With the Red River Rivalry with Texas looming next week, should there be concern the Sooners are peering ahead?
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“That has never been an issue here,” said OU coach Bob Stoops. “It’s simple, because we have to go play Baylor. You guys (the media) may or may not be going, the fans may or may not be going, but we’re going. We have to play.
“I think you can look at our track record in the week before that game and the week after that game. We are going to be focused on Baylor and Baylor alone.”
OU actually lost at Colorado in a flat performance in the week prior to Texas a year ago. Still, that ended a stretch of seven straight seasons that featured the Sooners winning both before and after facing the Longhorns.
Under Stoops, OU is 7-2 the week before Texas, 9-0 after. OU’s other loss came in Stoops’ debut season in 1999 with a loss at Notre Dame.
ROUGH ROAD
The NCAA currently ranks Baylor’s schedule as the nation’s thirdtoughest.
Bears’ foes are a combined 26-9 against FBS opponents. Baylor’s two losses have come against two teams currently ranked — No. 24 Connecticut and No. 25 Wake Forest.
BEAR TALK
Oklahoma has owned Baylor, not just in the Big 12, but throughout their series history.
The Sooners are 17-0 against the Bears alltime, 12-0 in the Big 12 and 7-0 in Waco.
Perhaps there’s a first time for everything?
Baylor offensive tackle Jason Smith sounds convinced.
“This win that we’re going to get over OU will get us on the right track,” Smith said this week.
Smith said he was offering no guarantee, just a statement.
“We’ve trained for this moment since the new coaches got here,” he said. “We have our goals and they’re in the way.”
QUOTABLE
“A lot of those kids played against you in high school, they know you. They know how big you are. How fast you are. They went to school with you or they were at your rival schools or they played you in the playoffs.
“So there’s a lot of familiarity with teams. There’s a lot of familiarity in studying the teams, you see them play week after week. You get a feel for what certain teams like to do and not do. I think that’s why when you get in conference, you see a lot of balance and why you see a lot of teams knock each other off.”
— OU offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson on in-conference upsets
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This is a no joke game no matter what the previous record is. OU is at the mercy of the BCS. They have to go out and put it on Baylor like no other time. I mean Georgia is a great example if you have paid attention to what has happedned before they lost to Alabama. Also you may not like OSU we as fans need them to keep winning as with Okalhoma so that the game is a quality win. Ill say this for both teams although I think OU will handle the Pokes when they play in November.
I think Baylor may do some things on offense. Though I have to wonder how much he has been harrassed so far this year. I am reminded of '04 against Texas. Venables first year at the helm. Fast QB, so-so passer, good surrounding cast.... Shut down, 12-0. Remember all the line stunts and corner blitzes? They started doing some neat things with Dan Cody in that game too. Found new ways to get him to the QB. I know they would prefer to be vanilla this week though.
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