Oklahoma 56, Baylor 7 -- Final

Oklahoma (8-0) at Baylor (2-7) WACO, Texas (AP) _ After three straight emotional wins over ranked opponents, Josh Heupel and top-ranked Oklahoma got the breather they needed. Heupel passed

Saturday, November 4th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Oklahoma (8-0) at Baylor (2-7)
WACO, Texas (AP) _ After three straight emotional wins over ranked opponents, Josh Heupel and top-ranked Oklahoma got the breather they needed.

Heupel passed for 313 yards and three touchdowns in the first half Saturday as the undefeated Sooners beat Baylor 56-7 to set up a key Big 12 showdown next week at Texas A&M.

With Heupel throwing against the nation's 104th-rated defense and Curtis Fagan catching two TD passes, the Sooners led 42-0 at halftime. Heupel also ran for a TD in the first quarter.

Sooners fans, who made up about half of the announced crowd of 31,106, threw oranges on the field after some of Oklahoma's touchdowns, a sign of expectations that their team will play in the Orange Bowl for the national championship.

Considered one of the favorites for the Heisman Trophy, Heupel could have had even bigger numbers but didn't play in the second half.

Baylor hit him several times on blitzes and so with a comfortable lead, Sooners coach Bob Stoops put in little-used backup Nate Hybl to start the third quarter.

Baylor broke up the shutout when Hybl's shuffle pass went straight into the belly of Baylor safety Odell James, who took it 18 yards for the Bears' only score.

Oklahoma (8-0, 5-0 Big 12) next travels to College Station, where the Sooners are 0-4 against No. 24 Texas A&M.

The Aggies upset then-No. 10 Kansas State 26-10 there Oct. 28 and will be looking for revenge after a 51-6 loss at Oklahoma last season.

Even with that game looming, Sooners players had insisted they wouldn't look past Baylor (2-7, 0-6).

They could have if they had wanted to.

Oklahoma came in averaging 44.4 points. The bad news Bears have lost 19 consecutive Big 12 games. Baylor ranks 113th nationally in total offense and has just one offensive touchdown in five games.

Oklahoma led 7-0 when J.T. Thatcher returned Baylor's first punt 60 yards for a touchdown. It was his second return for a TD this season.

On Oklahoma's next possession, Heupel hit Andre Woolfolk for a 57-yard gain to the Baylor 12. Two plays later, Heupel took a quick snap over the right side from the 4 for his sixth rushing touchdown of the season.

Heupel then connected with Fagan for touchdown passes of 9 and 43 yards. On the second, Fagan took a short pass over the middle and ran for the corner of the end zone. Cornerback Danielle McLean had the angle but Fagan made an unexpected cut on a soggy field and left him at the 15.

Ahead 28-0 after the first quarter, the Sooners got a 2-yard TD run from Quentin Griffin, his 13th of the season. Heupel's third scoring pass, a 39-yarder to fullback Seth Littrell, who had slipped out of the backfield and beat the Baylor secondary down the sideline, closed out the half.

Hybl, who had attempted just seven passes this season, atoned for the interception with touchdown passes of 36 and 31 yards to Fagan and Antwone Savage.

Quarter	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
Oklahoma	28	14	14	0	56
Baylor	0	0	7	0	7
Final

Team	Score Time	Summary	Running Score
Oklahoma	11:03 1stQ	JT Thatcher 60 yd punt ret (kick good)	Oklahoma 7-0
Oklahoma	8:08 1stQ	Josh Heupel 3 yd run (kick good)	Oklahoma 14-0
Oklahoma	4:57 1stQ	Curtis Fagan 9 td rec from Heupel (kick good)	Running Score
Oklahoma	1:56 1stQ	Fagan 43 yd rec from Heupel (kick good)	Oklahoma 28-0
Oklahoma	9:13 2ndQ	Quenton Griffin 2 yd run (kick good)	Oklahoma 35-0
Oklahoma	1:42 2ndQ	Seth Littrell 39 yd rec from Heupel (kick good)	Oklahoma 42-0
Baylor	9:20 3rdQ	Odell james 18 yd int ret (kick good)	Oklahoma 42-7
Oklahoma	8:02 3rdQ	Fagan 36 yd rec from Heupel (kick good)	Oklahoma 49-7
Oklahoma	3:55 3rdQ	Antwone Savage 31 yd rec from Nate Hybl (kick good)	Oklahoma 56-7

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING_Oklahoma, Works 16-46, Griffin 11-40, Heupel 2-15, Hunt 1-13, Savage 2-12, Fletcher 2-6, Mackey 1-1, Hybl 2-0, Mozee 1-0, Kuhn 1-(minus-4). Baylor, Bush 11-37, Ricks 5-12, Golden 5-10, Dixon 6-7, Zachary 1-0.

PASSING_Oklahoma, Heupel 21-29-0-313, Hybl 4-9-2-74. Baylor, Tomcheck 5-17-0-10, Dixon 2-9-1-9, Zachary 2-4-1-6.

RECEIVING_Oklahoma, Woolfolk 7-110, Savage 6-82, Fagan 3-88, Littrell 2-49, Griffin 2-14, Works 1-25, Smith 1-14, Mackey 1-4, Donley 1-1, Norman 1-0. Baylor, Newhouse 3-9, Quiroga 2-6, Schoessow 2-5, Fuller 1-4, Obriotti 1-1.