GAME 4

BAYLOR vs. OKLAHOMA

Sept. 23 | 5:30 p.m. CT | McLane Stadium | Waco, Texas
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Game Notes: Baylor | Oklahoma | Big 12

STORY LINES
- Baylor opens Big 12 play against No. 3 Oklahoma Saturday afternoon at McLane Stadium. The Bears have won four consecutive Big 12 openers dating back to 2013.
- Baylor is 6-4 since 2010 against opponents ranked in the Associated Press Top 10.
- Thirty-five of Baylor's possible 66 starters through three games were freshmen or sophomores including 13-of-22 (six offense, seven defense) against Duke.
- Baylor leads the Big 12 in both tackles for loss (28.0, 2nd NCAA) and sacks (9.0, 19th NCAA).
- Underclassmen account for 63.3% (155 of 245) of Baylor's tackles through three games.
- QB Zach Smith will make his fourth career Big 12 start. He has 8 TD and 6 INT in his first three.
- The Bears' 19 first-time starters, including six freshmen, thus far in 2017 are the most in FBS.
- BU totaled 12 TFL and 5 sacks at Duke, a first for the program vs. a P5 opponent since 12/27/12 vs. UCLA
- Clay Johnston ranks second in the Big 12 and fourth nationally with 6.5 tackles for loss.
- Baylor has had 15 true freshmen appear in a game in 2017, the sixth-largest total nationally.
- Freshmen & sophomores are responsible for 61.3% (750 of 1224) of Baylor's all-purpose yards.
- Chris Platt leads the Baylor receiving corps with a reception in nine straight games and 15 of the last 16 contests. He is the only player in the country with three receptions of 60+ yards.
- Baylor is playing its 116th season of football and first under Matt Rhule, who completed a successful four-year term at Temple from 2013-16. Baylor holds a 588-560-44 (.511) record all-time.
- Blake Lynch leads the Big 12 with four passes broken up through three games.
- The Bears have scored in a school-record 128 straight games since Sept. 1, 2007 at TCU.
- Nine of Baylor's 10 touchdown scoring drives on the season have lasted two minutes or less.
- Denzel Mims (1st, 30.57 ypc) & Platt (3rd, 28.23 ypc) both rank in top three of Big 12 receivers.
- The Baylor defense has allowed only three touchdowns (27.3%/14th FBS) in 11 redzone trips.
- Baylor assistant coaches own 37 combined years of NFL experience, tops in college football.
- Ray Guy Award Punter of the Week Drew Galitz leads the Big 12 with an average of 45.7 yards per punt with four of 50+ yards. BU ranks first in Big 12 & second in FBS in net punting (46.47).
- Saturday will be Matt Rhule's first meeting with Lincoln Riley since Rhule's Temple team earned a ranked upset over East Carolina & Riley 20-10 on Nov. 2, 2014 by forcing five Pirate turnovers.
- BU has 14 former players on NFL rosters entering the 2017 season, including 11 different teams.
- Baylor football has completed more than 1,000 hours of community service since January 2017. With Kyle Fuller's selection by Houston in 2017, Baylor has had at least one NFL draft pick for nine straight years. The Bears have had 25 players selected since 2011, including eight offensive linemen in the last nine years.
- The Bears capped the 2016 season with a Cactus Bowl win in their program-record seventh straight bowl appearance. BU had a program record 7+ wins in a season for the 7th straight year in 2016.
- Baylor has had seven consecutive seasons with a 1,000 yard rusher including junior Terence Williams (1,048 yds) who is back for 2017 as one of four returning 1K rushers in the Big 12.
- Just two months on the job, Rhule and his staff signed 27 players in February, a class that ranked 3rd in the Big 12. The Bears signed 20 players from the state of Texas, tops in the Big 12.
- Baylor football has completed more than 1,000 hours of community service since January 2017.

UP NEXT
The Bears head to Manhattan for a Big 12 road trip to face Kansas State at Snyder Family Stadium. Baylor was defeated by the Wildcats 42-21 at McLane Stadium in 2016. Prior to that game, the Bears had won four-straight games and 6-of-8 against KSU. Baylor trails the all-time series in Manhattan 2-4. Last season against KSU, Baylor's Zach Smith made his first career start and staked the Bears to a 14-7 halftime lead before being out-scored 35-7 in the second half.

BAYLOR FRESHMAN FACTS
- Baylor has played 15 true freshman over the first three weeks, a total that ranks fifth nationally.
- BU started six true freshmen at least once over the first three weeks of 2017. Those first-year players include C Ryan Miller, RB John Lovett, TE Rob Saulin, DE BJ Thompson, LB Jalen Pitre and CB Harrison Hand.
- The Bears have also started a pair of redshirt freshmen thus far in FS Jairon McVea and DE Deonte Williams.
- So far in 2017, BU has had 19 players make their first-ever collegiate starts and 20 players make first BU appearance.
- True freshmen CB Harrison Hand and LB Jalen Pitre have started all three games in 2017. C Ryan Miller started twice.
- Baylor opened the 2017 season with four true or redshirt freshmen in the starting lineup (OL Ryan Miller, CB Harrison Hand, LB Jalen Pitre and S Jairon McVea).
- The Bears had 16 players make their first appearance in a BU uniform, including 13 true or redshirt freshmen, in the opener.
- Ten players made their first-ever start for Baylor in the opening week game. Additionally, two transfers Anu Solomon and Jayson Clements had their first Baylor action after playing time at their previous schools.
- Baylor's 11 true freshman that played in the opener ranked sixth nationally and its three true freshman starters in the first game was behind only LSU's four.
- Twenty different freshmen or sophomores have started a game for Baylor through three games in 2017.

THIRD DOWN TURNAROUND
- After struggling on first down against Liberty and alllowing the Flames to convert on 15-of-24 third downs, the Baylor defense has turned the start around over the last two games and particularly the last six quarters of play. Baylor's mark of 16.7 percent over the last six quarters would rank seventh nationally.
- The improvement on third down has allowed the Baylor defense to hold its last two opponents to an average of 169.5 passing yards per game after giving up 447 yards through the air to Liberty in the opener.

UNDERCLASS EXPLOSION
- Baylor has turned to its young players to provide key production through the season's first three games.
- Thirty-five of Baylor's possible 66 starters through three games were freshmen or sophomores including 13-of-22 (six offense, seven defense) against Duke.
- Twenty different underclassmen have started a game for the Bears through three weeks. LIST: Offense Sam Tecklenburg, Ryan Miller, Rob Saulin, Denzel Mims, Zach Smith, JaMycal Hasty, John Lovett, Tony Nicholson, Kyle Boyd
Defense BJ Thompson, Bravvion Roy, Micheal Johnson, Deonte Williams , Jalen Pitre, Clay Johnston, Harrison Hand, Chris Miller, Henry Black, Jairon McVea, Blake Lynch
- Underclassmen account for 63.3% (155 of 245) of Baylor's tackles through three games.
- Freshmen & sophomores are responsible for 61.3% (750 of 1224) of Baylor's all-purpose yards.

COMPLETE NOTES