There are a lot of things to examine for Oklahoma following its 38-35 loss to Baylor last week. One point of emphasis hasn’t gone out the window, but it certainly has changed.

Third down conversion rate used to be able to tell you a whole heck of a lot about how your team was faring offensively and defensively.

It still matters, but when you factor in fourth down now? It’s a new ballgame with teams being more aggressive than ever before.

“Obviously, the analytics piece of it and using analytics throughout the course of the game and understanding what fourth down conversions can do for you throughout the flow of the game,” offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby said. “How it can affect the end. Just with that understanding and that information, I think guys are a lot more aggressive than they’ve ever been.

“A lot more calculated than it’s ever been from that standpoint. For us? That fourth down we don’t convert is going to create confidence or not create confidence to be able to go for it. We have to convert. Shoot, that was a big one.”

OU went 10-of-15 on third down. The Bears went 4-of-13. Advantage? Sooners. But on fourth down, OU failed in its lone attempt, and Baylor was perfect in all three tries.

Timely attempts, too. Lebby pointed out that OU not converting its fourth-and-one makes it harder to have the confidence from head coach Brent Venables to go for it on fourth down later in the game.

Flip it, and Baylor was brimming with that confidence by picking them up, including one at its own 29 yard line in the fourth quarter.

“Everybody is working off the analytics now, and this year is going to set a record for the most fourth-down attempts in the history of college football,” defensive coordinator Ted Roof said. “That's a point of emphasis every week as far as the mentality of having a four-down mindset, not a three-down mindset and you're off the field.

“I mean, they're going for it on 4th-and-1 from their own 29. It's not a surprise. It's not something that we haven't prepared for. It's not something we haven't spent time game planning for as a staff. A lot of coaches now are following the analytics and being aggressive with the fourth-down calls both offensively and defensively.”

Waiting on Barnes

There has been a dynamic piece to OU’s offensive puzzle missing the last two games in running back Jovantae Barnes.

Still battling through a hamstring injury, his absence has been felt, especially when it comes to short yardage situations.

“We’re ready to have him back,” Lebby said. “We need to get him back. He’s feeling good, he’s doing good. We’ll see how he progresses this week, but we need him back.”

Eric Gray has been sensational and a workhorse, with 31 combined touches Saturday. Marcus Major is doing what he can, but he’s clearly not 100 percent.

There aren’t too many issues with OU’s offense in recent weeks, but the spark Barnes gives has been noticed since he hasn’t been around.

Clean it up

Every coach will say you can live with the heat of the moment live-ball penalties. You don’t love it, obviously, but you understand it.

The issues the Sooners have had in pre-snap issues, though, have been perplexing. And in some cases, game-changing.

“The pre-snap penalties, the two false starts, can’t be part of the game,” Lebby said. “Them understanding how crucial that is – it’s not just a five-yard penalty, we go from second-and-four to second-and-nine to third-and-four and then end up punting the football instead of being first down and creating points.

“Then you look at the scoreboard at the end of the game and three points is a huge help. Just understanding how big a deal it is and continuing to stress that.”

OU had eight penalties for 64 yards vs. Baylor.

Back to basics

Coming up to game No. 10 for OU, and a lot of the same issues have been appearing. The want-to is still there. But doing the little things to earn the execution sometimes has eluded the Sooners.

The little things, the basics. Defensively, there were several times showing lining up incorrectly or not being sound in your gap assignment.

Fundamental stuff. All you can do is keep plugging away.

“Well, it is a problem, OK? And here's how it happens: They're human, and they make mistakes, just like all of us make mistakes,” Roof said. “And we got to continue to work to eliminate those mistakes. And that's what we're doing. Are we happy with where we are? Absolutely not. But again, to go back to work and to fix it, and that's the only way I know how to do it.

“I'm not making excuses for anybody, including myself because I don't do that. But there's all kinds of variations from offense to offense in this league. There's all kinds of different things. So there's new challenges and new opportunities each and every week.”