The 10th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners will travel Saturday to take on the 13th-ranked Baylor Bears. The Bears will be looking to get to 10-0 for their first time in school history, but it won’t come easy against a tough Sooners team.
Still In The Fight
The Sooners are coming off a very close 42-41 victory where they escaped the Iowa State Cyclones. The Sooners and quarterback Jalen Hurts looked unstoppable early this season, but after an upset loss to Kansas State and their narrow win last week, they will have to regroup and play at the top of their game if they want to get out of Waco, Texas, with a win.
Hurts has been on fire this season, and if Baylor wants to get a win this week, it will have to do everything in its power to contain him. Hurts transferred out of Alabama over this past offseason when Tua Tagovailoa took over as the starting quarterback, and Hurts has not missed out on the opportunity to prove himself. This season, Hurts has thrown for 2,742 yards, 24 touchdowns, and just four interceptions over the first nine games.
Not to ramble on about one player, but Hurts is also the Sooners’ rushing leader with 125 carries for 869 yards and 15 touchdowns. It was never going to be easy stepping into the Sooners starting quarterback role after Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, both Heisman winners, but Hurts has made a name for himself so far this season with almost no trouble.
The leading receiver to watch out for on the Sooners offense is junior CeeDee Lamb. Lamb has 44 receptions this season for 983 yards and 13 touchdowns. Lamb is always a home run threat, as he is averaging 22.3 yards per reception.
As a team, the Sooners are averaging 48.4 points a game while allowing just 25. They have also posted 587.3 yards of offense per game while giving up 354.1. Clearly, Oklahoma is going to put up big numbers and move the ball down the field, so the key for Baylor will be to limit the big plays and keep momentum on its side. When this Sooners team gets rolling, it is very hard to slow down.
Unbeaten Underdog
Baylor comes into this game undefeated but ranked just 13th in the nation with no wins over a ranked opponent yet this season. That’s what makes this game so huge for the Bears. If the Bears can walk away with a win over the 10th-ranked Sooners, with Texas up next week on their schedule, they could start to get the national attention they feel they deserve.
The Bears are led by junior quarterback Charlie Brewer, who has thrown for 2,338 yards, 16 touchdowns, and four interceptions this season. This showdown between two top offenses should be a chance for him to go out and have another big game face-to-face with one of the top quarterbacks in college football.
The Bears are averaging 35.3 points a game while allowing only 19 on defense. They have also posted 459 yards of offense while holding opposing offenses to 337 yards per game. This has all the makings of a high-scoring game, and whichever team can keep momentum on its side should walk away with the win.
What To Expect
This game may very well come down to who has the ball last. Both teams will have big plays in this game and will post big numbers. In the end, I like Baylor at home against a Sooners team that took a loss and had a closer game than it should have over the last two contests. Stopping Hurts will be hard to do, but Baylor should be able to come out of this shootout with a win or, at the very least, cover the 10.5-point spread.
