NORMAN —Baylor’s defense didn’t make anything easy on OU.
And while the Sooners’ put up a valiant effort, ultimately it was the Bears’ running game that made the difference, as OU fell 38-35 to Baylor on Saturday on Owen Field.
The Sooners (5-4, 2-4 Big 12) will have to wait at least another week to secure bowl eligibility.
Here are four quick takeaways from the OU loss:
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Bears not running on empty
It was no secret Baylor (6-3, 4-2) was going to make running the ball a priority.
The Bears have a mauling offensive line and a freshman running back in Richard Reese that had been excellent of late, while the Sooners had struggled to defend the run —outside of last week when they held a toothless Iowa State rushing attack to just 66 yards.
But it wasn’t Reese the Bears fed Saturday.
Instead, it was junior running back Craig "Sqwirl" Williams, who hadn’t rushed for more than 68 yards in any game this season, who carried the load.
Williams had 25 carries for 192 yards and two touchdowns —career highs in each category —as Baylor ran for 281 yards.
"We just weren't good enough today," Sooners coach Brent Venables said. "The discipline, the physicality when we had to get a stop and stop the run or convert, taking care of the football.
"We just didn't play complementary football today."
Baylor got the ball back with 4:05 remaining after the Sooners cut the deficit to three on Eric Gray’s touchdown run.
The Bears then stuck with their run-first approach to not only move the ball but also to burn the clock.
While Baylor did that —not allowing OU to regain possession —it was a third-down conversion on a pass by Baylor quarterback Blake Shapen that proved to be the big play on the final drive.
Shapen hit Hal Presley for a 14-yard gain. Even with the conversion, Baylor was just 4 of 13 on third downs.
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Tip drill
Dillon Gabriel had thrown just one interception on his first 201 attempts this season.
But all of the good luck that Gabriel had banked up doing that stretch dried up Saturday against Baylor.
Gabriel threw three first-half interceptions —all off of tips —against the Bears.
“It’s a pretty short story for us offensively,” Sooners offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby said, pointing to not only the turnovers but a first-half fourth-down stop. “We’re on the wrong end of this thing because of those four possessions and how they ended.”
It was Gabriel’s second career three-interception game.
His first came in a loss to Cincinnati during his freshman season at Central Florida in 2019.
Gabriel’s first interception came just after Baylor had tied the game at 7.
Bears’ defensive end T.J. Franklin tipped Gabriel’s pass into the hands of linebacker Dillon Doyle.
Three plays later, Baylor took its first lead on Jordan Nabors’ 6-yard run.
On the first plays of the second quarter, Gabriel zipped a pass over the middle to Brayden Willis.
Willis got his hand on it, deflecting it into the hands of Baylor safety Devin Lemear.
The interception gave the Bears a short field once again.
This time, OU’s defense came up with a couple of big plays, and Baylor had to settle for a field goal that put them up 17-14.
Gabriel’s third interception was off a tip by wide receiver Jalil Farooq that changed the trajectory much less than the first two.
Safety Christian Morgan came up with the pick, though this time the field position wasn’t nearly as advantageous and the Sooners held Baylor to a punt.
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Penalties hurt Sooners
OU came into the game as the most penalized team in the Big 12, and didn’t do anything to better that position Saturday.
The Sooners finished with 8 penalties for 64 yards.
Some of the penalties the Sooners had against the Bears were particularly costly.
In the waning seconds of the first half, center Andrew Raym was flagged for both holding and illegal hands to the face on the same play.
The Bears took the latter, forcing Zach Schmit into a 55-yard field-goal try to close the half.
Dillon Gabriel had run down inside the 10 on the play.
Schmit’s field-goal try had plenty of distance, but it was wide left and Baylor took a 24-21 lead into halftime.
Early in the third quarter, Sooners linebacker David Ugwoegbu made a nice open-field tackle that would’ve given the Bears third-and-long deep in OU territory.
But defensive lineman Isaiah Coe was called for a personal foul, giving Baylor a first-and-goal at the 7 instead.
Two plays later —and another OU penalty, this one a pass interference call in the end zone on C.J. Coldon —Baylor’s Richard Reese scored a 2-yard touchdown to put Baylor up 31-21.
"We couldn't get out of our own way at the right times," Sooners coach Brent Venables said.
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Fourth-down blues
While the Sooners held Baylor to just 4 of 13 on third down, Baylor converted three times on fourth downs.
The biggest came early in the fourth quarter, when Craig Williams gained two on fourth-and-1 from the Bears’ 29.
Seven plays later, Qualan Johnson scored from 10 yards out to put the Bears up 38-28.
The Sooners’ only fourth-down try came up short.
Marcus Major, lining up in the wildcat, was held to no gain on fourth-and-1 from the Baylor 35 early in the second quarter.
The Bears took advantage of that one, too, as Williams broke off a 51-yard run on the first play and a few moments later, carried it in from a yard out to put Baylor up 24-14.
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Gray has another big day
When Eric Gray arrived from Tennessee, a big part of his apparel was his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield.
He’d done that some but not consistently.
Saturday, he was a big part of the passing game, tying his career high with eight catches for 58 yards.
He also ran for 106 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries.
Gray’s biggest receiving game at OU before Saturday was in the loss to Kansas State earlier this year when he had seven catches for 45 yards.
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