OU\Baylor breakdown...

[K2C Sooner]

Does anyone care to compare. Here's mine. It's very subjective because I have watched all of the Sooner games and only one Baylor game. I have read some posters that have complained about certain aspects of the Baylor play this year. Feel free to join in, agree or disagree. I would love to see a Baylor fan join in...

Home field advantage...Huge IMO. Baylor +1
Special teams....Baylor +1. The only reason I say this is we seem very stagnant lately.
Coaching...even....Maybe goes to Baylor if Lebby stole our signs....LOL

OL....Baylor +1. Alveraz is back to practice, but we are still young at the tackles.
QB...OU +1... This might have went to Baylor a few weeks ago, but not to a true freshman.
Wide Outs.... Baylor +1. They got more than one hoss in the game.
Rb's....OU +1.....No need to go here.

DL....OU +1. We have unbelievable depth. Baylor has three really good DL's, but I think the backup is hurt.
LB.....OU +1..I have seen a lot of posts where both the Baylor LB's and secondary are a weakness this year.
DB....OU+1.....See the post above.

Baylor and OU actually have very comparable stats for the year. We win on turnovers and penalty yards allowed and sacks. We win on strength of schedule.

That's it. Anything you would change or add?

 

[K2C Sooner]

Nothing guy's? I figured Plaino or some of you other coaching types might have a comment or two? If you think I'm off base, tell me.

It doesn't look like any Baylor fans are reading the board........

 

[Okie70]

Have watched parts of most of the Baylor games and you are pretty accurate. Not sure the Baylor ST's are all that but OU has not been lighting it up in the return game. D seems to have the most disparity. From the SMU game I thought Baylor looked very soft on D. Gave up lots to big plays; did get some sacks and turnovers. So will probably come down to TOs and whether Mike can figure out how to get to the newbie QB. KState did a decent job so OU should manage it. Most intereste

 

[Okie70]

Most interested in how they defend the run. If the OL guys some traction and hoping Mixon and Perrine will keep the Baylor deal off the field for 30 minutes. High hopes I know.

 

[stuck in del rio]

Definitely not a coach type but I don't think comparing QB to QB or WR to WR tells anything. I think a better comparison would be WR vs Secondaries or QBs vs defenses. I wish I could provide that but I lack the knowledge and talent...

I do disagree with your RB evaluation. Shock Linwood is the best RB in the Big 12. And he is used much more in his offense than we use our RBs, which has a lot to do with our OL capabilities, I'm afraid.

 

[soonerdvm]

totally agree

Also, if there is a huge advantage, it should count for more.... Baylor has a number of advantages all over the field. They have the advantage up front, both sides of the ball.

OFFENSE: I want to see our offensive line block against a legit D line... .and Baylor has that. I know Baylor's D line hasn't shown up every week, especially vs the run, but they are loaded there w/talent... .and we should expect their A-game. Plus, Phil Bennett loves to blitz. Maybe not as much this year, but given that Baker has struggled against that (2nd half vs. Wva, all of Texas game)... I expect to see plenty of that. Their secondary is pretty weak. It is the weakness in their team. We have to get the ground game going, and everything will open up. One thing that worries me... .Mayfield's brief history in the spotlight isn't great... (Texas twice - once w TT, and most of the Tenn game, even this year's Tech game wasn't overly impressive).... I just hope that isn't a trend.

DEFENSE: This is the best offense in the country. So expectations should be limited. Stenham will be a star. The good thing for OU is, we get him in a advantageous spot. Mike Stoops has tape on him now. Granted, he looked really good against K-State on the road. But I think Stoops can mix in some confusing blitz schemes to get a few stops. I hope so at least. He hasn't had much luck at all stopping this system - see every Baylor game in the last 4 years... and the Tulsa game this year). As good as our secondary is, and it's probably the best in the Big XII, they have the best WR's in the country and it's not even close. One of the best WR cores you'll ever see in CFB. I expect Coleman to be in NY in December. The run game is a bitch to stop with the way they are constructed. They force you to either man up in the secondary against those stud WR's, or bring help in the secondary. And bringing help means one on one vs the run game. Linwood is maybe the best RB in the league.... (I actually think Mixon is right there with him talent-wise).....And they have a really good O-Line. So in the end, they will score points...... We'll have to tackle, tackle, TACKLE. And have to get a turnover... because Baylor always forces at least one.

ST: Both placekickers are about the same.... neither team has done much in the return game to give an advantage either way. Baylor never punts....

 

[Schoonerman]

Sorry for the cliché, but this one comes down to trench warfare. BU has the #1 rushing offense in the conference. We must commit to stopping the run and force their true freshman QB to win it with his arm. They'll make some big plays, but we've also got some very good DBs who'll make an equal number of plays and may be the best they'll go up against all season.

On offense, it is imperative that OU outrush the Bears and by a considerable margin. Run the clock, wear down their D-line, protect Baker and OU wins. Genius. Pure genius!

 

[stuck in del rio]

I am not going to be a downer. I'm not.

I predicted a 6-6 season in the summer, so we are way ahead of where I thought we would be. That doesn't mean we will win here.

Mentally, I think we have the edge even with this being an away game. If we can win at Tennessee, I don't think 50,000 in Waco will be intimidating. Except for the freak show, of course. I also think Baylor has to have a hint of doubt because of the loss of Russell even though the frosh played well at KSU. Even with him playing well, they didn't beat KSU that badly.

I hope we get off the bus. I would love to see us play with the attitude that losing is losing, whether we lose by 3 or by 43. Don't play 10 yards off the receivers at the line of scrimmage - if they're going to beat the DBs, then so be it. Go for it on 4th down, they score in minutes anyway so what difference does it make if they go 80 or 30? I would tell Seibert he has a week off from punting...

We need to look at this as - we're the luckiest team in America...we have 3 championship bowl games in the next 3 weeks. No other conference has this schedule. All we have to do is play. The only bowl game that matters involves going 3-0 in these games, so don't hold anything back.

I wish we could use KSUs game plan and control the clock, eat time, convert every third and fourth down, wear out their defense before the fourth quarter. We need to punish them for scoring quickly and exposing their D.

Another thing, too - we haven't come close to returning a punt all year. Why not send 11? I hate seeing us not even try to block punts.