STORY LINES
• Baylor faces Oklahoma as part of Fox Big Noon Kickoff at 11 a.m. CT Saturday at McLane Stadium.
• Big Noon Kickoff is in Waco for the first time. It's the fourth time BU has hosted a national gameday show, following College Gameday visits in 2014 (vs. K-State), 2015 (vs. OU) and 2019 (vs. OU).
• BU has defeated Oklahoma three times in program history (2011, 2013, 2014). The Bears are 3-8 against the Sooners over the last 10 years after OU won the first 20 series meetings.
• The last time the teams met in Waco, BU led 28-3 at half before falling 34-31 on Nov. 16, 2019.
• Baylor's only losses this season were at Oklahoma State and at TCU. BU had the ball down 3 or fewer points in the 4th quarter of both games before falling 24-14 at OSU and 30-28 at TCU.
• Baylor's offensive line has allowed only 1 sack over the last 4 games (110 pass attempts).
• Baylor has 85 wins since 2011, 3rd-most in the state of Texas behind TAMU (90) and Houston (86).
• BU's defense is holding opponents to 8.5 points/game below their scoring averages in all other games.
• BU leads the Big 12 in turnover margin (+0.7), turnovers forced (15) and interceptions (9).
• BU is 1 of 8 teams to not allow more than 30 points (BU, UGA, Cincy, Clemson, CCU, Iowa, OKST, Purdue).
• Baylor is 1 of 5 Power-5 teams ranked top-30 nationally in scoring offense and scoring defense (Baylor, Alabama, UGA, Michigan, Ohio St.). BU is 19th in scoring offense (36.3) and 27th in scoring defense (20.6).
• Baylor ranks 11th nationally with 15 fourth-down conversions, including 6 times in its own territory, and the Bears rank 7th nationally in fourth-down conversion percentage (min 2.0 att/game – .714).
• BU's offense ranks 5th nationally with 7.07 yards per play and 3rd nationally with 5.89 yards per rush.
• BU is 8th nationally with 230.9 rushing yards per game after ranking 123rd last season (90.3 ypg).
• Baylor's O-Line has allowed 7 sacks, tied for 4th-fewest nationally behind Army, UGA and Michigan.
• Baylor's defense has forced a turnover in 17-consecutive games and the Bears are +13 in turnovers in 18 games under
Dave Aranda (31 turnovers forced, 18 turnovers allowed).
•
Abram Smith national rushing ranks: 3rd in yards per carry (7.33), 9th in yards (1,055), 18th in TDs (11).
•
Jalen Pitre is the nation's only player with 3+ forced fumbles, 3+ fumble recoveries and 2+ interceptions.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
• Baylor became bowl-eligible within the first 7 games of a season for the 6th time in the last 9 seasons. BU has been bowl-eligible 10 times in the last 12 seasons following a 15-season drought (1995-2009).
• BU has two wins against ranked opponents this season (No. 14 Iowa State and No. 19 BYU), marking the first time the Bears defeated two ranked teams in a season's first 7 games since 1985.
• Six different Baylor players have intercepted passes this season, accounting for a Big 12-best 9 INTs.
• Baylor returned 17 of 22 starters and 54 of 68 letterman from last season's team.
• The Bears welcomed four new assistant coaches for 2021 –
Jeff Grimes (Offensive Coordinator/TEs),
Eric Mateos (Offensive Line),
Chansi Stuckey (Wide Receivers) and
Kevin Curtis (Cornerbacks).
• The Bears added a pair of experienced O-Line transfers with
Jacob Gall (13 starts at Buffalo) and
Grant Miller (16 starts at Vanderbilt). Four members of the O-Line now have a combined 111 career starts.
• BU returned 7 starters on offense, led by OL
Connor Galvin and
Xavier Newman-Johnson now with 32 starts apiece.
• Baylor's defense returned 10 starters from a unit which allowed only 203.0 passing yards per game last season.
• Baylor's five starting defensive backs have a combined 220 career games played and 120 career starts.
• BU is playing its 120th season of football and holds a 616-586-44 (.512) all-time record. Baylor has scored in a school-record 183-straight games, doubling the previous record of 89 games from Dec. 31, 1979 - Oct. 23, 1987.
• The Bears are the only team ranked in the Big 12's top-4 in scoring offense (2nd) and scoring defense (3rd).
• BU scored 21 unanswered to overcome an 11-point 3rd-quarter deficit in a 31-24 win over Texas.
• BU had 534 yards of offense and played its first-ever penalty-free game in the win over No. 19 BYU.
• BU defeated No. 14 Iowa State on Sept. 25 for its first ranked win since 2015.
OKLAHOMA SERIES HISTORY
• Baylor takes on Oklahoma for the 32nd time, dating back to the first series meeting in Waco in 1901.
• BU is 3-8 against OU over the last 10 seasons after the Sooners won the first 20 series meetings prior to 2011.
• BU is 2-3 against Oklahoma in the last 5 meetings in Waco, but the Bears out-scored OU 192-177 in those games.
• Six of the last 11 series meetings have been decided by 10 or fewer points. Prior to 2011, only three of the first 20 series meetings were within 10 points.
• In last year's meeting in Norman, Baylor went 6-of-8 on 4th-down conversions in the game, out-gained Oklahoma 288-269, and held OU to its fewest rushing yards (76) since 2016 and its fewest total yards (269) since 2015.
GRIMES BRINGS RVO TO WACO
• Offensive coordinator
Jeff Grimes has brought RVO to Waco - "Reliable Violent Offense" - an attacking, multiple-formation offense that runs a few plays a lot of ways with as much misdirection as any team in the country.
• Baylor's offense ranks 5th nationally in yards per play (7.07), 3rd in yards per rush (5.89), 4th in fewest sacks allowed (7), 19th in scoring (36.3) and 18th in pass efficiency (158.48).
• Grimes' 2020 BYU offense finished 3rd nationally in scoring (43.5 ppg) and 7th in total offense (522.2 ypg).
• Joining Grimes in making the move from Provo to Waco was offensive line coach
Eric Mateos, who spent the past two seasons at BYU. Mateos' offensive line ranked 8th nationally in 2020 with 1.0 sacks allowed per game, and the Bears currently rank 4th nationally with only 0.78 sacks allowed per game in 2021.
FOURTH DOWN SUCCESS
• Baylor leads the Big 12 with 15 fourth-down conversions, three more than any other team in the league (TTU-12).
• BU is 15-of-21 on fourth downs (71%), the nation's 8th-best conversion rate (min 2.0 attempts per game).
• Baylor has been stopped on 4th-and-3 or less only twice all season (13-of-15 converted).
• The six times Baylor has been stopped on fourth downs have led to only 7 points allowed on the opponents' ensuing drives, while the Bears have turned the 15 fourth-down conversions into 66 points on those drives.
• BU has gone 6-for-7 on 4th downs in its own territory, converting 4th-and-1 (own 34) at TXST, 4th-and-3 (own 37) vs. TXSO, 4th-and-3 (own 46) at KU, 4th-and-2 (own 45) at OSU, 4th-and-1 (own 34) vs. WVU and 4th-and-1 (own 37) vs. WVU. The only failed attempt in its own territory was 4th-and-4 (own 36) at OSU.
• Out of the 7 fourth-down attempts in its own territory, the six conversions have led to 31 points for Baylor's offense, while the BU defense forced a 3-and-out punt immediately after the lone failed attempt.
BEARS BECAME BOWL-ELIGIBLE ONLY 7 GAMES IN
• Baylor became bowl-eligible 7 games into a season for the 6th time in 9 years since 2013. The Bears accomplished that feat only four times from the end of World War II through 2012 (1949, 1956, 1980, 1985.
• The Bears are now bowl-eligible for the 10th time in 12 seasons since 2010.
• Baylor went 15 years without a bowl bid between the 1994 Alamo Bowl and the 2010 Texas Bowl.
• Baylor's 10 bowls in 12 years is unprecedented in program history. Baylor's first 10 bowl games were over a 33- year span (1948-1980) and its 10 most recent bowls prior to 2010 were over a 32-year span (1963-1994).
RANKED IN 9 OF LAST 12 SEASONS
• With its No. 21 ranking in the Sept. 26 AP Top 25, Baylor has now been ranked in the AP Top 25 in 9 of 12 seasons since 2010, after going 17 years between national rankings (1993-2010).
• The Bears climbed from receiving no votes in the AP poll in any of the first three weeks to No. 21 after their win over No. 14 Iowa State on Sept. 25. The win was Baylor's first over a ranked opponent since 2015.
• Baylor is ranked No. 18 in this week's AP Top 25, marking its fourth-straight week top-20 ranked.
COMPLETE NOTES
