NCAAF: Oklahoma Sooners-Baylor Bears in Big 12 Showdown
The top two teams on ESPN’s Football Power Index will meet this Saturday in a critical Big 12 matchup. The Sooners are 3-point road dogs for this contest. Baylor will be starting freshman and blue-chip quarterback Jarrett Stidham for just the second time in place of the injured Seth Russell, who’s out for the year with a fractured neck. Stidham played well last week against the Kansas State Wildcats in a 31-24 victory. Oklahoma, meanwhile, ranks No. 1 on ESPN’s Football Power Index, one spot ahead of Baylor. Since their loss to the Texas Longhorns in the Red River, the Sooners have pummeled their last four opponents by a combined score of 232-50. The matchup between the Oklahoma Sooners and Baylor Bears will start at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, November 14, 2015, at McLane Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ABC.
The Oklahoma Sooners and quarterback Baker Mayfield have showed they aren’t afraid of a shootout. The Sooners are tied for second in the country with 46 points per game and Mayfield’s completing 70.2 percent of his passes for 2,812 yards and 28 touchdowns, most recently torching Iowa State for his fifth 300-yard game of the season. Watch for the Sooners to unleash Samaje Perine early. He’s totaled 185 yards and three scores in the past two games and lit up Texas Tech for 201 yards before that. Oklahoma is No. 16 overall in points allowed at 18.1 per game, and the Sooners have played a tougher schedule than the Bears going into Week 11.
The Baylor Bears is undefeated and right in the running for a playoff berth, but had its share of doubters even before starting quarterback Seth Russell was lost for the year with a neck injury. It appears freshman Jarrett Stidham could be a solid replacement. He threw for 419 yards and three touchdowns in his first start last week, but the Kansas State defense is one thing, the Oklahoma defense another. The Bears embarrassed Oklahoma in Norman last season 48-14. Baylor’s secondary is led by Big 12 interception leader Xavien Howard and is second in the conference in pass defense allowing just 223.8 yards per game.
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