Tale of the Tape: Baylor
Every play matters in a college football game but some do a better job of explaining a game than others. Here are the five plays that tell the ridiculous story of Oklahoma’s 34-31 historic comeback victory at Baylor.
OU 34, Baylor 31
Play No. 1: Wheels have fallen off
It had to be the biggest comeback for a reason because you have to fall behind 28-3 before things get going on the right side.
OU already trailing 14-3 when quarterback Jalen Hurts had a couple of ruh roh moments that had nobody believing the Sooners would make it all the way back.
Facing a second-and-seven in the final seconds of the first quarter, not only was Hurts pressured once again, but this time he dropped the ball. Baylor would recover and score two plays later.
The next drive? Hurts would be picked off, and Baylor would take the 28-3 lead with 11:09 left in the first half.
Don’t go to sleep just yet.
Play No. 2: Fist goes up… finally
Toward the middle of the third quarter, OU had found its footing. Now trailing 31-17, OU was finally able to register its first takeaway in six games.
Baylor’s JaMycal Hasty had an 18-yard gain and was going for more when Parnell Motley punched it from behind, jarring the ball loose. Motley continued to take out Hasty out of the play so that Pat Fields could recover for the Sooners.
“I was going for the strip!” Motley said. “I didn't think I was really going to get it because before I came to him, he covered up. So I just did a hard punch and just threw it in there. It popped right out and I grabbed the guy so he couldn't recover, I wanted my other teammates to get it. But it happened to be a good play and I'm glad I made something happen like that.”
It didn’t result in an OU score, but a defense that was already playing inspired had even more reason to be fired up the rest of the way.
Play No. 3: Welcome to relevancy, Wease
CeeDee Lamb’s absence seem to shake OU in the first half. The Sooners snapped out of it, thanks in large part to what freshman Theo Wease did.
Sure, the flashier play is his 19-yard touchdown grab, but we’re going to focus on his third down conversion earlier in the drive.
That’s what OU fans had been clamoring for. In a tight situation, a third-and-five toward the end of the third quarter, Hurts trusted Wease to make a play. And he did.
The drive ended with Wease’s touchdown to make it 31-24 early in the fourth quarter.
Play No. 4: Brkic cool, calm, collected
The Sooners made it all the way back to 31-31 and had one more long drive in them to close out the offensive show.
Even though Lincoln Riley inadvertently iced his own kicker, there’s no flapping Gabe Brkic right now. He calmly drilled a 31-yarder with 1:45 left to give OU its first lead since 3-0.
Brkic has done everything asked of him this season, but this kick is the first time in more than 20 years where an OU kicker has made a go-ahead score in the final two minutes.
No problem.
Play No. 5: Bonitto makes second chance count
And of course, we close out with Nik Bonitto’s first career interception that sealed the deal once and for all. He was ‘this close’ to earning that pick on the previous play. Bounced off his hands, and he couldn’t corral it.
This one? It was actually tougher, but Bonitto made the game-deciding play, reading the route and making one heck of a competitive grab.
“Makes the next one. And the one he caught was a much harder play,” Riley said. “I mean, much harder. It was a great call by coach Grinch. And awesome play by Nik. Awesome.”