MAULED: Baylor Dominates Oklahoma in Norman

Oklahoma players called last year's 41-12 loss to Baylor, “embarrassing.” If last year was embarrassing, there's no telling what word the Sooners will use to describe Saturday.

After a great first quarter that ended with the Sooners leading, 14-3, Baylor dominated Oklahoma the rest of the way, scoring the last 45 points to turn a potentially big OU win into a head-bashing 48-14 rout for the Bears.

The loss was the second-worst for the Sooners under Bob Stoops (2005 national championship vs. USC) and the worst at home since a 51-7 loss to Texas A&M in 1997. It was also Baylor's first win in Norman, their first win since 1991 (37 straight losses) on the road over a ranked team and the first time Bob Stoops has lost back-to-back home games.

Related Story: Rapid Reaction: Baylor Crushes Oklahoma

Stoops said after the game it was “a poor job by all of us,” an understatement if there ever was one. What made the blowout puzzling was how the game started. The Sooners played well in the first quarter, pressuring Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty and doing an excellent job of mixing run and pass on offense. The result was a 14-3 lead and a very loud and energetic Owen Field.

But the Bears do not have an offense that can be kept completely under wraps for 60 minutes. Once Baylor adjusted to the OU defensive gameplan—as well as the Bears' defense adjusting to the Sooners' plans on offense—things got very ugly, very quickly.

The OU defense made it very clear it wasn't going to get burned deep by Baylor's talented receivers or allow the Bears to run the ball effectively. That plan succeeded, as the Sooners gave up just two deep passes and held Baylor to 151 rushing yards on just 3.1 yards per carry.

Part of that plan involved the Oklahoma defensive backs consistently giving the Baylor receivers five and 10-yard cushions. Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty was perfectly content with hitting 10-yard hitch routes all game. Petty came into the game completing just 54 percent of his passes this year, but dissected the OU secondary to the tune of 32-of-42 for 387 yards and a touchdown. It was his first game with a completion percentage over 70 percent this season.

Petty has a lot of weapons to work with, but his favorite target on Saturday was Corey Coleman. The sophomore beat OU's secondary all over the field, finishing the day with 15 catches for 224 yards and a touchdown. He also had a rushing touchdown to open the scoring in the second half. Coleman's 33-yard touchdown reception to start the second quarter made the score 14-10 in favor of the Sooners, but opened the floodgates for the BU offense.

With Baylor dinking and dunking its way down the field on offense, it fell to the Sooners' offense to come up with answers to Baylor's building momentum. But the Bears' adjustments stymied the Sooners and prevented Oklahoma from coming up with the points necessary to keep up with Baylor. The back-breaking play came when Trevor Knight threw an interception right to Baylor linebacker Bryce Hager, who returned it to the 1-yard line. Baylor scored on the next play to go up 17-14 and things only got worse from there.

Knight regressed once again to freshman year Trevor Knight, finishing the day 12-of-27 for 146 yards and the two first quarter touchdown passes to go with the interception. Knight was without Sterling Shepard, who tweaked the hamstring he injured against Iowa State in warmups. In his stead, freshman Michiah Quick was once again really good for the Sooners, catching six passes for 94 yards and the first touchdown of his career.

It wasn't enough for Knight, who struggled all day with hitting the receivers he did have. He constantly had to escape pressure in the pocket, something that ended his day. Late in the fourth quarter, Knight was sacked on a fourth down play, but Baylor defensive end Shawn Oakman came down on Knight's head and neck area. Knight had to be carted off the field but an OU spokesman said after the game Knight left the stadium under his own power, was in good spirits, and would be evaluated further.

Simply put, Baylor dominated every facet of the game on Saturday and left the Sooners wondering where the program is heading. The boos that rained down on Oklahoma from the stands in the second half were completely justified and with the Sooners no longer in contention for even a Big 12 title at this point, the rest of the season will be interesting.

Last year was embarrassing, this year was even worse. Baylor and Oklahoma are programs heading in opposite directions at this point and it seems no one has any answers for how to stop the Sooners' slide.