By John Werner

Tribune-Herald staff writer

Baylor found out what it’s like to be flattened by a big crimson Hummer.

It’s painful and humiliating.

After vaulting to No. 1 this week, Oklahoma played like it plans to stay there by blowing away Baylor, 49-17, before 37,145 fans in the Big 12 opener Saturday afternoon at Floyd Casey Stadium.

All the drama was gone after the Sooners opened up a 28-0 first-quarter lead. The Bears (2-3) kept battling, but there was no way to dig out of such a big hole against the top team in the country.

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The day after

• »  Baylor Bears football shows rust in 49-17 loss to No. 1 Oklahoma
• »  Bear Blog: Vincent Rhodes show his heart vs. OU

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Baylor vs. Oklahoma

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• »   Notebook: Bears 'not that far apart' from Sooners, Briles says
• »   Sooners live up to their name with first-quarter burst
• »   Oklahoma receivers have field day against Baylor secondary
  
  
• Updated team stats
• Full game summary

ACTION SHOTS In the trenches

AT THE CASE Fans in the stands

“You just can’t get behind like that against Oklahoma,” Baylor running back Jay Finley said. “Once you’re down 28-0, there’s only a limited amount of things you can do. But we’re not going to let this deflate us — we’re going to keep fighting.”

With Sam Bradford passing for 372 yards and two touchdowns, Oklahoma’s offense moved the ball at will and finished with 594 total yards. The unbeaten Sooners won their fifth straight game this season and improved to 18-0 all-time against the Bears.

“Oklahoma is good at what it does,” Baylor coach Art Briles said. “I sensed that last week when they made a good TCU team look pretty normal. We had a pretty good idea of how they were going to play us, but we didn’t do a good job of executing. Against a team like that, you have to make plays when you have the chance. You’ve got to make every one count.”

After throwing effectively in his first four games, Baylor freshman Robert Griffin hit just 11 of 26 passes for 75 yards against the Big 12’s top-ranked defense. Griffin was at his best with his legs as he rushed for a game-high 102 yards on 21 carries and scored both Baylor touchdowns.

But the Sooners controlled the clock as they ran 92 plays to Baylor’s 67. The Bears finished with just 269 yards of total offense, their fewest since picking up 250 yards in a season-opening 41-13 loss to Wake Forest.

“I don’t think Oklahoma was the best defense we’ve faced, but they had a good pass defense,” Griffin said. “They brought pressure with their linebackers and with their defensive linemen coming off blocks. My job is to make them miss, and a couple of times I didn’t.”

Reeling off plays quickly with a no-huddle offense, Bradford hit 23 of 31 passes and often found wide-open receivers deep downfield. The Sooners scored just 1:10 into the game when Bradford found Manuel Johnson wide open down the left sideline for a 53-yard touchdown.

Neither Baylor cornerback Dwain Crawford nor safety Jeremy Williams was within 15 yards of Johnson.

“There was an obvious miscommunication on that play,” Crawford said. “We weren’t on the same page and we had a busted coverage. The big thing with Oklahoma is that they like to catch you off-guard. We hadn’t faced such an up-tempo offense, and the game speed is a lot different from when you see it on film.”

‘Tough call’ costs Bears

After the Sooners moved to Baylor’s 5 on their second possession, a critical penalty cost the Bears.

Baylor middle linebacker Joe Pawelek came up with a big play when he intercepted Bradford’s pass in the end zone and returned it to the 13. However, Baylor cornerback Antareis Bryan was called for pass interference against former Killeen star Juaquin Iglesias to wipe out the interception.

On the next play, DeMarco Murray drove over the middle for a two-yard touchdown to give the Sooners a 14-0 lead with 7:38 left in the first quarter.

“You talk about an emotional letdown,” Griffin said. “That was a big shift in momentum right there.”

“For a 35-second span, we felt pretty good until we saw the yellow flag on the ground,” Briles said. “We needed a spark there because we hadn’t done anything offensively.”

Bryan felt that he didn’t interfere with Iglesias.

“We were both going for the ball,” Bryan said. “It was a tough call.”

The Bears got into more trouble when Derek Epperson shanked a 12-yard punt to give the Sooners possession at Baylor’s 31.

That was too easy for the Sooners as they quickly scored their third touchdown on Bradford’s one-yard run.

After Baylor failed again to get a first down, the Sooners moved 67 yards on seven plays for their fourth touchdown of the first quarter.

Bradford kicked off the drive with a 27-yard completion to a wide-open Quentin Chaney and later hit Jermaine Gresham for 16 yards to the 4. Mossis Madu finished it off with a one-yard touchdown run to push Oklahoma’s lead to 28-0 with 41 seconds left in the first quarter.

By the end of the first quarter, the Sooners has amassed 226 yards to Baylor’s 44. Bradford had hit 6 of 7 passes for 153 yards.

“We took the momentum and ran with it in the first quarter,” Bradford said. “I had a lot of time to sit back there and scan things and find the open receivers. Our offensive line played great today.”

Griffin gets rolling

After struggling with his passes, Griffin finally got rolling with his legs as he led the Bears on their first touchdown drive early in the second quarter.

Facing third-and-12 at his own 30, Griffin scrambled into the clear for 36 yards for the biggest running play of the game. Fifteen more yards were tacked on when Oklahoma’s Nic Harris was penalized for an out-of-bounds hit.

The Bears picked up another first down at the 3 when Oklahoma’s Lendy Holmes was called for pass interference on a fourth-and-6 play.

Two plays later, Griffin drove for a one-yard touchdown for Baylor’s first score with 12:34 left in the first half.

“Robert Griffin is an excellent athlete,” Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. “He made some nice plays, and he’s going to do that against everybody.”

The Bears got a break when Bradford’s pass bounced off Iglesias into the hands of Jordan Lake at Baylor’s 10 as they were scrambling on the turf. But Baylor couldn’t move again and Oklahoma got the ball back on a punt.

Once again, Bradford found a wide-open receiver behind Baylor’s secondary as Iglesias slipped behind Marlon Price for a 42-yard touchdown to give the Sooners a 35-7 lead with 5:26 left in the second quarter. Iglesias finished with a game-high six catches for 133 yards.

“Oklahoma has been able to start fast all year,” Briles said. “Bradford played well and he’s got a good supporting cast. But we just didn’t do our end of the deal.”

The Bears ended the first half on a strong note when Griffin led them on a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Kendall Wright had two pivotal plays, catching a 10-yard pass from Griffin for a first down at the 50 before taking the ball eight yards on a reverse to the 5.

After driving for two yards on fourth-and-inches to the 2, Griffin scored on the next play to cut Oklahoma’s lead to 35-14 with 50 seconds left in the first half.

But the Sooners picked up where they left off as they drove 70 yards for a touchdown on their first possession of the second half. Chris Brown finished it off with a three-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-one to open up a 42-14 lead.

Baylor’s only second-half score was Ben Parks’ 32-yard field goal later in the third quarter. By then, it was far too late for the Bears to think about a comeback.

The Bears will be back home Saturday when they host Iowa State at 6 p.m.

“I was proud that we battled pretty well from the second quarter on,” Briles said. “But now we’ve got to regroup and get ready to play a good Iowa State team. Our guys will be very determined and focused.”

jwerner@wacotrib.com

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