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ESPN staff
Dave Aranda’s second season at Baylor has been one of turnarounds. The Bears improved from 2-7 last year to 7-2 this year, but they suffered a setback last week in a 30-28 loss to an emotional TCU team following Gary Patterson’s departure.
This week provides the best measuring stick yet for Aranda on how far his Bears have come with Oklahoma coming to town. Winners of 17 straight games, the Sooners have also won eight consecutive road games against ranked conference opponents, one shy of matching the longest such streak in the AP poll era (since 1936).
Baylor, meanwhile, is 5-0 during a solid home schedule this season, including conference wins over Iowa State, West Virginia and Texas and a nonconference win over BYU. Aranda lost Joey McGuire, his assistant head coach who also coached outside linebackers, this week when he was named Texas Tech’s new head coach, but said he’s not worried about the disruption. He said the Bears are counting on their home crowd.
“I think everyone knows what’s waiting for us there on Saturday and the stage that we have and the opportunity that’s at hand,” Aranda said this week. “And I know everyone knows the type of effort that it will take.”
The Bears know what to expect by now with Caleb Williams running Oklahoma’s offense. Aranda noted he’d “injected some firepower” into the Sooners’ offense and noted he’s not afraid to throw into tight windows, which will test their corners.
Baylor’s rush offense ranks eighth nationally with 230.9 yards per game, led by Abram Smith, who has already topped 1,000 yards and has six 100-yard games and 11 TDs. The Sooners, despite struggling, still rank 17th in run defense, allowing 108.2 yards per game. The Sooners are optimistic that the rest of the defense could round into shape with the return of cornerback D.J. Graham and defensive tackle Jalen Redmond against Texas Tech last week and the possible return of another corner, Woodi Washington, who could possibly play this week. –…
Source : espn
