Baylor vs. Oklahoma: Score and Twitter Reaction

What was billed as a pivotal showdown in the Big 12 turned out to be a one-sided slaughter for the road team. The 12th-ranked Baylor Bears withstood an early onslaught from the 15th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners before kicking things into gear. 

The Sooners grabbed a 14-3 lead in the first quarter. It seemed like Oklahoma was on its way to a rout, but that was as good as things would get for Bob Stoops' team. Everything went downhill in the second quarter and just kept snowballing. Baylor scored 45 unanswered points.

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Baylor	3	21	14	10	48
Oklahoma	14	0	0	0	14

Baylor's performance on Saturday also erased a lot of bad history for the program. According to ESPN Radio producer Jon Madani, the Bears ended two long streaks with one victory:

Baylor wide receiver Corey Coleman was the clear standout in the game, though there are a lot of game balls to go around. As Chris B. Brown of SmartFootball.com noted on Twitter, the Sooners had no answer for Coleman:

It's important to note that Coleman had those numbers before the end of the third quarter. He finished the game with 15 catches, 224 receiving yards and two total touchdowns.

Oklahoma's problem was defending the pass, as Coleman's huge game illustrates. David Ubben of Fox Sports Southwest noted how the coverage schemes for the Sooners were baffling in how bland and predictable they were:

Quarterback Bryce Petty was masterful for Baylor, easily his most impressive performance of the season, going 32-of-42 for 387 yards and one touchdown. He made history in the process, breaking Robert Griffin III's school record for 300-yard passing games, per Baylor Football's official Twitter:

Even though Petty finished the game with just one touchdown pass, it was his work through the air that set up most of the rushing touchdowns Baylor had. Head coach Art Briles talked about his quarterback's focus during the week to The Associated Press, via The Dallas Morning News:

“He’s focused and ready, and he’s in a no-nonsense attitude, which I appreciate whole-heartedly, and that’s the way our whole football team needs to be,” Briles said. “We’ll play around in January. Right now it’s business.”

Petty needed a great game in a big spot to quiet his detractors. 

Despite Petty's three touchdown passes in a blowout win over Kansas last week, his completion percentage over the previous two games was 49.2, and West Virginia humiliated him on October 18. Getting back on track in a nationally televised rivalry game could do wonders for his confidence moving forward. 

Speaking of national television, Dane Brugler of CBS Sports pointed out during the game how the early start time may end up benefiting Baylor in the eyes of the College Football Playoff selection committee:

On the other side, this was one of those games where the rain came pouring down on Oklahoma early and never let up. The Sooners played the entire game without wide receiver Sterling Shepard, who suffered a groin injury last week.

Their starting quarterback also suffered an injury. Trevor Knight was taken off the field on a cart following a fourth-quarter sack, via SportsCenter:

Knight wasn't having a good game before he got hurt. He looked out of sorts most of the day, as evidenced by his throwing a bad interception over the middle in the second quarter that set up a one-yard touchdown to give Baylor the lead. He badly underthrew an open receiver on what should have been a touchdown. 

Nothing worked right for the Sooners after the first quarter. Their eight drives after taking a 14-3 lead ended in an interception, missed field goal, punt, punt, turnover on downs, punt, turnover on downs and a punt. 

Oklahoma's national title hopes effectively ended with that loss to Kansas State on October 18. Now, its chances at a Big 12 championship are virtually nonexistent with three conference losses.

Baylor kept its playoff hopes alive with this huge win. It has a showdown with Kansas State at the end of the season that could decide the Big 12 title.