The Sooners have a big, big football game today as they head down to Waco, Texas to play the Baylor Bears. It's amazing how things change. Baylor has a shiny new football palace, they carry a number six ranking, they are the defending Big 12 co-champions and they operate the scariest offensive attack in college football. Oh, and they have also beaten the Sooners two straight times with the 2014 shellacking being particularly demoralizing. Sooners fans may never chase away the nightmare of watching Baylor throw quick outs repeatedly as they essentially laughed at the Sooner defense. It was one of the most embarrassing and frustrating situations I've ever seen unfold as a Sooner fan.
As my dad pointed out, this opener to a brutal stretch may also remind Sooner fans of a string of games way back in 1999. Instead of the Red October of Kansas State, Texas and Nebraska, the Sooners are looking at Baylor, TCU and Oklahoma State. Times change. And no big deal but if the Sooners win out they are in the college football playoff.
First things first, beat Baylor.
OFFENSE
The Sooner offense is rounding into form. Four straight games of 50 plus points. There's a nice balance of run and pass. Guys like Durron Neal and Mark Andrews are stressing defenses to cover more than Sterling Shepard. You can almost book 48 points out of these guys at this point.
I think they key with Baylor is going to be to continue with the hot starts and show them early that they have yet to see the likes of this offense outside of their own practices. I'm not necessarily worried about playing behind so much as they need to know what they're dealing with and their confidence needs to get shaken. Conversely, the earlier the Sooners can settle in and give Baker Mayfield some comfort in the pocket, the better off they will be.
To accomplish both of these things the Sooners will need to utilize all the skill on hand. In addition to Shepard and Semaje Perine they also need to get Joe Mixon extra touches. He seems to get 10-15 per game. He needs 15-20 today. And, as Nate pointed out last week, I have to tuck my boner into my waistband about Mark Andrews. Someone tell me why I shouldn't? The guy is a matchup nightmare. He's my dark horse super sleeper offensive pick of the week. Unleash the beast damnit.
DEFENSE
I mean what do you do against these guys? They average ∞ yards and it's pretty well split between the run and pass. Shock Linwood averages nearly eight yards per carry. Corey Coleman is on another level with 20 TD's and averaging 20 yards per catch.
It's a nightmare on paper and it will be a nightmare on the field. However, there are some glimmers of hope. Most notably the Sooners have the best defense in the Big 12. They hold teams at least two touchdowns below their average. With a freshman (albeit presumably wunderkind) quarterback this should hold true today. The Bears have seen nothing resembling the Sooner D so far this year.
Now, is the Sooner D vulnerable? For sure. But if the Sooners are firing on all cylinders then I think there's a real chance the Baylor offense gets rattled just a bit.
To rattle cages the Sooners have to pick a poison. I think the choice is take your chances covering Corey Coleman one on one with help over the top. If he goes for four scores and 200 yards so be it. If he's the only guy going off we win. Shut everything else down. Do not give any opportunities to run roughshod up the middle. Throw the kitchen sink at the young quarterback and give him blitzes from everywhere. The Bears have to get rattled.
In a game this yoooge I'm picking the big guy Eric Motherfuckin Striker. The defense is rounding into form a little bit and you could actually pick a few different guys here. The Charles's, Walker and Tapper, Dominique Alexander, Steven Parker. Hell, even either of the corners could turn the game with some picks.
THE SCORE
The biggest difference between these two teams are the defenses. If OU takes care of the ball on offense and the defense brings the kind of edge that, frankly, there is no excuse for not exhibiting after last year's de-pantsing, the Sooners win. The key word here is rattle. The atmosphere for this one will be electric. Everyone thinks the Baylor offense is unstoppable. The Sooners need to show they are also unstoppable on offense and they need to shake the confidence of the young quarterback and the Baylor faithful.
Bring your sniffing glue, your quaaludes and whatever else you need to get through it because it will fray the nerves but the Sooners will come through.
Sooners 45 - Bears 38
The real season starts... Now
Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner
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