[BAYLOR FOOTBALL] Baylor Travels to Norman to Face off with Oklahoma

Mon Oct 31 13:11:38 CDT 2022

BAYLOR ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS – Oct. 31, 2022

Baylor Travels to Norman to Face off with Oklahoma
Bears look for second consecutive win over Sooners

For more information contact: Brent Ingram; 210-845-8651, brent_ingram at baylor.edu<mailto:brent_ingram at baylor.edu> or Max Calderone; 254-265-1639, max_calderone at baylor.edu<mailto:max_calderone at baylor.edu>

2022 Baylor Football Media Materials<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbaylor.app.box.com%2Fs%2Fkmivkwskpgdkj2u6v7ixn774v5634pjf&data=05%7C01%7CBrent_Ingram%40baylor.edu%7C27e577f8fddd48305b9508dabaeee2f3%7C22d2fb35256a459bbcf4dc23d42dc0a4%7C0%7C0%7C638027832428018818%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Z3s7fx30KbZk7hQsDRVTK1YXk68P632dRm97kCPQVfc%3D&reserved=0>

WACO, Texas -- Winners of two consecutive, Baylor will hit the road on Saturday, traveling to face Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., with kickoff at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium set for 2 p.m. The game will be televised live on ESPN+, with Courtney Lyle (play-by-play), Ryan Leaf (analyst) and Tori Petry (sideline) on the call.

The game will also be broadcast live on the Baylor Sports Network from Learfield, with the Voice of the Bears, John Morris (play-by-play), J.J. Joe (analyst) and Ricky Thompson (sideline) on the call. In addition, the game will be broadcast live on radio nationally via Compass Media Network, with Gregg Daniels (play-by-play) and Steve Beuerlein (analyst) voicing the action.

Baylor (5-3, 3-2 Big 12 Conference) will be facing off with Oklahoma (5-3, 2-3 Big 12) with both teams riding two-game winning streaks. The Bears sit in a three-way tie for third in the league, a game behind Kansas State (4-1) and two behind TCU (5-0). The Sooners are just a game behind the Bears and have consecutive wins over Kansas and Iowa State.

STORY LINES

•  Baylor enters the matchup with Oklahoma fresh off a 45-17 rout of Texas Tech on Saturday in Lubbock. The Bears held a 24-3 lead early in the third and scored 21 unanswered after the Red Raiders cut the lead to seven.

• Baylor intercepted five passes in the win at Texas Tech, at least one from each Red Raiders QB, marking its most since 1989 vs. TCU.

• BU is under the direction of third-year head coach Dave Aranda, the 2021 George Munger and Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year. Aranda took over prior to the 2020 season after a historic run for four years as the associate head coach and defensive coordinator at LSU, helping the Tigers to the 2019 National Championship and 2019 Southeastern Conference Championship.

• Running back Richard Reese ranks second in the nation in rushing yards (791) and rushing TDs (12) among all NCAA freshman. Reese had 148 yards and three scores in the win at Texas Tech.

• The Bears are seeking their second all-time win at Oklahoma and their first since 2014. OU owns a 28-4 all-time record in the series and has won 14 of 15 in Norman.

• QB Blake Shapen has thrown for 1,819 yards and 13 TDs in his first full season as the starter. He ranks among the single-season program record holders in passing efficiency (152.6) and completion percentage (67.4).

• Senior TE Ben Sims is the all-time leader in TD grabs (11) among Baylor tight ends.

• Baylor returns the second-most games played among its four returning starting offensive linemen in the nation. The Bears are led on the front five by preseason All-America selections in Connor Galvin and Jacob Gall.

• Defensive lineman Siaki Ika is a preseason All-American by five outlets, including Athlon Sports, Phil Steele, Associated Press, Pro Football Network and Pick Six Preview. Ika was the Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year in 2021.

SERIES HISTORY

• Oklahoma leads the all-time series with Baylor, 28-4, including a 14-1 mark in games played in Norman. The Bears last won in Norman in 2014, a 48-14 victory over the fourth-ranked Sooners. Baylor won the last meeting in Waco, 27-14, which snapped a seven-game losing streak in the series.

LAST MEETING

• Baylor bounced back from a loss at TCU the week prior to spring a 27-14 win on No. 4 Oklahoma in Waco in 2021. The Bears scored 24 unanswered points after falling behind 7-0 and got an Isaiah Hankins field goal as the clock expired to post the convincing win and allow the McLane Stadium crowd to storm the field. Baylor improved to 8-2 and 5-2 in the Big 12 and dropped the Sooners to 9-1.

• Baylor’s defense held OU to just 260 yards, the fewest in Lincoln Riley’s five seasons as the head coach and two years as the offensive coordinator.

• QB Gerry Bohanon rushed for two scores and threw for another, going for 12 of 21 through the air and rushing for 107 yards. Abram Smith had 20 carries for 148 yards as the Bears rolled to 297 yards on the ground. Tyquan Thornton caught the BU touchdown pass and had four grabs for 41 yards.

• Defensively, Terrel Bernard had nine tackles, including two sacks with Dillon Doyle and Jalen Pitre each adding five.

SCOUTING THE SOONERS

• Oklahoma is under the direction of first-year head coach Brent Venables, who took his first head coaching job after a storied career as a defensive coordinator, including 10 at Clemson - which featured two NCAA titles - after 13 years as the defensive coordinator at OU.

• Venables is assisted by offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, who took over after two years as the OC at Ole Mis and one at UCF. Longtime defensive mind Ted Roof is the defensive coordinator for Venables, a former DC at UMass, Georgia Tech, Duke, Minnesota, Auburn, UCF, Penn State, NC State, App State and Vanderbilt during his career, which also featured four years as the head coach at Duke (2004-07). He most recently was the DC at Vanderbilt. Todd Bates, the 2019 Recruiter of the Year while at Clemson, serves as the associate head coach and has been on the same staff as Venables since 2017.

• The Sooners are coming off a 27-13 win at Iowa State on Saturday, extending a two-game winning streak after posting a 52-42 win over Kansas on Oct. 15. The Sooners have bounced back after a three-game losing streak that featured setbacks vs. Kansas State, at TCU and vs. Texas.

• The Sooners average 217.5 yards on the ground - the third-best in the league - and 236.9 yards in the air, holding foes to 438 yards of total offense, including 189.8 on the ground and 248.3 passing. OU running back Eric Gray has rolled to 796 yards on the ground with six TDs, an average of 99.5 yards per game. Dillon Gabriel has thrown for 1,766 yards with 14 TDs and just one interception, completing 64.2 percent of his passes. Marvin Mims has 34 grabs for 558 yards with three TDs, while Brayden Willis has five TD grabs and 320 yards.

• OU is led defensively by David Ugwoegbu (68 tackles) and Danny Stutsman (67 tackles), with Reggie Grimes owning a team-leading four sacks. CJ Colden has two interceptions and Ethan Downs leads the team with five QB hurries.

BAYLOR ROUTS TECH BEHIND STINGY DEFENSE

• Baylor won its second consecutive with a 45-17 rout of Texas Tech, earning its first win in Lubbock since 1990 in a series that was played in Dallas-Fort Worth for 10 consecutive years.

• The Bears rolled over Texas Tech, opening up a 24-3 lead midway through the third quarter and then scoring 21 unanswered in the fourth quarter after the Red Raiders cut the lead to 24-17. Baylor forced three Tech QBs to combined to throw five interceptions, its most in a game since 1989, getting one returned for a touchdown by AJ McCarty to clinch the win.

• The Bears completely dominated in all phases, owning the ball for 40 minutes and 17 seconds - their second consecutive game with over 40 minutes of possession time - while running for 231 yards and throwing for 211. The high-octane Tech offense was held to 159 yards passing on 12 of 38, rushing for 149 yards, including 31 yards on a final play of the first half.

• The Red Raiders saw freshman sensation Richard Reese run for 148 yards and three scores on 36 carries, while Blake Shapen added 211 yards and a score on 19 of 30 passing. Defensively, BU had six sacks, including three from defensive lineman Gabe Hall. McCarty, Al Walcott, Devin Lemear, Mark Milton and Tevin Williams III each had interceptions.

FOURTH-DOWN AGGRESSIVENESS

• Baylor under Coach Dave Aranda is one of the most aggressive teams in college football on fourth down. The Bears rank second nationally in fourth-down conversions (18), trailing only Texas Tech (22).

• The Bears have converted 66.7 percent of their fourth-down attempts, which ranks eighth among teams that have attempted 15+ fourth-down tries.

BEARS IN NATIONAL STAT RANKINGS

• Baylor ranks among the nation’s top 30 leaders in 16 categories, including checking in No. 22 in rushing defense, No. 15 in scoring offense and passing efficiency and No. 27 in total offense.

• Individually, Richard Reese ranks seventh in rushing TDs and 20th in rushing yards. Blake Shapen ranks 28th in completion percentage.

REESE EMERGES

• Baylor freshman running back Richard Reese is off to a hot start to his collegiate career, leading the Bears in rushing through his first seven NCAA games.

• Reese has 791 yards rushing over 152 carries with 12 TDs, averaging 5.2 yards per carry and 98.9 yards per game.

• A native of Bellville, Texas, Reese has three games with 100+ yards, including consecutive games vs. Kansas and at Texas Tech. Among NCAA freshmen, Reese ranks second in rushing TDs and rushing yards.

HALL, REESE HONORED FOLLOWING TECH WIN

• Baylor’s Gabe Hall and Richard Reese were honored following the win at Texas Tech, with Hall earning Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Week and Reese named Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Week.

• It marks the second newcomer of the week nod for Reese, who also earned the honor in week 4, and the first weekly honor for Hall.

• Reese rushed a career-high 36 times for 148 yards and three TDs in the win, his second consecutive game with over 100 yards rushing and his third of the year. Reese has twice had a three-TD game, also turning the trick in a win over Texas State.

• Hall notched his second career three-sack outing and his first of 2022. A preseason All-Big 12 Conference selection by Pick Six Preview, Athlon and Phil Steele, Hall is one of 12 BU players with sacks on the year. In the win over Texas Tech, BU totaled six sacks and had five interceptions.

BAYLOR LEADS NATION IN FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL WINS

• Baylor athletics is in the midst of a historic run of success, including recent national titles in men’s and women’s basketball, and football coming off a Big 12 Conference Championship in 2021 and the 2022 Sugar Bowl.

• Since 2011, and as of Sept. 28, 2022, no other school can compete with Baylor’s run, as the Bears lead the nation in wins combined among football, and men’s and women’s basketball. Baylor has 56 more wins than the next closest school, Notre Dame. The next Big 12 Conference team on the list is West Virginia at No. 22 and Texas at No. 25.

18 STRAIGHT GAMES HOLDING OPPONENT UNDER 30

• Over the course of the 2021 season through the start of 2022, Baylor’s defense put up a historic run, the likes of which haven’t been seen in 36 years, holding 18 consecutive opponents to 30 or fewer points.

• It was the longest such Baylor streak in the modern-era of college football and the longest since 1984-86. Only three times since 1964 has Baylor had a streak of 18 or more games holding an opponent to 30 or fewer points, also doing it in 1979-81, a 25-game stretch.

• The Bears were one of only three teams to hold each opponent of 2021 under 30 points, joining Clemson and Cincinnati. Last year, Baylor on average held opponents to 10.6 points per game below their averages in other games.

HISTORIC TIME OF POSSESSION IN KANSAS, TECH WINS

• The Bears held the football for 40 minutes and 10 seconds in the win over Kansas, including for 12 minutes in the second quarter.

• In the following game, BU held the football for 40 minutes and 17 seconds in a win at Texas Tech, including over 22 minutes in the first 30 ticks.

• It marked the longest time of possessions for Baylor in a game since a 14-0 win over NC State in 1995, when the Bears held it for 41:31. Baylor also held the football for 40:01 in a tilt with SMU in 1993.

PERSON > PLAYER

• A hallmark of Coach Dave Aranda’s philosophy in building a program is placing an importance on understanding that the person is more important than the player. This mantra is executed in everything the program touches on a daily basis. Throughout the football building, signage adorns the walls that emphasize, “better people make better players” and that Baylor will “win with character”.

• Aranda preaches that players focus on today and be authentically themselves in an effort to be comfortable and confident in their roles.

WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE

• Baylor has forced considerably more turnovers than it has allowed in 31 games under head coach Dave Aranda.

• BU has 58 takeaways (41 INTs, 17 FR) and 36 giveaways (21 INTs, 15 FL) in 31 games under Aranda.

• Baylor has scored 10 non-offensive touchdowns in 31 games under Aranda – three kickoff returns (Ebner x 3), five interception returns (Pitre x 2, McCarty, Walcott, Woods), one punt return (Holmes) and one fumble return (Woods).

RANKED IN 10 OF LAST 13 SEASONS

• Baylor has been ranked or receiving votes in nine of 10 polls in 2022 and is currently receiving votes in the AP Top-25 and the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.

• Baylor has been ranked in the AP Top 25 in 10 of 13 seasons since 2010, after going 17 years between national rankings (1993-2010). BU has been ranked in 23 of 25 spots since 2013 (exceptions No. 1 and No. 23).

SPREADING IT AROUND

• The Bears have spread the football around in the passing game in 2022. Baylor ranks tied for third in the nation as of Oct. 28, with completions to 18 different players. Only Tulane and Michigan (20) and NC State, Penn State, Oregon and Colorado (19) have been more diversified.

ARANDA THROUGH 31 GAMES IN BAYLOR HISTORY

• Dave Aranda is 19-12 in his first 31 games as the Baylor head coach, which is the most since George Sauer (1950-55) and Bob Woodruff (1947-49) won 19 through the same span in program history.

MOST WINS IN TEXAS IN LAST 10+ YEARS

• As of Oct. 30, Baylor has won 95 games since 2011, tied for the second-most among the state of Texas’ 12 FBS teams.

• BU’s 95 wins in the last 10+ years are tied with Texas A&M (95) and Houston (95), and ahead of TCU (93), Texas (83), SMU (68), Texas Tech (67), UTSA (66), North Texas (64), Rice (53), UTEP (42) and Texas State (38).

NEXT UP

• Baylor will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 12, hosting Kansas State at 6 p.m. on either FOX or FS1 in Waco at McLane Stadium.

- BaylorBears.com -

--
Brent Ingram | Assistant AD for Communications
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 210-845-8651

[signature_1049805336]

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/fbmedia/attachments/20221031/1339d5fe/attachment-0001.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 20339 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/fbmedia/attachments/20221031/1339d5fe/attachment-0001.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: BU FB Game_Notes 2022 9_vs OU PACKAGE.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 1854592 bytes
Desc: BU FB Game_Notes 2022 9_vs OU PACKAGE.pdf
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/fbmedia/attachments/20221031/1339d5fe/attachment-0001.pdf>