Baylor QB Russell breaks leg vs. No. 9 Oklahoma

No. 11 Oklahoma hosts Baylor on Saturday afternoon, and the Sooners can help kick the Bears’ season further into the ditch with a win.

Baylor (20-8, 8-4) garnered its first 20-win season since 2012 with the victory, and ensured that it will finish with a Big 12 record above.500 for the first time since 2009.

Baylor quarterback Seth Russell (17) passes as Oklahoma linebacker Jordan Evans (26) closes in during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Norman, Okla. on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016.

“He’s got an excellent arm, great legs, he still runs the football well and makes good decisions”, Stoops said. Early in the season, teams were racking up yards and points at will. I’m not excusing the Bears performance last week against one of their biggest rivals but now they have an opportunity to dash Oklahoma’s long-shot playoff hopes today.

“What he went through past year, to come all the way back here to compete and just getting hurt again — prayers out for him”, backup quarterback Zach Smith said. “So that’s all we’ll talk about and look to do”. In Big 12 play, OU is averaging a league-high 597.5 yards per contest to BU’s 532.4. A first loss to Texas came by a fairly narrow margin, but then went on to collapse at the hands of TCU, a team who has struggled themselves this year, by 62-22.

The Oklahoma Sooners are going to blow the doors off the Baylor Bears, much like the Horned Frogs did a week ago. The Bears fell behind 38-14 at halftime and allowed 688 yards in total offense, including 431 yards rushing.

Baylor: RB Terence Williams. Still, I think OU fans will take the trade-off. “It’s not anything major”. What I really have an issue with is getting our rear ends worn out like we did Saturday.

A couple of weeks ago, the Sooners may have looked at this upcoming game on the schedule and have considered it one of their toughest challenges on route to an unbeaten in-conference season.

Mayfield got off to a rough start this season in losses to Houston and Ohio State, but he has bounced back and led the Sooners to seven straight wins.

Meanwhile, despite surrendering 504 yards and giving up 170 in the first half on the ground, OU’s defense stepped up and made more than enough plays to hold up. The Sooners quickly followed with two more touchdowns – a 29-yard pass to Dede Westbrook and a four-yard run from Samaje Perine – to extend the advantage to 21-0.

In past seasons, the conference has had a team vying for one of the top four spots, this year there isn’t even a team in the top 10.

The day before Baylor football’s showdown with Big 12 leading Oklahoma, it found itself in the news again, this time regarding Kendal Briles, offensive coordinator and son of former head coach Art Briles.

The Sooners set the tone early on by limiting Baylor to only 37 passing yards in the first quarter and only 10 points in the first half. He has worked his way onto the fringe of the Heisman conversation after catching 47 passes for 1,012 yards and 12 touchdowns in six games since the start of conference play. BU receiver KD Cannon leads the team with 40 grabs for 560 yards and 6 TDs. Mason Rudolph and Patrick Mahomes lead their respective teams in yards and touchdowns. Baylor’s 278.5 rushing yards per game rank sixth in the country.