Neither Baylor nor Oklahoma have had the season they wanted or expected so far, but it should be a pretty strong battle between the 5-3 teams.

OU knew it was going to have a test in the Iowa State defense last week, but this time around? Baylor has an offense to go along with it.

The common thread for the Bears throughout their lineup is the physicality they’re going to bring to Norman.

OU was stout against the ISU running attack, limiting the Cyclones to just 66 yards on the ground. They’re going to have to find a way to duplicate that against BU.

“We need to do the same thing this week because Baylor is really physical up front and they’re going to pound the ball,” defensive coordinator Ted Roof said. “I think the running back the last two games he’s played has had over 30 carries in both the games. They’re committed to running the football and all the things that come off that.”

The other thing a bit different about Baylor is the strength of its defense. The Sooners have faced a lot of defensive lines where the stars of that group are on the edge.

The Bears have the beef inside, at the defensive tackle spot. Controlling the line of scrimmage there is going to be pivotal.

“They're really stout inside,” offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby said. “Have played really well. I think for us, it's about being really efficient being really good on first down. Finding us in some better third down situations and staying on the field to create as much stress as we can for them defensively. But they're incredibly stout inside and playing well.”

‘Line change’ logic

You might have noticed it in the first half against ISU when the OU offense brought eight backups in at once to go along with quarterback Dillon Gabriel, running back Eric Gray and center Andrew Raym.

It felt like you were watching hockey, seeing a wholesale line change, essentially.

“Just getting live reps,” Lebby said. “We talk about it all the time but from an experience standpoint you got to live it. You got to go do it. So wanting to get those guys involved and we were able to. Felt like that was the right time. Kind of knew exactly what we're gonna get to with those guys in the game and they executed and did what we wanted to get done.”

Among those included were wide receivers Gavin Freeman, LV Bunkley-Shelton and Jayden Gibson. Tight end Jason Llewelyn and offensive linemen Jacob Sexton, Jake Taylor, Savion Byrd and Aaryn Parks.

“We wanted it to be sooner than later. You look, two weeks ago, our guys played 102 snaps whatever it was. And so being able to get some of the young guys in early so that if they are playing later in the game, just to create some freshness, you don't want that to happen late.”

Not going away from Marv

To say that was an uncharacteristic performance from Marvin Mims is an understatement. Mims had six targets but just two catches for 16 yards, including a couple of drops.

That simply does not happen with Mims. Lebby isn’t sure what happened Saturday, but you don’t worry about that. OU needs him with Baylor and nothing changes.

“For Marvin, it's just about having that short memory because I'm going to have one,” Lebby said. “I'm going to come back to him, and I know he's going to make those plays. That's something for him just as he continues to play through this. Things happen early on in the game. Shoot, you've got to play the move on to the next play and say, 'Let's go make plays.' We're going to continue to have a ton of confidence in him.”

Welcome back, Billy

After going through warmups but not starting, looked as though safety Billy Bowman was going to take another week before returning.

But he played later in the first half and a lot in the second half, seeing his first action since the first quarter at TCU on Oct. 1.

“It was good to have him back because he’s one of the best football players on our team, so it was good to have him back,” Roof said. “There wasn’t a lot of practice. He practiced a couple of days before that, so for him to get back out there was certainly a real positive for us.”

Bowman finished with two tackles, and his absence forced OU to find some depth at the spot with Robert Spears-Jennings and allowing cornerback Woodi Washington to move to safety as well.

Gabriel the run threat

Gabriel said following the game that he hasn’t been hesitant at all about running the ball, and he showed that against the Cyclones.

Ever since the hit on Gabriel at TCU, it was intriguing to see how Gabriel and Lebby were going to handle the situation.

“I think he's going to do it when it's needed just to keep people honest,” Lebby said. “There were a couple of different times in the game where you saw that. There were a couple of big conversions, one on third down and one on the second where he kept the football and had a chance for a couple more there in the red zone where we didn't execute cleanly. They were called runs for him. He'll do it situationally for us, and he's got a good feel.”

Major on the mend

He’s fighting through it, but running back Marcus Major is not quite 100 percent, said Lebby, about Major’s recent outings.

“I think the biggest thing is just being 100 percent healthy,” Lebby said. “We have to get a healthy version of Marcus to be at his best to get him the best opportunity to go out there and make plays and be who he is. We’re excited about getting him to that point. I don’t think we’ve seen him 100 percent healthy since really early in the season. We have to get back to that.”

Major rushed for 29 yards on 12 carries with two catches for two yards in Ames.