The Baylor Bears football team rebounded from a shocking loss last weekend against a struggling TCU team by beating the number-eight-ranked Oklahoma Sooners in Waco. The Bears’ defense was the story of the game as they held a high-powered Oklahoma offense to just 260 total yards in the 27-14 victory.
The Sooners’ offense struggled all game to get anything going as they were constantly met in the backfield by Bears defenders. They were also hurt by multiple drops from receivers, and two missed field goals.
Oklahoma’s 14 points are the lowest they have scored all year. This November loss is the Sooners’ first loss of the season under head coach Lincoln Riley, and it ended their nation-leading 17-game win streak.
Oklahoma did strike first to take a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter when quarterback Caleb Williams ran in a short touchdown score, but they would be held scoreless after that until the fourth quarter.
Baylor struggled to get anything going passing the ball, but they gashed the Sooner defense in the run game all day. The Bears averaged over six yards per carry. They were led by Abram Smith, who totaled 148 rushing yards, and quarterback Gerry Bohannon who had all three of the Bears touchdowns, including two rushing scores in the fourth quarter.
There was a wacky scene to end the game. Baylor had already secured the victory as they were up 24-14 with possession of the ball and less than 40 seconds left on the clock.
However, instead of letting the clock wind all the way down to zero, Baylor coach Dave Aranda called a timeout with three seconds on the clock to attempt a field goal.
This was unbeknownst to Baylor fans as they were eager to celebrate the Bears’ first victory against a top-ten opponent in six years; they rushed onto the field with the time still left on the clock.
This led to a chaotic scene as the Oklahoma players went into the locker room for several minutes until the field was cleared of fans. When the Sooners players returned to the field, Baylor kicked a last-second field goal to win by a 13-point margin.
Baylor coach Aranda explained his decision to kick the last-second field goal despite the win already being secured, saying he was thinking about tiebreakers to potentially make the Big 12 title game, which includes point differential.
Sooners’ coach Riley was less than pleased with the decision. “I know why Dave tried to kick field goal. I don’t agree with it,” Riley said. “I still think above all else, there’s a code of sportsmanship that I believe in, I wouldn’t have done it.”
Baylor improved to 8-2 and 5-2 in the conference. They will go on the road to play Kansas State next Saturday.
Oklahoma drops to 9-1 and 6-2 in the conference. They will host Iowa State next.
