Oklahoma Sooners Football Opponent First Look | The Baylor Bears

You're not going to beat Baylor without a strong defensive performance, and even at that its going to be a huge challenge. Scoring points is what the Bears do best, and they are really good at it. Baylor leads the conference in points scored with an average of 57.4 per game. They put the ball in the air for an average of 356.8 yards per contest and grind up yards on the ground at a clip of 6.6 yards per carry, which is the best in the Big 12.

The loss of junior quarterback Seth Russell may have slowed down the Baylor offensive attack a bit, but it certainly didn't come close to derailing it. Freshman Jarrett Stidham has completed 77% of his passes this season for 750 yards and 9 touchdowns to zero interceptions. Last week he was able to lead the Bears to a 31-24 win at Kansas State.

Receiver Corey Coleman is unbelievably good. A junior, from Richardson, TX, Coleman has 1,178 receiving yards and 20 touchdown receptions on the season. He's averaging 20.3 yards per catch on the year, and you can count on Oklahoma's defense knowing where he is on the field at all times. Senior Jay Lee and sophomore KD Cannon round out the Bears' top three receiving targets, and all three of them are home run threats anytime the ball gets in their hands.

Part of the reason why Baylor's offense continued clicking after the injury to Russell is junior running back Shock Linwood who is averaging 7.8 yards per carry. He's already cracked the 1,000 yard mark on the season and has 9 rushing touchdowns in 2015. He's complimented by freshman Terence Williams who is averaging 6.8 yards per carry.

Defensively the Bears are third in the Big 12 in points allowed at an average of 25 per game. Opposing running backs are averaging just 3.7 yards per carry and quarterbacks are completing 56.6% of their passes. The Bears have allowed 17 passing touchdowns this season and have nabbed 11 interceptions.

Junior corner Xavien Howard leads the team with four interceptions on the season and joins a crew of six Baylor defenders to nab a pick this season. Senior linebacker Grant Campbell leads the team in total tackles, with 64, and Shawn Oakman leads with four quarterback sacks.

Don't let the fact that the Bears are down a quarterback cause you to drop your guard. This is a team that is still very capable of scoring quickly and putting up a lot of points. The challenge will be on Oklahoma's defense to control the line of scrimmage, rattle the quarterback, and limit the rushing attack. That's no small task...at all.