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Three reasons why Oklahoma beat Baylor 30-23 in overtime

Oklahoma claimed their fifth Big 12 title in a 30-23 overtime thriller versus Baylor. Here are three reason why the Sooners came away with the victory.

Cee. Dee. Lamb.

Quite simply, CeeDee Lamb was the best player on the football field today. While Baylor’s James Lynch gave him a run for his money, Lamb put together one of the best performances of his illustrious career as a Sooner. He finished with 8 catches for 173 yards. Not only was his production their, it was timely. He consistently made plays when the Sooners needed it, right down to the facemask he got in overtime to set up the winning score. He had a phenomenal game in last year’s Big 12 Championship and this year was no difference. Lamb earned player of the game.

1a. Alex Grinch 1b. The Defense

Alex Grinch’s Speed D held the Bears to 265 yards on the day, and totaled six sacks. They had pass breakup after pass breakup, and outside of two big throw’s from Jacob Zeno, they played a great game. They allowed only 16 point in a scoreless first quarter, and came up with a big stop in overtime to seal the deal.

Winning on the Ground

The Sooners rushed for 146 yards on the ground to Baylor’s 35, a testament to both Oklahoma’s run-stop and ground-game. Their rushing attack wasn’t up to par with the rest of their season, but they still had nearly 150 yards rushing. Kennedy Brooks finished with 59 yards on 17 carries with one touchdown, and Rhamondre Stevenson ran for 48 yards and 8 carries with a touchdown. John Lovett finished as Baylor’s leading rusher with 3 carries for 19 yards, followed by Gerry Bohanan who ran it nine times for 15 yards.

Baylor leads Oklahoma 13-10 halfway through Big 12 Championship

Defense has ruled the day so far as Baylor holds a 13-10 lead over Oklahoma at half of the Big 12 Championship game.

The first quarter was all Oklahoma, as they scored 10 points and held the Bears to just 16 total yards.

Each team started out with a stop, but a 71-yard CeeDee Lamb reception set up the Sooners first touchdown of the day, a 6-yard Kennedy Brooks run. Lamb finished with four catches for 106 yards in the first half.

The Sooners outgained Baylor 146-16 in total yards in the first quarter.

On Baylor’s first drive of the second quarter, Oklahoma linebacker Kenneth Murray had big back-to-back hits to stifle the Bear’s drive. The second of these would eventually send Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer to the locker room with around six minutes left in the half.

Gerry Bohanaon would enter for Baylor and earn them their second first down of the game, but would be stopped shortly after. The Bear’s star receiver Denzel Mims finished the first half without a reception.

On Oklahoma’s next drive, Jalen Hurts threw an interception right to Jordan Williams, his 7th of the year. The turnover would lead to a third-and-20 conversion by Bohanan, who threw a 33-yard pass to Tyquan Thornton to tie the game up at 10-10.

On their last drive of the half, Bohanan heaved a 29-yard pass into the air to Thornton, which set the Bears up for the 28-yard field goal that would put them ahead. The Bears outgained the Sooners 82-26 in the second half.

Baylor will receive the second half kickoff.

A statistical look at Oklahoma’s opponent (Baylor)

A statistical deep-dive into Oklahoma’s opponent, the twelfth ranked Baylor Bears.

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Win in Waco.

This is one of the final boxes the Sooners will need to check if they have any chance of making the College Football Playoff.

No. 9 Oklahoma (8-1) and No. 12 Baylor (9-0) are set to play one of the top-ranked matchups in their series history this week, and the game will certainly have playoff implications for the victor.

Here is a statistical deep-dive into Baylor and Oklahoma’s best stats to attack on Saturday.

Hot Lamb

It’s no secret the Sooners will need Lamb to be good the rest of the year to have a shot at winning out, but this week he’ll need to be great. The Bears currently have the second-ranked defense in the Big 12 behind Iowa State, as they allowed just 9 points in regulation last week. But they’ve have a big-play problem all season long, and that’s where Lamb comes in. The Sooners No. 1 receiver has made it a habit to rip off long, explosive plays this season, and they’ll need exactly that this Saturday in Waco. He currently averages 22.3 yards per catch.

Good luck, Charlie

Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer hasn’t exactly been on his A-game lately, but neither has Alex Grinch’s defense. Brewer on his worst day is still one of the top quarterbacks in the Big 12, as he’s already thrown for 2,338 yard this season, with 16 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. The Oklahoma defense will have to find ways to limit Brewer, or they’ll be in another shootout, and they might not leave with the win this time.

Run Lincoln, run

Despite Kennedy Brooks having over 100 yards rushing last week, it still felt sporadic, and the Sooners couldn’t establish a thing offensively in the second half. Baylor’s defense is going to make stops, they have the talent and speed to do it. The Sooners will need to wear them out with consistent run game, and control the time of possession with the ground game. BU has given up 127.1 rushing yards per game so far this season.

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