Interesting Stats RE: Baylor vs. Oklahoma

So Peterson and Hickson are out for the game. Let's take a look at what Jones did the last time he got time against Baylor.

Let me set the scene: it's 2003. Baylor was 3-7 and OU was undefeated, beating Texas A&M 77-0 the week before.

Baylor had given up an average of 165 yards per game rushing in the previous 10 games and was heading into Norman for a game with the Big XII south Champ-to-be.

And here's what OU managed in the rushing department with Kejuan Jones starting:

K.Jones 14-53
P.Thompson 4-17
Hickson 3-13
Wilson 1-11
Clayton 2-6
White 5-(minus 44)

29 rushes for 56 yards. Jones only managed 3.8 ypc.

Now let's fast forward to 2005. Baylor is holding their opponents to 121 yards per game, a 44 yard improvement. Further, Baylor won't be worried about defending the Heisman Trophy winner and 3 future NFL wide receivers. Instead OU has Bomar, a guy that might one day be a great QB, but is certainly not one yet. And his best receiver is his TE.

I would look for Baylor to offer a ton of pressure on Bomar and try and confuse him by disguising coverages, feigning blitzes and dropping back into a zone, and shutting down the rushing game to force him to win the game.

MorrissCo. will make Bomar beat them and he hasn't shown the ability to do so, yet. Especially not against a defense that ranks among the best in the nation against the pass.  ¶ 10/21/2005 0 Comments

  Baylor vs. Oklahoma Preview

I decided to not get in-depth with this one, because I simply don't have the time, but I'll share some of my thoughts on the game.

OU will very likely be without Peterson, and without the backup Hickson. Kejuan Jones will be the starter. Good news for Baylor fans as Jones was the running back when Baylor went into Norman two years ago and held OU to 56 yards rushing for the game. Our defense is much stronger this year than that team, and OUs offensive line is much worse, so stopping the run should be a reachable goal.

Bomar has not had a good season, and he's going to be facing a top 10 pass efficiency defense. Baylor's mixed coverages should confuse him and we should be able to force some turnovers throughout the game. And we'll need them, because our offense very likely won't be able to put many points on the board.

I admit it, I have lost faith in Shawn Bell. I hate it, too, because I really, really wanted to see the guy succeed. He just doesn't offer the attributes this offense needs to succeed. With our defense, I would much rather have a guy that throws two touchdowns and two interceptions every game than a guy that can barely score a touchdown, but doesn't throw interceptions. Our defense can save us from turnover, it can't save us from a plodding, unproductive offense.

That said, I think Baylor wins this game. We haven't lost consecutive games this year, and we followed up our close loss to A&M with a strong road performance. OU is better than ISU, but not much.

Prediction: Baylor shuts down OUs offense and Baylor's offense does just enough to win the game. Havens will be counted on heavily in this game to give us the margin.

Baylor -------16
Oklahoma-----9  ¶ 10/21/2005 0 Comments

  Baylor drops Nebraska game, 23-14

It's been nearly a week since this game and I still don't want to talk about it. This is a game that was very winnable and for a number of reasons it just never came together.

The defense was great again. They forced FGs when they could have given up touchdowns. They played hard even in the face of refs that wouldn't let them play good defense. They never gave up. It's just too bad the offense failed them.

I've heard people talk about how the lines failed us in this game, and I'm not going to say that the performance couldn't have been better along the lines, but look at what happened. The defense held NU to 23 points with the offense managing just 1 drive of longer than 6 plays and 23 yards. ONE DRIVE! They were on the field in difficult situations due to poor punts, poor coverage on the punts and too much time on the field.

People also want to rip on Morriss for putting Parks in. They saw, "Bell had just led us on a touchdown drive, give him another chance." Bell didn't lead us on a touchdown drive. Bell threw up a jump ball and Trent Shelton made a circus catch and then an incredibly tough run for 40-50 yards for the touchdown. The "drive" lasted 4 plays.

Bell again completed passes at a high percentage, but he gave up big sacks at the worst possible time. Examples:

2nd quarter - He gives up a sack on 3rd and 4, from the Baylor 13. A ten-yard sack that leaves Sepulveda having to quick kick the ball and it results in a poor punt that is returned to the Baylor 9 yard line. Nebraska scores a touchdown 3 plays later.

Bell had just thrown the ball up for Zeigler, who made an incredible catch on the jump ball to get a first down. On the following play, Bell gives up a 10 yard sack on first down. Baylor goes from the Nebraska 42 to the Baylor 48.

3rd quarter - He gives up a sack after passing to Whitaker for a loss of 4. The sack is a loss of 5 yards. Baylor goes from getting the ball at the 21 to punting from the 13 yard line. Nebraska gets the ball at their 39 yard line. (This was the drive following the TD "drive"; 3 plays, -8 yards)

These are the types of sacks that just kill drives and puts the defense in difficult positions.


That's all I can muster right now. I'll write up a little preview of the Baylor - Oklahoma game and throw that out. I'm just not feeling the blog-writing right now.  ¶ 10/21/2005 0 Comments