Oklahoma is still undefeated in the Red River Conference, but that’s not the real story of the conference’s action this weekend.

First off, there’s the somewhat surprising dismantling of Texas Tech by TCU. It’s not that Tech was so strong, but they had beaten Texas quite convincingly a week ago. TCU, paced by 25 points from scrumhalf Dillon Thiele, hammered Tech 55-5. This was the Horned Frogs’ first ever DIA league win.

Then there’s the fact that Oklahoma might have won, but the Sooners almost lost to Baylor.

In a very physical game, Baylor scored first when flyhalf Santiago Locamuz kicked a drop goal from about 40 meters. Fullback Manny Soto scored a try for Oklahoma, converted by flyhalf David Wallace, to take a 7-3 lead, but Locamuz added a penalty to make it 7-6. Then Baylor re-took the lead when Locamuz kicked ahead and gathered his own kick to score and make it 11-7 Baylor at halftime.

Oklahoma needed to regain some momentum and did so two minutes into the second half. Scrumhalf Donovan Ronan sent box kick and chased nicely, just in time for the ball to bounce back into his hands, allowing him a clear run for the try under the posts. Wallace added the extras to make it 14-11 Oklahoma.

Soon thereafter Baylor caught a bad break as Locamuz had to leave the game injured. Every point became precious, and even more so when Baylor’s sub flyhalf, Dan Robertson kicked a penalty to tie the game at 14-14 at 65 minutes.

Injuries, and a yellow card, set Baylor on their heels, and the Bears struggled to get the ball out of the rucks quickly without their starting scrumhalf, Rupert Cosulich, who was injured a few minutes after Locamuz had to leave.

“We were under a ton of pressure which caused us to lose territory,” said Baylor Coach Mason Hering. “We really struggled at the end of the match to get out of our own 22, and that's what killed us in the end.”

With all the territory late, it was only a matter of time for the Sooners. Ronan sent another kick deep into the Baylor end, and after two quick rucks, Wallace cut through on a nice angle, fended off a tackler, and went over for the game-winning try. Final score, 21-14 for Oklahoma.

But for Baylor, the result was a message to other opposition.

“Our defense and physicality set the tone for us as a team,” said Hering. “We were laying some bone-crushing hits that forced a lot of mistakes. I liked our intensity defensively.” 

Junior No. 8 Pete Hamm and freshman center Stewart Morris led the defensive effort. But the loss of Locamuz and Cosulich really hurt their attacking speed.

“I think the main thing we need to work on is capitalizing on mistakes we force upon the opposition,” added Hering. “We did a great job forcing turnovers but we didn't have a lot of points to show for it. That's something we will be focusing on. A lot of players on this team haven't been in a ton of competitive close matches that really can come down to whether or not you are capitalizing on the opponent's mistakes.”

So looking ahead, Oklahoma is still in the conference driver’s seat, but LSU will have something to say about that in Norman, Okla. on Feb 20. Baylor, meanwhile, sitting at a very competitive 0-1, could see themselves vault in the DIA rankings, especially if they are able to get their halfbacks healthy and back it up against Texas A&M.