Williams leads Oklahoma past Baylor
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Damien Williams ran for 99 yards and two scores, and the No.14 Oklahoma Sooners defeated Baylor, 42-34, in Norman on Saturday.
Landry Jones completed 25-of-36 passes for 277 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, while Blake Bell and Brennan Clay each added rushing scores for Oklahoma (7-2, 5-1 Big 12), which has strung together back-to-back wins since losing to Notre Dame.
Head coach Bob Stoops won his 145th game at Oklahoma, passing Bud Wilkinson for second most victories in school history.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We were effective running the football and throwing it. I thought Landry was great, the receivers made some great third-down catches and some excellent adjustments to the football," Stoops said.
Lache Seastrunk ran for 91 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries for Baylor (4-5, 1-5), which was coming off a win against Kansas after dropping four straight.
"OU played hard and we just tried to stick with them and win," Seastrunk said. "I feel like that the seniors need to finish out and that's what I've been trying to help them do. Our offensive line and my wide receivers played a (heck) of a game."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Nick Florence threw for 172 yards on 12-of-33 efficiency and added 83 yards and a score on 15 carries in defeat.
Trailing 42-26, the Bears retained possession with 6:08 to play in the game, and they scored a touchdown on a 6-yard run by Seastrunk with 1:26 remaining.
They then scored on the two-point conversion to make it one-score game, but the Sooners recovered the onsides kick and ran out the rest of the clock with a series of kneels.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Both teams combined for four touchdowns in the final 10 minutes of the second quarter, beginning with a 5-yard scramble by Florence to put the Bears within four at 14-10.
Relying on Williams, the Sooners countered with a touchdown of their own. Doing most of the work on the drive, Williams rushed six times for 29 yards and the score, breaking the goal line on a 3-yard run to give Oklahoma a 21-10 lead.
On their ensuing touch, the Bears marched 75 yards on 17 plays to reduce the Sooners' lead to 21-17. Faced with 3rd-and-8 from the Sooners' 39, Florence fired an 11-yard strike to Terrence Williams to pick up the first. Baylor converted on two more third downs from there, the second setting up 1st-and- goal from the four. Seastrunk then bounced to the outside and forced his way into the end zone for a touchdown with 32 seconds to play in the half.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Following a 36-yard kickoff return from Clay, the Sooners needed just 11 seconds to match the Bears' score. Jones found Kenny Stills near the sideline for 10 yards before lobbing a 35-yard throw to Justin Brown, who made the catch in the end zone to bring the Sooners' advantage back to 11 going into halftime.
Baylor got the ball to start the second half and found itself deep inside Oklahoma territory after Florence launched a 56-yard bomb to Terrence Williams on the second play of the drive. But on 3rd-and-goal, Florence was stuffed on a rush and Baylor was forced to settle for Aaron Jones' 21-yard field goal, making it 28-20.
Another solid return on the kickoff, this time by Roy Finch for 36 yards, saw Oklahoma start with good field position again inside the Baylor 40. However, on the first play, Damien Williams coughed up the ball and the Bears recovered to get the offense back on the field.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Although the Bears could not take advantage, as they wound up turning the ball over on downs, their defense forced another turnover on Oklahoma's next touch, leading to a Baylor touchdown.
On second and long, Mike Hicks intercepted Jones and ran it back 24 yards to the Sooners' 28-yard line. The Bears ran on all six plays to reach the end zone, culminating in Seastrunk's second TD of the game, this one a 2-yard rush. Baylor was unsuccessful on the two-point conversion, however, and found themselves still trailing, 28-26, with 7:42 to play in the third.
Oklahoma responded, as Jones completed 7-of-8 throws on the ensuing series to push the ball the Baylor 23. Damien Williams took over from there, capping the 12-play march with a 17-yard touchdown run to make it 35-26 by the end of the third.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After forcing the Bears to punt, Oklahoma created some separation. On the second play of the fourth quarter, Bell lined up in the shotgun on 3rd-and-1 and rushed up the middle, sprinting untouched for a 55-yard score and giving the Sooners a 42-26 lead.
In the first quarter, Jones got Oklahoma on the board right away, finding Clay in the end zone for a 5-yard score.
Aaron Jones kicked a long 58-yard field goal on Baylor's first touch, but Oklahoma answered with another Clay touchdown.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After 11-yard catches by Brown and Jalen Saunders, the Sooners rushed their way to the end zone. Clay and Damien Williams split the carries the rest of the possession, and Clay rushed over the right side of the line for a 1-yard TD to put Oklahoma on top 14-3 with 2:55 left in the first.
Game Notes
The Sooners improved to 21-1 all-time against the Bears ... Oklahoma has won 31 straight games when leading at half ... Baylor will face conference rival Kansas State next week while Oklahoma will travel to West Virginia.