Field Level Media
Dec 6, 2020
Spencer Rattler threw for 193 yards and two touchdowns as No. 11 Oklahoma beat Baylor 27-14 in Norman, Okla., on Saturday night.
It wasn't the characteristic offensive explosion for the Sooners, who finished with just 269 yards of offense.
Instead, the defense played a big role in lifting the Sooners into the Big 12 Championship Game for the fourth consecutive season.
Oklahoma's chances to win a sixth consecutive conference title - or even make the title game - looked dead in early October after starting 0-2 in Big 12 play.
The Sooners, however, have reeled off six consecutive wins to clinch a spot in the game, even before the regular-season finale Dec. 12 at West Virginia. That game was originally scheduled for Nov. 28 before COVID-19 issues with the Sooners forced its postponement.
Oklahoma (7-2 overall, 6-2 Big 12) was playing without much of its starting secondary and several other key contributors, especially on defense.
But while the Sooners' offense was largely intact, Baylor's defense turned in a strong performance.
Baylor (2-6, 2-6) held the Sooners to their lowest offensive output since early in the 2015 season.
But offense was hard to come by for Baylor, too, as the Sooners picked off Charlie Brewer twice and held the Sooners to just 25 yards rushing.
Oklahoma sacked Brewer three times, with defensive lineman Isaiah Thomas involved each time, two of them coming solo.
Sooners' running back Rhamondre Stevenson had 98 yards from scrimmage, with 15 carries for 50 yards and a touchdown and five catches for 48 yards.
Oklahoma led 3-0 for much of the first half, thanks in part to a pair of missed field goals by Baylor, one from 46 yards and the other from 47.
Stevenson scored the game's first touchdown, a 3-yard run, with just more than a minute to go before half after the Oklahoma defense forced a punt from just outside the end zone. The Sooners' offense got the ball at the Baylor 31.
Rattler, who had struggled with Baylor's pressure throughout the first half, then led a touchdown drive to begin the third quarter to put the Sooners up 17-0 and give them some cushion.
Baylor ends its regular season next week against Oklahoma State.
--Field Level Media