Oklahoma Sooners at Baylor Bears, Floyd Casey Stadium, Waco, TX
Saturday, November 20, 2010, 8:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN2
Opening Line: Oklahoma -7 1/2
Current Line: Oklahoma -7
Opening Total: 62 1/2
Current Total: 65
Money Line: OU -350 / Baylor +250
Coach Bob Stoops takes his 8-2 Oklahoma Sooners on the road to take on Art Briles and his 7-4 Baylor Bears. Dating back to last year, Oklahoma has lost 4 straight games on the road, including losses at Missouri and Texas A&M this season. They do have a couple of neutral site victories this season over Cincinnati and Texas. Oklahoma can still win the Big 12 South division title if they beat Baylor and Oklahoma St. Both are on the road so it will be tough. Oklahoma looks like national championship contenders at home and look very ordinary on the road. The Sooners have admitted it is strictly mental on the road, something they need to fix and quickly. For Baylor, they are bowl eligible for the first time since 1994 and can get to 8 wins for the first time since 1991. It won’t be easy as Oklahoma has won all 19 games they have played straight up against Baylor. Oklahoma is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 trips to Waco, but Baylor is 5-2 ATS in the last 7 games in the series.
Oklahoma has outscored its opponents 35-20 on the season. Oklahoma gains 471 yards a game, including 322 yards a game passing. They give up 370 yards a game on defense. The Sooners have a turnover margin of +10 and they have forced 25 sacks on the season. Quarterback Landry Jones has been brilliant this year throwing for 3,154 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. His top traget is Ryan Broyles. Broyles has 94 catches for 1,196 yards, and 11 touchdown catches. Eight Sooners have at least one touchdown catch. Tight end James Hanna is a dangerous red zone weapon. He only has 10 catches but 5 of them are for touchdowns. The Sooner rushing attack is led by DeMarco Murray. He has 207 carries for 911 yards, and 13 touchdowns. He also has 52 catches and 4 touchdown catches. The Sooners struggle in the kicking game as they have only converted 11 out of 17 field goal attempts.
Baylor has had a great season so far but some of the luster came off the season with back to back losses against Oklahoma St and Texas A&M. They have outscored opponents 33-28 on the season and are averaging 489 yards a game, including 292 passing. They are giving up 424 yards a game, including 259 yards passing. They have a turnover ratio of -3. The offense is led by dual threat quarterback Robert Griffin III. Griffin has over 3,600 combined passing and rushing yards, 28 total touchdowns (20 passing) and 6 interceptions. Baylor rushes for almost 200 yards a game. Jay Finley has 166 carries for 1,073 yards, and 11 touchdown runs. Five Baylor receivers have at least 34 catches and 342 yards on the season. The top receiver is Kendal Wright with 63 catches, 798 yards, and 6 touchdowns. Josh Gordon and Terrance Willimas also have multiple touchdown catches.
I expect a ton of points in this game as both these teams have explosive offenses and defenses that struggle to stop teams sometimes. Oklahoma needs to get over the mental block of playing on the road, but Byalor might not be a true road game. There is a good chance Sooner nation travels to nearby Waco and make it more like a neutral site game than a road game.
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