Box Score
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
NORMAN, Okla. – Earlier this year, Baylor struggled to close out games, losing at BYU and West Virginia and letting both Iowa State and Kansas sneak back in with fourth-quarter rallies.
Not this time.
Letting the "Sqwirl" run loose, the Bears (6-3, 4-2) became bowl-eligible with a 38-35 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners (5-4, 2-4) Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. This was Baylor's second-ever win in Norman, the other one coming eight years ago during a run to a second-straight Big 12 championship.
"To pull it out somehow and to grit it out, all of it is a credit to the players, for sure," Baylor coach Dave Aranda said. "I think there were multiple times in that game, just on the sidelines, where we're remembering West Virginia. It felt a lot like that game. To get a win when you don't play your best, and there's a lot to improve on, it shows good for your team."
After sitting out the two previous games with an injury, sophomore running back Craig "Sqwirl" Williams rushed for a career-high 192 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. He sealed it with two minutes left when he broke loose for 43 yards on a third-down play and shut it down inside the 10 with a clear path to the end zone, allowing Baylor a chance to run out the clock with three-straight kneel-downs.
"Prior to that last one, we're talking about 'Hey, this is no mas. Just get a first down and that can close it out,''' Baylor coach Dave Aranda said. "We've been in that before where everyone says that in a time out, and it's not executed. So, for him to have the awareness and to do it just speaks so highly of him. I'm thankful for it."
Williams, who has struggled with injuries throughout his four years at Baylor, said it was "just being a team player and understanding the situation."
"We practice those things in practice and understanding the situation in the game and understanding not to score in that last minute and give OU the ball back was the smartest play in my mind," he said.
While the defense did give up a 13-play, 75-yard drive that made it a three-point game with 4:05 left, Baylor won it with two "big boy" drives in the fourth quarter.
In an 11-play, 80-yard drive that ate up 5 ½ minutes, the Bears threw it just twice. Williams and Qualan Jones combined for 62 yards on eight carries, capping it with a 10-yard TD run by Jones that made it 38-28 with 9:15 left in regulation.
"That was very satisfying," said Williams, who score on first-half touchdown runs of 11 and one yard. "For the big guys up front to move people and to be able to get free running lanes and get up to the secondary and make moves on those guys, it's a great feeling. We have a great O-line."
With the game on the line, Aranda opted to go for it on fourth-and-short from his own 29-yard line, and Williams got it with room to spare with a two-yard run to the left. That gamble paid off with what turned out to be the decisive score for the Bears.
"That's a mindset right there," Williams said. "(It's) 4th-and-1, you know you've got to get the first down. Hand the ball off and let's go get it."
OU answered with a long drive of its own and pulled within 38-35 with 4:05 left on a one-yard TD run by Eric Gray, who finished with 106 yards and two touchdowns on 23 totes.
Blake Shapen, who was 14-of-23 for 132 yards, connected with Hal Presley on a big third-down pickup. But then, Williams ended it with his feet, breaking off right tackle and going 43 yards after the Sooners burned their last timeouts. Game over.
"The dude's like 160 pounds and is pulling guys with him," Aranda said of Williams, who played just eight games combined in his first four years at Baylor. "(The offensive linemen) see him running into dudes that are twice his size, and that now inspires them to push a pile. All of that is way cool."
Baylor was one of three Big 12 teams that became bowl-eligible on the first Saturday in November, joined by Kansas and 24th-ranked Texas, which beat 18th-ranked Oklahoma State and No. 13 Kansas State, respectively.
The Bears are tied for second in the Big 12 with UT and K-State and can clinch a berth in the Big 12 Championship game for the third time in four years by beating K-State and No. 7 TCU at home and the Longhorns on the road in Austin.
"We just got our sixth win and we're bowl-eligible now," Williams said, "but that's not where we're stopping. We're still in the running for the Big 12 Championship, and that's what we're looking forward to. We're taking it one game at a time."
With the defense picking off three passes in the first half, the Bears had a 24-21 lead at the half despite being outgained, 334-187.
Linebacker Dillon Doyle got the first of three interceptions off OU quarterback Dillon Gabriel, picking off a pass that was tipped at the line by defensive end TJ Franklin. Three plays later, freshman Jordan Nabors scored from six yards out on an end-around sweep, giving Baylor the 14-7 first-quarter lead.
"It's always fun to get turnovers, for sure," said Doyle, who got his second interception of the season and third of his career. "Definitely proud of the guys in the way that we attacked the ball."
After the Sooners tied it up on a 63-yard TD pass from Gabriel to Marvin Mims Jr., the defense set up another score with a Devin Lemear interception that was returned to the Oklahoma 34.
Failing to move the ball, despite a pair of offsides penalties against the Sooners, Baylor settled for a season-long 49-yard field by John Mayers that made it 17-14. The leader in career field goal percentage, Mayers is 6-of-6 on field goals since getting the job back in the third week of the season.
Baylor had a chance to extend the lead in the last five minutes of the half, but Shapen threw a pick on a pass he led Gavin Holmes by too much and was intercepted by safety Billy Bowman at the Sooners' 20.
"It wasn't our best game," Williams said, "but we found a way to win."
Opening the second half with an impressive nine-play, 75-yard drive, the Bears pushed it back to a double-digit lead, 31-21, on a two-yard TD run by Reese. Limited by a flu bug, Reese had just seven yards on four carries.
Oklahoma twice had it down to a one-score game, at 31-28 and 38-35, but the Sooners never led.
Jones chipped in with 47 yards on nine carries, with the Bears piling up 281 yards on 48 carries for a healthy 5.9-yard average. Former walk-on receiver Josh Cameron hauled in a career-best five catches for 72 yards, including a key fourth-down conversion in the first quarter.
Doyle led the defense with a career-high-tying 15 tackles and also had his third-career interception, while Christian Morgan and Lemear had their third and second picks of the season, respectively.
Baylor returns home to host its next two, facing 22nd-ranked Kansas State (6-3, 4-2) at 6 p.m. next Saturday, Nov. 12, and then No. 4 TCU (9-0, 6-0) the following Saturday, Nov. 19, at McLane Stadium. The Wildcats lost a tight one to Texas, 34-27, while the Horned Frogs extended their winning streak with a 34-24 victory at home over Texas Tech.
