The wheels fell off in Lincoln Riley’s final trip to Waco

When Oklahoma last faced the Baylor Bears, the Sooners were a top 10 team coming off a big win. Then the wheels fell off. From @bendackiw

A little less than a year ago, the 9-0 No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners went into Waco coming off a massive 52-21 win over Texas Tech to play the No. 13 Baylor Bears.

While the Sooners had massive problems on both sides of the ball, you just couldn’t argue with the perfect record. Caleb Williams was looking like a superstar in the making. A trip to the College Football Playoff was looking more and more likely.

Then the wheels fell off.

It was just a nightmare game all-around. This was easily Caleb Williams’ worst game in a Sooners uniform. He threw two very ugly interceptions and just looked uncomfortable throwing the ball. He looked off. Williams was benched in the third quarter and Spencer Rattler took over, at least for a bit.

The run game didn’t fare much better. The Sooners were held to under three yards per attempt. The offense totaled 260 yards on the day. That would be the fewest amount of yards the Sooners would ever have with Lincoln Riley as a coach, his years as an offensive coordinator included.

Gabe Brkic had a very bad day. The normally reliable Sooners kicker missed two field goals, both wide right.

So many players from that 2021 team are somewhere else now. It’s bizarre to see all those names in OU uniforms that are either at other schools or in the NFL.

Of course, we all know how last season ended. While the Sooners did have issues, they weren’t losing games because of them. The high-end talent on offense was there to bail them out. Baylor was just too good of a football team on that day.

Now, the Sooners are one win away from bowl eligibility and the Bears are trying to stay in the Big 12 Championship race. This time, the game is in Norman. It’s payback time.

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