Jalen Hurts, No. 10 Oklahoma Stun No. 13 Baylor with Historic 25-Point Comeback

No. 10 Oklahoma engineered the largest comeback in program history Saturday by overcoming a 28-3 road deficit to defeat No. 13 Baylor 34-31 on Saturday at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas.

ESPN's Chris Fowler announced the historical note on the ABC broadcast. OU's football team began playing in 1895.

ESPN's Emmanuel Acho and ESPN Stats & Info provided more historical context:

Sooners quarterback Jalen Hurts did it all with four passing touchdowns and 411 yards (297 passing, 114 rushing) despite the absence of No. 1 wideout CeeDee Lamb, who missed the game for an undisclosed reason. Per George Stoia of the Oklahoma Daily, Lamb traveled with the team and warmed up pregame.

Down 31-10 at halftime, Hurts and the Sooners scored 24 unanswered points, which included touchdown passes to Austin Stogner, Theo Wease and Brayden Willis.

A Gabe Brkic 31-yard field goal gave OU a 34-31 lead with 1:45 remaining, and the Sooner defense shut the door when Nik Bonitto picked off a pass from Baylor signal-caller Charlie Brewer.

The Bears quarterback was exceptional overall, accounting for all four of his team's touchdowns (two passing, two rushing). But Hurts was magical on one of the most memorable nights in the Sooners' 124-year history.

Notable Performances

Oklahoma QB Jalen Hurts: 30-of-42, 297 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT; 27 carries, 114 yards

Oklahoma RB Kennedy Brooks: 18 carries, 93 yards

Oklahoma WR Lee Morris: 7 catches, 86 yards

Baylor QB Charlie Brewer: 18-of-29, 194 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT; 17 carries, 65 yards, 2 TD

Baylor WR Denzel Mims: 6 catches, 92 yards, 2 TD

Baylor Didn't Collapse; Hurts Simply Dominated

It's hard to come up with a silver lining for Baylor.

The Bears were staring at a 10-0 record (7-0 in the Big 12) and shot at sneaking into the College Football Playoff if they held on to a 25-point edge at home.

That didn't happen, and they are left wondering what might have been during a magical season where Baylor has lived on the edge and still come out on top with five single-digit victories.

There are a few causes for the demise.

For one, Baylor's final five drives ended on a fumble, three punts and an interception. Three of the drives were three-and-outs, and another lasted just one play.

The Bears also ran just 16 second-half plays, or 43 fewer than Oklahoma did during that same span. The Sooners enjoyed a massive time-of-possession differential, holding on to the ball for 41:11 and outgaining Baylor 525-307.

The fact that the Bears couldn't muster any second-half offense didn't help, as a clock-killing drive or two would have been Baylor's best defense against the potent Sooner attack.

Ultimately, the main takeaway for why the Bears lost doubles as the reason Baylor shouldn't be despondent over the defeat: Hurts is an incredible football player, and athletes of his caliber can prove impossible to beat on any given night.

Hurts wasn't invincible, committing three turnovers off an interception and two fumbles. But his best traits on Saturday were his perseverance and stamina: He ran or threw on 46 of his team's 59 plays in the second half alone and somehow didn't succumb to fatigue en route to carrying the Sooner offense to 24 second-half points.

Hurts wasn't avoiding contact on those 46 plays either. Of note, his helmet visor popped off after one hard hit, but he somehow stayed in the game:

Hurts lost the ball on a fumble with his team down 31-17 two plays later, but the ex-Alabama star bounced back and led the Sooners on three straight scoring drives, including this one to the game at 31:

And he did all this without Cee Dee Lamb, the owner of 44 receptions for 983 yards and 13 touchdowns in just nine games this season.

NFL Network's Rich Eisen put it best:

Hurts is just playing on a different level and speed than everyone else on Saturdays, to the point where seeing him do the same on Sundays in the near future seems like a distinct possibility.

What's Next?

Both teams will host Big 12 opponents on Saturday at to-be-determined times: OU will welcome TCU, and Baylor will face No. 19 Texas.