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First Look: Oklahoma Sooners vs. Baylor Bears

The Bears return to McLane Stadium for the BlackOUt. Let's take our first look at the Oklahoma Sooners.

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
vs.
4/3/6 BAYLOR (8–0, 5–0) vs. 12/11/15 Oklahoma (8–1, 5–1)
Nov. 14, 2015 | 7 p.m. CT
Waco, Texas | McLane Stadium (45,140)

TV: ABC
Watch |  Listen | Gametracker Gametracker | Game Notes Notes

OPPONENT: Oklahoma Sooners
ODB GAME HUB: Baylor Bears vs. Oklahoma Sooners 2015
MEET THE PRESS: Baylor vs. Oklahoma
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.soonersports.com
MEDIA GUIDE: 2015 K-State Football Media Guide (Click here for roster)
ADVANCED STATS PROFILE: Oklahoma Sooners Advanced Stats Profile
LAST MEETING: 48–14 Baylor | ODB Game Hub
LAST GAME: W; OU 52, Iowa State 16
SB NATION BLOG: Crimson and Cream Machine, at right
SPREAD: Baylor –3 (Open: Baylor –7)
TV COVERAGE: ABC, 7:00 p.m. CST Saturday WEATHER FORECAST: Cloudy, high of 62°, ESE winds 5–10mph (wunderground puts game time temp at 54°)

SBNation.com Oklahoma Preview
baylorbears.com Preview
Bears vs. Sooners Coverage

BLACKOUT! And oh yeah, College GameDay too!

We got the news a couple of weeks ago that this game would be our Blackout game of the season. Then, Saturday we learned that the game would indeed be played during the evening; that announcement came as a relief to anyone worried that the university might have jumped the gun in making the BlackOUt announcement. Excitement was already running high… Then the speculation ran rampant that ESPN’s College GameDay would be coming back to Waco. Just by reviewing the schedule, it seemed like it was a probability. Then we got the confirmation on Saturday night: College GameDay is coming to Waco in consecutive seasons.

I believe we already have the Sign Workshop Fanpost rolling again, which is good to say. Mark said it well, both on the podcast we recorded and right here:

Just. Don’t.

Revenge Minded Sooners

There were several of these types of tweets that were RT’ed onto my timeline this past Sunday. I found them interesting, because there was a bit of subtlety to them. They definitely have revenge on the brain. No outright "We think they’re trash" type of talk, just a quietness about their desire for revenge. That’s a reasonable take, given the fact up until the last four years, Oklahoma owns the entire series. The last time we did one of those, there was an OU sign saying something to the effect that you couldn’t black out the record. Of course, we all know how that played out.

Did I say there was some subtlety to their desire for revenge? Yeah… That kinda went out the window:

Someone might need to remind Mr. Darlington that the team coached by Baylor’s former Offensive Coordinator and basically using Baylor’s system put up over 600 yards of offense against them and scored 38 points. In Norman.

Oklahoma Sooners 2015 Schedule

September

Akron Zips
Saturday, September 05 2015 win 41–3 coverage
@ Tennessee Volunteers Saturday, September 12 2015 win 31–24 coverage
Tulsa Golden Hurricane Saturday, September 19 2015 win 52–38 coverage
October
West Virginia Mountaineers Saturday, October 03 2015 win 44–24 coverage
@ Texas Longhorns Saturday, October 10 2015 loss 17–24 coverage
@ Kansas State Wildcats Saturday, October 17 2015 win 55–0 coverage
Texas Tech Red Raiders Saturday, October 24 2015 win 63–27 coverage
@ Kansas Jayhawks Saturday, October 31 2015 win 62–7 coverage
November
Iowa St. Cyclones Saturday, November 07 2015 win 52–16 coverage
@ Baylor Bears Saturday, November 14 2015 8:00 PM EST coverage
TCU Horned Frogs Friday, November 20 2015 7:00 PM EST coverage
@ Oklahoma State Cowboys Friday, November 27 2015 7:00 PM EST coverage

I will go to my grave not understanding what happened to the Sooners against Texas.

Oklahoma Sooners 2015 Individual Stats

Normally we get these statistics from sports-reference.com, but as I was starting my usual routine of looking at the Advanced Stats profiles and all the data regarding the Sooners, I realized that Bill Connelly produces the same tables in those profiles. So, this week I’m pulling the data from his work instead of sports-reference. Because of that, I’m also including in his individual defensive statistics that he provides. Thanks, Bill!

Passing Statistics

Player Ht, Wt Year Comp Att Yards TD INT Comp
Rate
Sacks Sack Rate Yards/
Att.
Baker Mayfield 6’1, 209 JR 193 275 2812 28 4 70.2% 26 8.6% 8.9
Trevor Knight 6’1, 207 JR 17 24 229 2 1 70.8% 1 4.0% 9.0
Cody Thomas 6’4, 211 SO 1 1 1 0 0 100.0% 0 0.0% 1.0

After transferring from Texas Tech and being forced to sit out a season, Junior and oilfield services firm Baker Mayfield has taken the reigns of the revamped Oklahoma offense and performed admirably. Mayfield found his home in Norman, with a 70% completion rate, over 2800 yards and 28 touchdowns through the air. He takes quite a few sacks. For comparison purposes, Mayfield’s sack rate is 8.6% to Seth Russell’s 1.5% and Jarrett Stidham’s 9.0% (which is high by virtue of his limited playing time thus far).

What was originally hailed as a return to the air raid offense has seen far more emphasis on the rushing attack than your traditional "air raid" offense. Since the loss against Texas, the Sooner offense is humming, averaging 58 points per game in the four wins since that inexplicable loss. Their aim is to strike early and often and aren’t afraid of a little trickery. On the first play from scrimmage for the Sooners last week against Iowa State, the Sooners ran a play straight from Super Tecmo Bowl: the Reverse Fake Z Post. I’m not even kidding, watch the play. It’s the same exact play. That’s incredible.

Individual Rushing Stats

Player Pos. Ht, Wt Year Rushes Yards TD Yards/
Carry
Hlt Yds/
Opp.
Opp.
Rate
Fumbles
(Lost)
Samaje Perine RB 5’10, 230 SO 140 806 10 5.8 5.2 42.9% 2 (2)
Joe Mixon RB 6’1, 217 FR 78 519 5 6.7 6.7 44.9% 1 (1)
Baker Mayfield QB 6’1, 209 JR 69 354 5 5.1 4.7 42.0% 2 (0)
Alex Ross RB 6’1, 221 JR 30 173 1 5.8 5.7 40.0% 2 (2)
Daniel Brooks RB 5’8, 182 JR 26 145 0 5.6 5.0 46.2% 0 (0)
Trevor Knight QB 6’1, 207 JR 9 55 1 6.1 1.7 77.8% 1 (0)
Dede Westbrook WR 6’0, 168 JR 3 –12 0 –4.0 0.0 0.0% 2 (1)
Rodney Anderson RB 6’0, 211 FR 1 5 0 5.0 0.5 100.0% 0 (0)
NOTE: Quarterback run totals above do not include sacks (which are counted toward pass averages below) or kneeldowns.

After struggling in the early season to find its identity, OU’s running back stable has come alive in the past four games. After only getting 10 touches against Texas, Samaje Perine has been unleashed in the past four games. While he’s considered the power rusher, he’s incredibly quick and they use him on the edge quite often. Joe Mixon and Baker Mayfield have all rushed effectively. While it’s pretty clear from this table that the Sooners have real depth at running back, they’ve relied heavily on Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon, with good reason.

Individual Receiving Stats

Player Pos. Ht, Wt Year Targets Catches Yards TD Yds/
Catch
Yds/
Target
Catch Rate Target
Rate
Sterling Shepard WR 5’10, 193 SR 62 47 826 7 17.6 13.3 75.8% 21.5%
Dede Westbrook WR 6’0, 168 JR 54 38 593 3 15.6 11.0 70.4% 18.8%
Durron Neal WR 5’11, 199 SR 48 38 476 3 12.5 9.9 79.2% 16.7%
Joe Mixon RB 6’1, 217 FR 26 22 313 4 14.2 12.0 84.6% 9.0%
Jarvis Baxter WR 5’11, 160 JR 23 14 153 1 10.9 6.7 60.9% 8.0%
Mark Andrews TE 6’5, 245 FR 21 16 271 6 16.9 12.9 76.2% 7.3%
Samaje Perine RB 5’10, 230 SO 11 10 51 1 5.1 4.6 90.9% 3.8%
Jeffery Mead WR 6’5, 188 SO 9 4 47 1 11.8 5.2 44.4% 3.1%
Michiah Quick WR 5’11, 184 SO 7 6 95 0 15.8 13.6 85.7% 2.4%
Dimitri Flowers FB 6’2, 228 SO 5 5 99 2 19.8 19.8 100.0% 1.7%
Daniel Brooks RB 5’8, 182 JR 5 2 40 0 20.0 8.0 40.0% 1.7%
Grant Bothun WR 5’11, 187 JR 4 3 34 0 11.3 8.5 75.0% 1.4%
A.D. Miller WR 6’3, 187 FR 3 2 16 0 8.0 5.3 66.7% 1.0%
Dallis Todd WR 6’3, 196 FR 2 1 9 0 9.0 4.5 50.0% 0.7%
Sam Grant OT 6’6, 274 JR 2 1 1 1 1.0 0.5 50.0% 0.7%

Sterling Shepard leads a talented WR corps with 47 receptions for 826 yards. He catches the ball 75% of the time he’s targeted, and Mayfield targets him on over 20% of the passes. Dede Westbrook and Durron Neal both round out the top 3 WRs for Oklahoma, and they too have catch rates above3 70% of the time. Xavien Howard and Ryan Reid will have their hands full with this lot. The Sooners are stacked with weapons and they make good use of them, spreading the ball around, even throwing to the RBs with some frequency. Mixon has 22 catches on 26 targets for the season.

This may be the scariest Sooner offense we’ve seen in years. The Bears need to have a fast start on defense, knocking Baker Mayfield off his rhythm. If the Bears let Oklahoma establish their rhythm early, it could be a very tense game from wire to wire.

Individual Defensive Statistics

Name Pos Ht, Wt Year Tackles % of Team TFL Sacks Int PBU FF FR
Dominique Alexander LB 6’0, 220 JR 59.0 11.0% 6.0 0.5 1 1 0 0
Ahmad Thomas S 6’0, 213 JR 48.5 9.0% 1.5 1.5 1 1 0 0
Jordan Evans LB 6’2, 239 JR 41.5 7.7% 3.0 1.0 0 2 0 1
Eric Striker LB 6’0, 222 SR 34.0 6.3% 13.0 7.5 1 0 1 0
Steven Parker S 6’1, 200 SO 33.5 6.2% 3.5 1.5 0 2 0 0
Frank Shannon LB 6’0, 239 SR 27.0 5.0% 0.0 0.0 1 0 0 0
Charles Tapper DE 6’2, 282 SR 25.5 4.7% 7.0 5.0 0 1 3 0
Jordan Thomas CB 6’0, 191 SO 25.5 4.7% 0.0 0.0 3 4 0 0
Charles Walker DT 6’2, 297 SO 24.5 4.6% 9.0 5.0 0 1 1 0
Zack Sanchez CB 5’11, 179 JR 24.0 4.5% 2.5 0.5 3 4 0 0
Dakota Austin CB 5’10, 157 JR 24.0 4.5% 1.0 0.0 2 3 0 0
Hatari Byrd S 6’1, 206 JR 21.5 4.0% 0.0 0.0 0 0 0 0
Matt Dimon DT 6’2, 260 JR 20.5 3.8% 6.0 2.5 0 0 1 0
Devante Bond LB 6’1, 238 SR 16.0 3.0% 4.0 2.0 0 0 1 0
Matthew Romar DT 6’0, 291 SO 14.5 2.7% 0.5 0.0 0 0 0 0
Jordan Wade DT 6’3, 300 JR 12.5 2.3% 1.0 1.0 0 1 0 0
P.L. Lindley LB 6’1, 257 SR 10.5 2.0% 2.5 0.5 0 1 0 0
William Johnson CB 6’0, 182 SO 9.0 1.7% 2.0 0.0 0 1 0 0
Marcus Green CB 6’1, 179 FR 7.5 1.4% 0.0 0.0 0 0 0 0
Ogbonnia Okoronkwo LB 6’2, 236 SO 6.0 1.1% 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 0
P.J. Mbanasor CB 6’0, 192 FR 6.0 1.1% 0.0 0.0 0 1 0 0
Tay Evans LB 6’2, 235 FR 6.0 1.1% 0.0 0.0 0 0 0 0
D.J. Ward DE 6’2, 259 SO 5.5 1.0% 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 1
Marquise Overton DT 6’1, 309 FR 5.0 0.9% 2.0 2.0 0 0 0 0
Kahlil Haughton S 6’1, 185 FR 4.0 0.7% 0.5 0.5 0 0 0 0
Note: It appears "Fumble Returns" are getting pulled instead of "Fumble Recoveries." My apologies. Will try to get that corrected.

I don’t have a ton to say about these stats at this point, so I’m just going to leave them here in the hopes that they spur conversation from those with more insight than I currently have.

2015 Oklahoma Sooners Team Stats and Rankings

Statistic National
Rank
Conference
Rank
Value National Leader Value Conference
Leader
Value
3rd Down Conv % 22 4 0.453 Texas Tech 0.532 Texas Tech 0.532
3rd Down Defense 76 5 0.395 Clemson 0.208 TCU 0.306
4th Down Conv % 43 4 0.583 Oklahoma St.
LSU
1.000
1.000
Oklahoma St. 1.000
4th Down Defense 18 1 0.333 North Carolina St.
Penn St.
0.167
0.167
Oklahoma 0.333
Blocked Kicks 62 3 1 Temple
Illinois
5
5
Oklahoma St.
Baylor
2
2
Blocked Kicks Allowed 1 1 0 41 teams tied 0 4 teams tied 0
Blocked Punts Temple 4 Baylor
Oklahoma St.
1
1
Blocked Punts Allowed 1 1 0 76 teams tied 0 8 teams tied 0
Completion Percentage 3 1 0.703 Western Ky. 0.732 Oklahoma 0.703
Defensive TDs 28 3 2 Buffalo 6 Oklahoma St. 5
Fewest Penalties 58 4 55 Navy 29 Kansas St. 46
Fewest Penalties/Gm 62 4 6.11 Georgia Tech 3.56 Iowa St. 5.56
Fewest Penalty Yards 77 5 529 Navy 257 Kansas St. 350
Fewest Penalty YPG 78 5 58.78 San Jose St. 30.00 Kansas St. 43.75
First Downs Defense 59 4 179 Clemson 118 Baylor 169
First Downs Offense 7 3 250 Texas Tech 286 Texas Tech 286
Fumbles Lost 102 9 9 14 teams tied 2 TCU 2
Fumbles Recovered 74 8 5 Navy 12 Baylor 10
Kickoff Return Defense 50 4 20.55 Ga. Southern 14.08 Iowa St. 16.71
Kickoff Returns 107 8 18.40 Tennessee 38.80 West Virginia 25.15
Net Punting 4 1 42.03 Colorado St. 43.26 Oklahoma 42.03
Passes Had Intercepted 17 2 5 Mississippi St.
LSU
Navy
1
1
1
Texas 3
Passes Intercepted 18 3 12 Arkansas St. 17 West Virginia
Oklahoma St.
14
14
Passing Offense 11 5 338.0 Bowling Green 430.2 TCU 395.7
Passing Yards Allowed 16 1 178.6 San Jose St. 141.1 Oklahoma 178.6
Passing Yards/Cpltion 14 4 14.42 Army West Point 21.86 Baylor 17.19
Punt Return Defense 5 1 1.13 UCLA –0.50 Oklahoma 1.13
Punt Returns 67 4 8.20 Virginia 26.00 Iowa St. 16.89
Red Zone Defense 16 1 0.750 Appalachian St. 0.548 Oklahoma 0.750
Red Zone Offense 40 5 0.868 Navy 0.973 Oklahoma St. 0.952
Rushing Defense 49 3 148.7 Boston College 71.7 Kansas St. 141.9
Rushing Offense 24 4 211.3 Ga. Southern 385.6 Baylor 308.9
Sacks Allowed 114 8 3.00 Air Force 0.00 TCU 1.00
Scoring Defense 16 1 18.1 Michigan 11.9 Oklahoma 18.1
Scoring Offense 3 3 46.3 Baylor 57.4 Baylor 57.4
Tackles for Loss Allowed 73 5 6.22 Toledo 3.00 Baylor 4.25
Team Passing Efficiency 2 2 185.18 Baylor 198.90 Baylor 198.90
Team Passing Defense 8 1 100.75 Michigan 89.72 Oklahoma 100.75
Team Sacks 2 1 3.78 Penn St. 4.20 Oklahoma 3.78
Team Tackles for Loss 22 3 7.4 Boston College 9.8 Oklahoma St. 8.7
Time of Possession 60 5 30:22 Stanford 35:16 Kansas St. 32:53
Total Defense 23 1 327.2 Boston College 236.5 Oklahoma 327.2
Total Offense 6 4 549.3 Baylor 665.6 Baylor 665.6
Turnover Margin 39 4 0.33 Houston 1.78 Baylor 1.38
Turnovers Gained 27 4 17 Houston 25 Oklahoma St. 23
Turnovers Lost 61 6 14 LSU 3 Texas 7
Winning Percentage 7 3 0.889 6 teams tied 1.000 Oklahoma St.
Baylor
1.000
1.000

It’s Question Time!

FIRST: Do you have any questions that we could legitimately ask CCM with straight faces (I’m looking at you, BnT)? We haven’t done an old-fashioned Q&A since Pras went AWOL, but we could try to get one going this week.
SECOND: How are you feeling after last week’s somewhat nervy win over Kansas State?
THIRD: Will you be going to GameDay? If so, will you be bringing a sign? If so, what will your sign say?
FOURTH: This is possibly the best OU team that Baylor has faced in years. What’s your key to victory?
FIFTH: Uniform prediction. Oh wait we don’t need to do that one. Give me a gif of how turnt you are this week. And I’m not talking the usual fare. I want to see something special here. Dig deep in your gif archives, people. Let’s do this.