wide as time expired.

The Sooners seemed to have time to manage a the clock and add a score, but as Gabriel took off on a 20-yard scramble with the game clock winding down, Andrew Raym was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, costing OU both time and distance.

Despite the confluence of mistakes and catastrophic errors that also included a turnover on downs, the Sooners found themselves down just three points at halftime.

But the errors continued at the start of the second half as Baylor quickly took advantage of a couple of defensive busts to give the Bears what felt like a commanding 31-21 lead on Richard Reese’s 2-yard TD run.

Still, OU answered again with arguably its best drive of the day, a 7-play, 77-yard march that was capped off by a 9-yard touchdown pass from Gabriel to Drake Stoops, who put a wicked move on a defender at the 5-yard line and cut it to 31-28.

In the fourth quarter, however, Qualan Jones topped off an 11-play, 80-yard drive that consumed more than 5 ½ minutes when he scored almost untouched on a 10-yard run.

Tackling was atrocious for the Sooners for most of the day, but particularly in the fourth quarter. Baylor – the top-ranked rushing offense in the Big 12 – ran it on 17 of their 20 fourth-quarter plays and managed 6.7 yards per carry.

“Got outexecuted, outplayed and outcoached in all those situations," Venables said. "We gotta be better.”

OU is on the road next week at West Virginia.

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