Baylor Bears: Strength

Baylor has never beaten Oklahoma in a football game and yet many fans are facing this game with cautious optimism. The reason why is threefold. First, Oklahoma lost on the road at Colorado last year the week before Texas which brings up the second reason. Even with the complete domination of Washington on the road Oklahoma fans don’t yet seem to have the same confidence on the road that the team does. Thirdly, Baylor has an amazing athlete at quarterback in Robert Griffin who is the strength of the team.

Griffin as a cannon for an arm and is also a world class sprinter who can hurt you with his feet as well. He has 756 passing yards with 7 touchdowns and no interceptions and his completion percentage is over 60%. Griffin has been sacked 9 times though which leaves the door open for Oklahoma’s aggressive defensive front to make plays behind the line of scrimmage.

On the ground Griffin is fast, very fast. He literally is a world class sprinter and leads the team in rushing yards, rushing attempts and rushing touchdowns as well as having the longest run from scrimmage on the team (58 yards).

What The Bears Will Try To Do

Against Connecticut Griffin carried the ball 23 times and passed it 25. The plan seems to be a balanced attack but they also may be taking the "take what they give you" approach. Where I see Griffin being the most dangerous to the Sooners isn’t by running but by threatening to run. Because of his ability to run the minute he leaves the pocket the natural inclination of the secondary is going to be to come up and support the run. That is where Griffin could have the ability to find an open receiver.

What The Oklahoma Defense Must Do

To limit the effectiveness of Robert Griffin on offense Oklahoma’s defense must do three things and do them well.

1) Contain, contain, contain. Keep Griffin from getting to the outside. Oklahoma is the best defense the Bears have seen to this point of the season but that doesn’t mean that Griffin will suddenly be rendered ineffective. Keeping him in the pocket is the key to keeping him one dimensional.

2) Stop Jay Finley. Who? Yeah, he’s the Baylor running back. The success of Griffin makes him that much more dangerous and vice versa.

3) Play assignment football. This really goes out to the secondary because they will be called upon for run support. They just can’t do it at the expense of leaving receivers open. If all eleven players on defense play disciplined assignment football Griffin is still going to make plays but not enough to beat Oklahoma.