To close Oklahoma’s improbable 2019 rally at Baylor, RUSH linebacker Nik Bonitto stepped in front of Charlie Brewer’s pass intended for Josh Fleeks and intercepted the football with 29 seconds remaining.
It cemented the Sooners’ comeback from 28-3 down early in the second quarter to 34-31 victors in another late-season, pivotal November triumph.
Just like that Bonitto’s career at Oklahoma was off and running and a Sooner defensive star was born.
“I’d probably say it definitely gave me a lot of confidence. Prior to that, I didn’t really make a lot of plays. That having been a big play in that type of moment in an important game like that, it really helped my confidence that I can really play college football with the best of the best and especially in these big games. I just tried to build it off that game and just keep going. I would definitely say that game is probably a huge reason why I’m as confident as I am today as a player,” Bonitto said.
Incredibly, Bonitto actually missed an opportunity to seal the game the play before. The Fort Lauderdale product sank into coverage and had his fingertips on a Brewer pass directed toward Bears’ wide receiver R.J. Sneed.
Bonitto didn’t complete that play and wondered for a moment if that would be the missed opportunity that kept Oklahoma from winning the game.
“I was like, ‘Damn. I hope this doesn’t cost us the game.’ Thank
God. I was able to break on it and make a play on the next play. That slipped out of my mind after. I was just happy that I was able to make the play to win for the team,” Bonitto said.
Linebacker Dashaun White remembers warning Baylor against trying that route again.
“I kept talking trash like, ‘Don’t throw the out. Don’t throw the out.’ They threw it and he picked it. I mean, that’ll always just be a big football memory to me. That game was just, that was a fun one, man. Definitely up there like top five for me,” White said.
Bonitto’s career has taken off since. In 2020, Bonitto recorded 10.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks over the course of ten games. Both of those marks registered as second-best for the Sooners in the 2020 season.
Thus far in 2021, Bonitto has nine tackles for loss and five sacks. According to Pro Football Focus, Bonitto has the fourth-highest grade among edge defenders.
Defensive lineman Isaiah Thomas reflected on how the play has had a snowball effect on Bonitto’s career at Oklahoma.
“After that, after making the biggest play of that week in college football, it was impressive to see. Once you get confident and then once you start playing to make plays instead of playing not to make mistakes, it’s a literal snowball effect. It can have that…it’s a contagious thing for an individual player and for a team. It’s just impressive to see him grow from that moment to where he is now,” Thomas said.
Bonitto had made plays before that moment in the 2019 Baylor game, but it signaled he was here to stay and reinforced he was ready to make plays on the big stage. It’s also the perfect moment for younger players to look to.
“Just being ready for your moment any time, being ready when your name’s called because you never know when it’s your time to make a play. Looking back as a young player when I was that young, it probably does give a lot of hope to a lot of young players on the team,” Bonitto said.
As Oklahoma gears up for its return to Waco, the Sooners are well aware of the challenge this 2021 Baylor team presents. The Bears possess the nation’s No. 8 rushing offense, averaging 230.9 rushing yards per game.
“I think it’ll be a difficult challenge. The way we’re looking at it, it’s a big opportunity more than anything. Especially in the linebacker room, we see a lot of opportunities to get downhill, make as many plays as we can in the backfield, be as disruptive as we can up front. They’re a dang good running team. We view it as an opportunity. Honestly, really excited to get to this Saturday,” White said.
Bonitto discussed what Oklahoma will see in Baylor quarterback Gerry Bohanon.
“He’s a guy who is going to give his receivers a chance. He trusts those guys a lot. There’s going to be a lot of play action game. We can’t make him comfortable and just let him sit back there because he’s going to give his guys a chance and he’s going to hit the receiver on time. We just got to try and make life hard for him,” Bonitto said.
The Sooners are hoping to replicate and build upon what their defense accomplished in their most recent game, a 52-21 win over Texas Tech in which Oklahoma’s defense forced three turnovers.
“You can just tell the energy was kind of different that game with the defense. Just guys flying around, guys just trying to make plays and trying to follow the bottom line. It was just kind of a different feel and a different type of energy that we walked out with,” Bonitto said of his team’s performance against the Red Raiders.
Oklahoma kicks off this Saturday against Baylor at 11 a.m. on FOX.
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