Familiarity all around when Baylor meets Oklahoma

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables has loads of familiarity along with his Baylor counterpart, Dave Aranda.

Throughout their time as up-and-coming defensive coordinators, the pair frolicked speaking defensive philosophies.

However Venables stated their relationship actually grew when Aranda was the defensive coordinator at LSU and recruited Venables’ son, Jake.

When determination time arrived, Jake Venables picked Clemson.

“His mama gained the recruiting battle,” Venables stated. “Dave did not make the lower.”

On Saturday, Aranda’s Bears (5-3, 3-2 Large 12) will tackle Venables’ Sooners (5-3, 2-3) at Norman, Okla.

Aranda not solely has expertise with Oklahoma’s coach, he is aware of the Sooners’ offense as properly.

The Bears performed Ole Miss within the Sugar Bowl to finish final season, beating the Rebels 21-7. Ole Miss’ offensive coordinator was Jeff Lebby, who now’s in the identical place with the Sooners.

“I feel the tempo is acquainted,” Aranda stated of the similarities. “I feel there are much less spread-out units. At the very least right here currently, there’s been extra of a concentrate on the run sport. There is a honest quantity of runs that you simply keep in mind again from OU a yr in the past to 2 years in the past sort of exhibiting up.”

The run sport figures to be key Saturday.

Each groups are among the many prime dashing groups within the Large 12, averaging higher than 200 yards per sport. Baylor is twenty fourth within the nation at 201.5 yards, whereas Oklahoma is sixteenth at 217.5.

The defenses, although, have been markedly completely different.

Baylor leads the convention in rush protection, permitting simply 113.2 yards per sport, whereas the Sooners are final at 189.8.

“They’re actually stout inside,” Lebby stated of Baylor’s defensive position. “I feel for us, it is about being actually environment friendly, being actually good on first down.”

A yr in the past, Baylor’s protection mauled Oklahoma, holding the Sooners to 260 yards of complete offense, their lowest complete since 2014. Baylor pulled out a 27-14 victory.

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Venables stated the matchup on the opposite facet — his defensive position towards the Bears’ offensive entrance — would go a great distance towards deciding the result.

The Sooners held Iowa State to 66 dashing yards in a 27-13 win final week to run their modest successful streak to 2 video games following a 49-0 defeat to Texas.

“It will be, to me, the matchup, to be trustworthy with you,” Venables stated. “It is a fantastic, nice problem, and our guys know that.”

Baylor additionally carries momentum into Saturday’s sport off a 45-17 highway win over Texas Tech.

Final yr, Baylor victory’s over Oklahoma snapped a seven-game Sooners’ successful streak within the sequence. Baylor has overwhelmed the Sooners solely as soon as at Norman, 48-14 in 2014.

–Subject Stage Media