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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 |
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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:
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT – If you are considering making a sign referencing 61–58 in any way, don't. Because it's been a year now.
— OurDailyBears (@OurDailyBears) November 8, 2015
Just. Don’t.
Revenge Minded Sooners
Darlington on Baylor beatings: "We haven't forgotten about that. It's something we talked about all offseason." #Sooners
— Guerin Emig (@GuerinEmig) November 8, 2015
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:
One more from Ty Darlington on Baylor: "I don’t know that we’re gonna have to score 40 points to win. I believe in our defense." #Sooners
— Guerin Emig (@GuerinEmig) November 8, 2015
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
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
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.