Oklahoma took equal parts elation and frustration away from Saturday night’s 37-30 double-overtime victory over Baylor.
For a team that has struggled to find any consistency, gutting out a second straight victory offers a lift. Of course, if OU would have made a few more plays in regulation, the extra periods wouldn’t have been necessary.
Those were the factors Sooner coach Bob Stoops was weighing after the victory.
“I’d prefer to make a few more plays and win by a couple touchdowns,” he said. “In the end, it tests you and it does build some character and give the guys confidence. I think in the long run it can really help them.”
The Sooners improved to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the Big 12 Conference and rose above .500 for the first time this season.
They also were able to sustain offensive momentum for the first time. That hardly seemed possible with the Sooners’ situation at running back.
Jacob Gutierrez was forced into starting duties with Adrian Peterson and Donta Hickson injured and Kejuan Jones suspended.
Gutierrez responded by carrying 30 times for 173 yards and two touchdowns.
Quarterback Rhett Bomar posted career highs in completions (24), attempts (42) and yards (269). He completed passes to nine different receivers with four going for longer that 20 yards.
“I felt like he took some great steps,” Stoops said. “I thought he had a really good game throwing the football.”
His last throw of the night, a touch-pass perfectly lofted over a defender and into Juaquin Iglesias’ hands for a game-winning 21-yard touchdown, was probably his best toss of the night and maybe the season.
“The improvement in the offense shows us where we want to try to be for the remainder of the season,” said wide receiver Malcolm Kelly, who caught five passes for 41 yards. “We have a young offense and a lot of young receivers who made plays. It goes to show you that hard work pays off.”
That’s where the elation came from. OU stepped up and made plays for a good part of the game, particularly on the offensive end.
Frustration comes from errors that kept Baylor in the game.
Stoops said he preached all week his belief that turnovers, penalties and special teams would be a huge factor in the game. The Sooners answered the sermons by turning the ball over four times, two of them being very costly fumbles, committing seven penalties — less than Baylor, though the Bears’ were not near as costly — and giving up a 98-yard kickoff return.
It was enough to bring the two teams even, 27-27, after four quarters, even as the Sooners owned a 183-yard edge in total offense and a 20-minute time-of-possession advantage.
“The yardage, the conversions, everything was good,” Stoops said. “The bottom line was it’s the three areas we harped on all week (where we struggled).”
The Bears’ first touchdown came off an interception that set them up at the Sooner 6.
Dominique Zeigler’s 55-yard touchdown catch, the play that sent the game into overtime, was set in motion when Gutierrez fumbled at the Bears’ 18 with less than three minutes left in regulation.
Those are the kind of mistakes that drive Stoops and the rest of the OU coaching staff crazy. The reasons for them will go under the microscope again this week as OU prepares to face Nebraska (5-2, 2-2) at 11 a.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.
John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
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