Oklahoma knocks off Baylor in rainy road win
WACO, Texas (AP) -- Sterling Shepard had 14 catches for 177 yards and two touchdowns and No. 12 Oklahoma beat No. 4 Baylor 44-34 on Saturday night to end the Bears' 20-game home winning streak -- and likely their playoff chances.
Baker Mayfield was 24 of 34 for 270 yards and three touchdowns and ran for a score to help Oklahoma gain control of its destiny in the Big 12. The Sooners (9-1, 6-1, No. 15 CFP) have won five straight since their loss to Texas.
Baylor (8-1, 5-1), the first team left out of the initial four-team playoff last season, was sixth in the latest College Football Playoffs as an undefeated team with the toughest part of its schedule left.
The two-time defending Big 12 champion Bears will certainly drop in the playoff rankings before playing at No. 5 Oklahoma State (10-0, 7-0) next Saturday. The Sooners will be in Stillwater the following week for their regular-season finale.
Shepard's tiebreaking 7-yard TD catch with 9:52 left in the third quarter put the Sooners ahead to stay, and they became the first opposing team to win in the 11 home games Baylor has played since moving last season into its campus stadium on the banks of the Brazos River.
Less than a minute later, after Baylor went three-and-out, Samaje Perine had a 55-yard touchdown run to make it 34-20. Perine finished with 166 yards and two touchdowns.
If the Sooners sweep their final two regular-season games, next week at home against TCU before Bedlam against the Cowboys, they would clinch their ninth Big 12 title. It would be Oklahoma's first since sharing a title with Kansas State in 2012, and end its longest league championship drought in coach Bob Stoops' 17 seasons.
The Bears were trying to be the first team to beat Stoops three times in a row, and the last two were by lopsided margins. Baylor needs help to join Oklahoma as the only teams to win three consecutive Big 12 titles -- and even more help to get back in the playoff hunt.
Jarrett Stidham, the true freshman making his second start and first at home since Seth Russell's season-ending neck surgery, threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns. But he also had his first two interceptions.
Shock Linwood had 103 yards on 21 carries for Baylor, while Devin Chafin ran for three touchdowns. FBS receiving leader Corey Coleman was held to three catches for 51 yards and no scores after seven consecutive games with multiple touchdowns.
Baylor's last loss at home had been 49-21 to TCU on Oct. 13, 2012. The Bears had won their first 10 games at McLane Stadium by an average margin or 32 points, with 57 points and 666 total yards a game.
The Bears, held to 416 yards by Oklahoma, had also won their last eight home games against Top 25 games. They beat the Sooners twice in that span after losing their first 20 games against the Sooners.
Baylor trailed at halftime for the first time this season after Mayfield made a nice play fake, and rolled around the left side unscathed for a 2-yard TD to make it 20-13 with 28 seconds left in the first half.
The Bears got even on their first drive after halftime when Chafin scored his third TD on a 6-yard run, just a few plays after Coleman's 37-yard catch converted a third-and-14.
Oklahoma quickly responded to go back ahead, Mayfield running 34 yards to inside the Baylor 10 before throwing the 7-yard TD to Shepard.
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