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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Game Primer: OU at Baylor
September 21, 2017 | Football
3 Oklahoma
Baylor
September 23 / 5:30 p.m. CT / McLane Stadium / Waco, Texas
OPENING KICK
• Owner of the nation's longest active winning streak at 13 games, No. 3/3 Oklahoma travels to face Baylor on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. CT at McLane Stadium (45,140 capacity). The game will be televised nationally by FS1 with Justin Kutcher, Mark Helfrich and Petros Papadakis announcing. It will also air in Ultra HD on DIRECTV channel 106 (4K box required).
• Oklahoma owns a 23-3 (.885) all-time record against Baylor and is 11-2 vs. the Bears in Waco. In the Big 12 era, the Sooners hold an 18-3 series advantage (9-2 on the road).
• OU's 12-game true road winning streak is the longest active streak in the country and tied for the third longest in school history. The program's only longer streaks were 14 games (1973-76) and 24 games (1953-58). Only three other teams own an active streak longer than four games (Alabama and Clemson have won 11 straight true road games and Washington seven).
• Oklahoma has won 16 consecutive Big 12 Conference games, the second longest streak in school history (won 17 from 2003 to 2005) and the fifth longest since the league formed in 1996 (Kansas State holds the record with 21 straight from 1997 to 1999).
• Saturday will mark 371 days since OU's last loss (vs. Ohio State on Sept. 17, 2016) and 714 days since its last Big 12 defeat (vs. Texas on Oct. 10, 2015).
• OU is 14-6 (.700) all-time in Big 12 openers. It has won its last four Big 12 openers and eight of its last nine. The Sooners are also 15-5 all-time in their first Big 12 road game of a season (won last six).
• This marks the 126th time since the start of the 2000 season that OU has been ranked in the top five of the AP poll. Only Alabama (132 times) has more top-five rankings during that period.
• Lincoln Riley is the fifth head coach in OU history (out of 22) to start his career 3-0. A win against Baylor would make him just the third coach to start 4-0, joining V.L. Parrington (1897-98) and Jim Mackenzie (1966).
FIVE KEY STORYLINES
• Last year the Sooners averaged 7.5 yards per play, the second-highest figure in school history (the 1971 team averaged 7.6). This season OU is averaging a staggering 8.6 yards per play to rank second nationally behind Maryland (9.1). The Terrapins have played one fewer game.
• Oklahoma boasts one of the best big-play passing attacks early in 2017. The Sooners have already completed a nation-leading 23 passes of 20-plus yards. Conversely, among teams that have played at least three games this season, OU is tied for first with Mississippi State by allowing just two completions of 20 or more yards. The Sooners are also the only team in the country with two completions of at least 80 yards.
• OU hasn't lost in more than a calendar year (to Ohio State on Sept. 17, 2016), giving it the nation's longest current streak (13) and OU's longest since winning 14 straight over the 2002 and '03 seasons. The last time the Sooners lost a Big 12 game was Oct. 10, 2016 — more than 700 days ago. They are 17-1 in Big 12 play the last two seasons with a pair of league championships to their credit.
• After finishing fourth in Heisman Trophy voting in 2015 and third in 2016, quarterback Baker Mayfield is off to his best career start in 2017. In two-and-a-half games (he did not play after halftime against UTEP), Mayfield is 63-for-82 (76.8 percent) through the air with 10 touchdowns and no interceptions. He is averaging 348.7 passing yards per game and 209.2 per half played. Mayfield owns a 226.9 pass efficiency rating (best nationally among players who have played multiple games) after last year setting the FBS single-season record with a 196.4 mark.
• OU owns the nation's second best combined ranking (24) in total offense and total defense. The Sooners rank No. 4 nationally in yards per game (599.0) and No. 20 in yards allowed per game (269.3). Only Clemson (23) has a better combined ranking (No. 15 total offense/No. 8 total defense). Other teams that rank in the top 20 of both are Duke (20 offense/7 defense), Wisconsin (16/13) and TCU (19/15).
SCOUTING BAYLOR
• Baylor enters this weekend's contest in search of its first win in the 2017 campaign. The Bears lost to Liberty (48-45) and UTSA (17-10) at home before dropping a 34-20 decision at Duke on Saturday.
• BU is under the direction of first-year head coach Matt Rhule. Most recently the head coach at Temple from 2013-16, Rhule guided the Owls to a 28-23 record, and to 10-win efforts in his final two years. Rhule spent 2012 as an assistant coach with the NFL's New York Giants after serving in various assistant coaching and coordinator roles with the Owls during the 2006-11 seasons.
• Offensively, Baylor ranks 91st nationally in scoring (25.0 ppg), 91st in total offense (375.3 ypg), 84th in rushing offense (149.3 ypg) and 69th in passing offense (226.0 ypg).
• Sophomore quarterback Zach Smith made his first start of the season and fifth of his career last weekend, completing 12 of his 34 passes for 263 yards and three touchdowns while also throwing three interceptions. Smith also saw action in the Bears' previous two games. He is 13-for-36 on the year with three TDs and four picks.
• Senior quarterback Anu Solomon started the first two games of the season, completing 24 of 55 passes for 399 yards and four touchdowns against two interceptions. He is also the team's second-leading rusher with 106 yards on the ground (6.6 per carry). Solomon played his first three seasons at Arizona, where he amassed 6,922 passing yards and 49 touchdowns against 16 interceptions in 30 games (27 starts).
• Freshman running back John Lovett leads the Baylor rushing attack by averaging 60.7 yards per game. He has two rushing touchdowns. Of Lovett's 182 rushing yards, 161 came in the first two games. He established his career high of 89 yards against Liberty.
• Defensively, Baylor is giving up 463.3 yards per game to rank 110th nationally. Sophomore linebacker Clay Johnston leads the team with 29 tackles and ranks second in the Big 12 with 6.5 tackles for loss. Sophomore safety Henry Black has the team's lone interception.
LAST YEAR VS. THE BEARS
• Oklahoma raced to a 21-0 lead at home against Baylor, led 21-10 at halftime and scored two more touchdowns in the first six minutes of the third quarter to go up 35-10 in an eventual 45-24 victory on Nov. 12, 2016. It was OU's 14th straight Big 12 win and improved its all-time record against Baylor to 23-3.
• Quarterback Baker Mayfield was 20-for-25 passing for 300 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for another score. He improved his nation-leading pass efficiency rating to 195.2.
• Running backs Joe Mixon (124) and Samaje Perine (100) combined for 224 rushing yards and three rushing TDs. Mixon, whose 56-yard fourth-quarter TD dash represented OU's longest scoring run of the year at that point, also caught five passes for 63 yards. Mixon missed the previous game (team suspension) and Perine had missed the last three (injury).
• Wide receiver Dede Westbrook saw his six-game streak of 100-yard receiving performances snapped, as he finished with four catches for 88 yards. He did haul in two TD passes (29 and 40 yards) and tallied 169 all-purpose yards on the day.
• Linebacker Jordan Evans finished with a team-high nine tackles, two sacks, two interceptions and two pass breakups. He became the first player in OU history and the first FBS player since at least 2012 to record at least two interceptions and two sacks in a game. Evans' first pickoff came at the OU goal line and led to a 91-yard TD drive that put the Sooners up 21-0. He returned his second one 23 yards to the Baylor 1-yard line. Perine scored on the next play for a 35-10 lead. Evans was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week.
• OU registered nine pass breakups, its most since also finishing with nine in 2011 against Texas A&M.
SOONERS HAVE DOMINATED BIG 12 ERA
• OU's performance in the Big 12 Conference this millennium has been nothing short of dominant. The Sooners have won 10 Big 12 titles in the last 17 seasons, with no other program during that span winning more than two.
• Since the first year of the Big 12 in 1996, OU has claimed 10 league titles and is followed by Texas (three), Baylor, Kansas State and Nebraska (two each), and Colorado, Oklahoma State, TCU and Texas A&M (one each).
DEFENSE OFF TO STRONG START
• Oklahoma's defense is off to a stellar start in 2017 after encountering some rough patches last year. Through three games, OU is allowing 12.3 points and 269.3 yards per contest to rank 13th and 20th nationally. Last season, the Sooners surrendered 28.8 points and 432.0 yards per game on the season to rank 68th and 82nd in the country.
• Senior defensive end/linebacker Ogbonnia Okoronkwo leads the Big 12 with 3.5 sacks and is tied for second with 6.5 tackles for loss. He has 16.5 career sacks to rank second at OU among linebackers.
• A year after allowing 269.4 passing yards per outing on the season, OU has limited its first three opponents to an average of 110.3 per game.
NO PASSING FANCY
• During its 13-game winning streak, Oklahoma has held every opponent to under a 60 percent pass completion rate. Over the last eight games, OU opponents have combined to complete just 49.8 percent of their passes (114-for-229). Four of those eight have been held to a mark below 50 percent.
• By comparison, OU has completed at least 60 percent of its passes in all 13 games during the streak, and at least 70 percent in eight of those contests.
OFFENSE HAS ROLLED UNDER RILEY, MAYFIELD
• Oklahoma has a legitimate claim as the nation's most productive offense since the start of the 2015 season, which was Lincoln Riley's first year as OU's offensive coordinator and quarterback Baker Mayfield's first playing for the Sooners. Riley called plays as the program's offensive coordinator and continues to as head coach.
• The Sooners have posted a 25-4 (.862) record since since Riley's and Mayfield's OU debut (17-1 in Big 12 play), with Mayfield the starter in all 29 contests. That record is tied for third best in the country with Ohio State since the start of 2015. Only Alabama and Clemson (both 31-2) have better records in that span.
• Since the start of the 2015 season, OU ranks first nationally in passing efficiency rating (185.0; next closest is 171.2), second in completion percentage (.695) and points per game (44.1), third in total offense (548.3), eighth in passing offense (326.1; sixth in Power 5) and 22nd in rushing offense (222.3; 11th in Power 5).
• In 29 games since the start of the 2015 season, OU has registered at least 500 yards of total offense 20 times, including in 10 of the last 13 outings. The Sooners have topped the 600-yard mark on 10 occasions over the last 29 contests. Similarly, OU has scored at least 30 points in 25 of 29 games during the Riley/Mayfield regime, at least 40 points 18 times and at least 50 points 13 times.
• Four of OU's top six single-game total offense yardage figures since 2000, five of the top eight, and six of the top 10 have come over the last 27 games (1. 854 at Texas Tech in 2016; 2. 773 vs. Tulsa in 2015; 4. 710 at Kansas in 2015; 6. 684 vs. Iowa State in 2015; 8. 676 vs. UTEP this season; 10. 672 vs. Texas in 2016).
MORE MAYFIELD
• Baker Mayfield has thrown a touchdown pass in a school-record 29 consecutive games. He's thrown at least two TD passes in 16 straight contests (50 TDs to eight interceptions during the stretch).
• Mayfield has thrown 15 TD passes since his last interception, which came six games ago at West Virginia. He has attempted 133 consecutive passes without being intercepted.
• Mayfield's 10 touchdown passes this year are the most by any quarterback who has not thrown an interception. Texas Tech's Nic Shimonek has nine, while Virginia Tech's Josh Jackson and Vanderbilt's Kyle Shurmer each have eight.
• Mayfield completed his first 16 pass attempts against UTEP (school record to start a game) and his final 14 pass attempts at Ohio State.
• With his 329-yard first-half passing effort against UTEP in the season opener, Baker Mayfield now owns three of OU's five best all-time marks for passing yards in a half (2. 332 at Kansas in 2015; 3. 329 vs. UTEP; 5. 316 vs. Tulsa in 2015).
• Mayfield was 11-for-12 passing for 213 yards and three TDs in the second quarter against UTEP. The 213 yards rank as the second most by a Sooner in any quarter (Joey Halzle threw for 230 yards in the fourth quarter against Texas Tech in 2007).
• Mayfield has completed 73.8 percent of his passes during OU's 13-game winning streak (average of 324.5 yards) with 43 TDs and just six interceptions. Dating back to Oct. 1 (and among QBs with at least 100 pass attempts), Mayfield ranks first nationally in pass completion percentage, passing touchdowns, yards per pass attempt (11.9), touchdown percentage (12.1 percent of passes) and efficiency rating (210.2; next closest is 179.4).
EXTRA POINTS
• Oklahoma's 13-game winning streak is only the ninth longest in school history.
• The Sooners are outscoring opponents 590-305 (49-25 average) during their 12-game road winning streak and are averaging 564.1 yards per contest. Mayfield is 10-0 as a Sooner in true road games. In those contests, he's completed 218-of-307 passes (71.0 percent) for 3,004 yards with 35 touchdowns against just five interceptions (7.0 ratio) for an efficiency rating of 187.6. Additionally, he's run for 304 yards and seven scores.
• Oklahoma has won its last 10 Big 12 road games, which is a school record and is tied for the second longest streak in the league's history (Texas won 13 true road games in a row from 2003 to 2006).
• Of all active FBS players with at least 13 career TD receptions, Mark Andrews has the best TD-to-catch ratio at 23.8 percent (15 TDs on 63 catches). The next closest players are LSU's Jonathan Giles (16 TDs on 84 catches; 19.1%), Clemson's Deon Cain (15-80; 18.8%), Old Dominion's Jonathan Duhart (19-102; 18.6%) and Boise State's Cedrick Wilson (13-72; 18.1%).
• Redshirt sophomore receiver Lee Morris has recorded his lone two career catches this season, and both have resulted in touchdowns (a 43-yarder vs. UTEP and an 18-yarder at Ohio State). Morris is a walk-on.
• OU has had at least four players selected in each of the last 10 NFL Drafts. LSU (also 10) is the only other school that can make that claim.
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