Oklahoma Report Card Against Baylor

News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Sooners suffered their second upset loss of the season Saturday, and suffered for it in this week's report card.

The defense got the worst of the criticism, receiving a grade of D- for its effort against Baylor. The Bears piled up more than 600 yards of offense, while quarterback Robert Griffin set a new school record with 479 passing yards and averaged 23 yards per completion.

Both of OU's losses – to Baylor Saturday and Texas Tech earlier in the season – can largely be blamed on the secondary's inability to contain the passing game. Baylor had wide receivers running open for much of the game Saturday, and could not contain Griffin on the Bears' game-winning drive.

The offense performed significantly better, racking up 600 yards of its own and putting together a late comeback to tie the game with less than one minute left. Even without favorite target Ryan Broyles, Landry Jones threw for more than 400 yards, and the Blake Bell formation remained virtually unstoppable.

The special teams unit also had one of its best games of the season. Michael Hunnicutt hit a 47-yard field goal, Tress Way pinned four of his five punts inside the 20-yard line, and the kickoff coverage team did not allow a return longer than 22 yards.

But ultimately, the defense's weaknesses outweighed the strengths of the other two units. The Sooners finished with a 45-38 loss and saw their slim national championship hopes fade away.