Baylor Week 10 Opponent Preview: Oklahoma Sooners
For the first time all season, both the Baylor Bears and Oklahoma Sooners feel stable. Now, something has to give when they play each other in Norman Saturday.
This will be the first time these two teams have met while both outside the Top 25 since 2005 when the Sooners beat the Bears 37-30 in double OT at Floyd Casey Stadium. The Sooners got off to a nightmare start but seemed to have righted the ship after their landmark 49-0 loss to Texas in the Red River Shootout.
Since that fateful day in the Cotton Bowl, winning two in a row, beating Kansas and Iowa State. The Sooner did not make it look easy against the Big 12 basement-dwelling Cyclones last Saturday, needing a late touchdown to put the game away for a 27-13 victory.
Sooners quarterback Dillon Gabriel seems to be 100% healthy again, although he threw for just 148 yards on 15 completions against Iowa State. Let's take a deeper look at the Sooners ahead of this matchup.
Oklahoma Sooners
2022 Record: 5-3 (2-3 Big 12)
Head coach: Brent Venables
In his first season at the helm, Venables got his fair share of criticism during the three-game losing streak earlier this season. Because of Oklahoma's perpetually high standards, it's easy to forget how important continuity is to a program, and the Sooners not only bring in a new coaching staff this year, but also lost a lot of their skill position players from a year ago and it has taken some time for Venables' defensive scheme to take shape.
Offensive scheme: Spread
Defensive scheme: Hybrid
Returning offensive starters: 5
On the offensive side, it has been a mixed bag for Oklahoma with Gabriel's injury struggles, but they certainly looked like a team that likes to pound the rock the way they ran the ball against Iowa State. The Sooners have an old Baylor foe (or friend) on their sidelines calling the plays, as Jeff Lebby is their first-year offensive coordinator. Needless to say, Dave Aranda's defensive strategy was a huge hit against Lebby's Ole Miss Rebels in last year's Sugar Bowl.
Projected offensive starters:
QB Dillon Gabriel
RB Eric Gray
WR Theo Wease
WR Jalil Farooq
WR Marvin Mims
TE Brayden Willis
LT Anton Harrison
LG McKade Mettauer
C Andrew Raym
RG Chris Murray
RT Wanya Morris
Returning defensive starters: 4
The Sooners looked good defensively against the conference's worst offense last week, but that side of the ball has been a major issue all season. In the four games leading up to the win over Iowa State, the Sooners gave up 41, 55, 49, and 42 points. They also allow 189 rushing yards a game, the worst mark in the Big 12. The way the Bears have committed to the ground game in recent weeks could give Baylor a big advantage Saturday.
Projected defensive starters:
DE Reggie Grimes
DE Ethan Downs
DT Jordan Kelley
DT Jeffery Johnson
LB DaShaun White
LB Danny Stutsman
LB David Ugwoegbu
CB Woodi Washington
CB Jaden Davis
S Billy Bowman
S Key Lawrence
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You can follow Cameron Stuart on Twitter @RealCamStuart
Covering Baylor for Inside The Bears and the Locked on Baylor podcast. You can follow me for more Baylor content at @realcamstuart on Twitter. Originally from Rockland, Massachusetts and a Baylor alum, so I might mix the occasional bias and/or Boston sports tweet in there every once in a while.