WACO, Texas — If there was a day to catch No. 1 Oklahoma napping it figured to be Saturday. Facing an improved opponent it had never lost to and seven days before facing its Red River rival in a showdown between two top five teams, the trap was set for the Sooners to either stumble or struggle.
Neither occurred at Floyd Casey Stadium.
The Sooners blasted Baylor early and often, cruising to a 49-17 victory to hold up their end of the hype for next Saturday’s resumption of the Red River Rivalry.
“We knew we had to come out and take care of business today,” OU quarterback Sam Bradford said.
But it wasn’t a typical business-like performance. OU didn’t methodically grind the Bears into the ground like it routinely has over the last decade.
Saturday’s outcome was decided before the first 15 minutes had expired. It was kind of like watching one of those great white sharks feast on a seal on The Discovery Channel. OU’s initial attack was so ferocious that Baylor never recovered.
“The guys were really solid, really focused and they played really well. We played well in all parts of the game,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “I loved the way we started the game.”
For him or anyone that was wearing crimson and cream, it was a thing of beauty.
OU’s first four series resulted in touchdowns and quick ones at that. Bradford hit Manny Johnson for a 53-yard score just 70 seconds into the game. DeMarco Murray, Bradford and Mossis Madu all added short touchdown runs to give OU a four-touchdown lead by the end of the first quarter.
Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin proved to be the kind of athlete who might well terrorize the Big 12 Conference for the next three seasons. He rushed for 102 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but most of his damage came late.
The Bears’ first four series resulted in three punts and a turnover on downs.
“You go back to four plays in the first quarter that might have had a chance to determine the outcome of the game,” Baylor coach Art Briles said. “We needed a spark. We weren’t doing anything offensively.”
All five teams OU has played this season have said the same thing. Get something good to happen early and it might have been a different story. For the fifth straight game, OU didn’t let that happen.
It would have been easy to let it slide.
With all the weight next week’s showdown with Texas will carry both locally and nationally, it would have been easy for the Sooners to catch themselves looking ahead. Yet OU actually looked back in preparation for the Bears.
“It was a big emphasis this week to come into this game focused because this is our first Big 12 road game,” defensive end Jeremy Beal said. “Our first road game in the Big 12 last season was against Colorado, and coach Stoops made it a big emphasis that we needed to come in here ready to play.”
The Sooners did.
Bradford threw for 372 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Neither Murray, Chris Brown nor Mossis Madu cracked the 100-yard mark, but they combined for 198 and four touchdowns.
Baylor (2-3, 0-1) got on track a little in the second quarter. Griffin had a pair of short touchdown runs in the second quarter and Ben Parks added a 32-yard field goal in the third quarter.
Hardly enough to cause any worries that college football’s top-ranked team wouldn’t be walking down the Cotton Bowl ramp a week later. By about 3:30 Saturday afternoon, the Sooners turned their eyes to what lies ahead.
“It’s going to be great,” defensive end Auston English said. “We did what we needed to do today and now we can get ready for it.”
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
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