Written by Terry P. Johnson at Bloguin
Shortly after the College Football Playoff rankings came out, many media experts said that the Big 12 needed to produce an undefeated champion in order to get a team in the field.
Naturally, I disagree. I even made the case for it in Friday’s column about what to expect this weekend.
In case you didn’t read that column, the gist of that snippet was that Oklahoma was still very much alive in the College Football Playoff picture if it was to win out.
Saturday night was a huge step forward, as the Sooners handed Baylor its first loss of the season.
Make no mistake about it: this was an impressive victory. Sure, some experts didn’t think much of the Bears because they hadn’t really played anyone this season. While that’s certainly true, the fact of the matter is that Baylor destroyed everyone that it played, and was never really in danger of losing this season. The number of lopsided wins, coupled with an explosive offense that came into the game ranked fourth in rushing yards per game, seventh in passing yards per game, and first in points per game, is exactly why the Selection Committee (correctly) listed the Bears in the top six.
Yet, none of those things mattered on Saturday. The Oklahoma defense rose to the challenge against the Bears’ potent offense, and emerged victorious as a result. Yes, Baylor still managed to rack up 416 yards of total offense, but that was still the lowest output for the Bears this season. After the first series of the game, the Sooner defense did a great job of taking away the BU run game, tackling Shock Linwood (7.81 yards per carry heading into the game) in the backfield for negative plays. The secondary was equally impressive, taking away the deep routes for most of the evening, and recording two interceptions, including a game-icing pick with less than five minutes to play.
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