No. 6 Football Set For Sugar Bowl Showdown Against No. 8 Ole Miss
12/23/2021 3:12:00 PM | Football
Bears Make Second Sugar Bowl Appearance in Three Years
GAME 146/6/7 BAYLOR (11-2, 7-2 Big 12) vs 8/8/8 OLE. MISS (10-2, 6-2 SEC)
Jan. 1, 2022 • 7:45 p.m. CT • Watch: ESPN and ESPN App • Listen: ESPN Central Texas & TuneIn App
New Orleans, La. • Ceasars Superdome (74,295) • Social Media: @BUFootball | #SicEm
Story lines
• Baylor takes on Ole Miss in its 3rd Sugar Bowl appearance and its 26th all-time bowl game.
• BU is 1-1 in Sugar Bowl games, beating Tennessee 13-7 (1957) and losing to Georgia 26-14 (2019).
• Baylor is 13-12 all-time in bowl games, including a 2-6 mark on New Year's Day.
• Baylor is facing Ole Miss for the 2nd time – the Bears won 20-10 in Waco on Sept. 6, 1975.
• Baylor won its 3rd Big 12 Championship (2013, 2014, 2021) and its first in a year with a title game.
• BU has reached the 10-win mark for the 6th time in the last 11 years (2011, 2013-15, 2019, 2021).
• Baylor has tied a school-record with 11 wins (11-2 in 2013 & 2014, 11-3 in 2019, 11-2 in 2021).
• BU has tied a school-record with 4 wins vs. ranked teams (4-1; BU was 4-3 vs. ranked in 1974).
• Baylor is 1 of 4 teams with 4 ranked wins this season – Baylor, Oklahoma State, Georgia, Alabama.
• 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 is 1 of 3 teams to not allow more than 30 points this season (Baylor, Cincinnati, Clemson).
• BU's defense is holding opponents to 11.9 points/game below their scoring averages in all other games.
• Baylor ranks 9th nationally with 22 fourth-down conversions, including 8 times in its own territory, and BU ranks 17th nationally with a .667 fourth-down conversion percentage (22-of-33).
• The 11 times BU has been stopped on fourth downs have led to 17 points allowed on the opponents' ensuing drives, while BU has turned the 22 fourth-down conversions into 86 points on those drives.
• BU leads the Big 12 and ranks 16th nationally with 214.7 rushing yards per game after ranking 123rd last season (90.3 ypg). Abram Smith is 8th nationally with 1,429 rushing yards (118 shy of school-record).
• Baylor's O-Line has allowed only 1.38 sacks per game, 19th-fewest nationally. Half of the 18 sacks allowed came in two games against Oklahoma State (9 sacks allowed vs. 11 other opponents).
• BU ranks 7th nationally in interceptions (16) and 18th nationally in fewest interceptions thrown (6).
• BU's defense has forced a turnover in 21-straight games and is 6th nationally in turnover margin (+0.85).
• BU is +18 in turnovers in 22 games under Dave Aranda (41 turnovers forced, 23 turnovers allowed).
ADDITIONAL NOTES
• Abram Smith national rushing ranks: 8th in yards (1,429), 17th in yards per carry (6.16), 37th in TDs (12).
• Jalen Pitre is the nation's only player with 3+ forced fumbles, 3+ fumble recoveries and 2+ interceptions.
• BU had one 10-win season in the program's first 109 seasons before doing so in 6 of the last 11 seasons.
• Baylor has 89 wins since 2011, tied for 2nd-most in the state of Texas behind only TAMU (92).
• BU is playing in a bowl game for the 10th time in the last 12 seasons following a 15-season drought (1995-2009).
• Baylor has beaten four top-20 teams this season: No. 14 Iowa State, No. 19 BYU, No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 5 OSU.
• Ten different Baylor players have intercepted passes this season, accounting for a Big 12-best 16 INTs.
• 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 127 career starts.
• BU is playing its 120th season of football and holds a 620-586-44 (.514) all-time record.
• BU has scored in 187-straight games, doubling the previous school-record of 89 games (Dec. 31, 1979 - Oct. 23, 1987).
• BU stopped Oklahoma State 6 times on the 1-yard line in the 4th quarter of the Big 12 Championship game.
• Baylor's 3 Big 12 Championships are second-most in league history and have all come in the last 9 years. The rest of the state of Texas has 5 Big 12 titles – Texas (1996, 2005, 2009), TCU (2014), and Texas A&M (1998).
• BU's win over No. 4 Oklahoma was its first top-5 win since 2015 at No. 4 Oklahoma State.
• 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.
OLE MISS SERIES/SUGAR BOWL HISTORY
• Baylor and Ole Miss are meeting for the 2nd time. BU won 20-10 when the teams met in Waco on Sept. 6, 1975.
• BU held Ole Miss to 192 total yards, including 85 yards on 40 rushing attempts. The Bears ran for 340 yards on 53 attempts, led by Cleveland Franklin (140 rushing yards) and Pat McNeil (135 rushing yards).
• Baylor is 1-1 in Sugar Bowl games – a 13-7 win over Tennessee (1956) and a 26-14 loss to Georgia (2019).
NEW YEAR'S DAY BOWL HISTORY
• Baylor is 2-6 all-time on New Year's Day, with wins in the 1949 Dixie Bowl and 1956 Sugar Bowl.
YEAR BOWL GAME MATCHUP RESULT SITE
1949 Dixie Bowl Baylor vs. Wake Forest W, 20-7 Birmingham, Ala.
1952 Orange Bowl #5 Georgia Tech vs. #9 Baylor L, 14-17 Miami, Fla.
1957 Sugar Bowl #2 Tennessee vs. #11 Baylor W, 13-7 New Orleans, La.
1975 Cotton Bowl #7 Penn State vs. #12 Baylor L, 20-41 Dallas, Texas
1981 Cotton Bowl #9 Alabama vs. #6 Baylor L, 2-30 Dallas, Texas
2014 Fiesta Bowl #15 Central Florida vs. #6 Baylor L, 42-52 Glendale, Ariz.
2015 Cotton Bowl #7 Michigan State vs. #4 Baylor L, 41-42 Arlington, Texas
2020 Sugar Bowl #5 Georgia vs. #8 Baylor L, 14-26 New Orleans, La.
For full Baylor game notes, click here.
