Baylor proves again 28-3 is the worst lead in football in loss to Oklahoma

The 2019 Baylor Bears channeled their inner 2016 Atlanta Falcons to prove to us once and for all that 28-3 is the worst possible lead to have in football.

There was no way the Baylor Bears were going to lose this football game. ESPN’s College GameDay was in Waco to celebrate the 9-0 Bears vs. Jalen Hurts and Oklahoma. This was the game that was going to vault them into the top-10 in the next College Football Playoff Rankings. They had a 25-point lead over the Sooners in the first half and carried a 21-point lead into halftime. Things were going so well we thought Baylor was going to think about making the Playoff as they did back in 2014. Well, that 25-point lead was by the score of 28-3…

Yes, it was by that exact amount. While it wasn’t late in the third quarter of the Super Bowl, Baylor went all 2016 Atlanta Falcons on us and didn’t score in the second half to lose at home to Oklahoma by a field goal, 34-31. There was never going to be a better time to have a statement win in primetime against a team like the Sooners. And they blew it.

Sure, the Bears have a great coach in Matt Rhule, whose hoodie-sport vest-smock is the strangest thing we’ve seen on the sidelines since a sleeveless Bill Belichick hoodie or Al Golden sweating through his shirt and tie in Miami. Rhule rules, but his team came out flat in the second half and played some patented pitiful Big 12 defense only Texas Tech Kliff Kingsbury could put up with.

Now Baylor has zero shot at reaching the College Football Playoff. If the Bears were to win out and beat the Sooners in a rematch down in Arlington, they’re probably going to Sugar Bowl at best. Even if they were to win the Big 12 Championship over Oklahoma in a rematch, one would think the Sooners would be a bigger draw in New Orleans, so to the Cotton Bowl Baylor would go.

Overall, it’s a three-point loss at home to the three-time defending Big 12 Champions. Oklahoma has dominated the Big 12 since Lincoln Riley took over for Bob Stoops three years ago. So that’s not the end of the world to lose to them. That said, Baylor blew a 28-3 lead at home, lost its chance at perfection and ruined its best chance to reach the Playoff since 2014.

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