The Baylor Bears capped their upset win over Oklahoma with a field goal as the clock expired. Head coach Dave Aranda had good reason to run up the score.
Most of the time, if you kick a field goal with the clock running down to zero and it’s not to tie or win the game, it’s a clear-cut case of running up the score.
Baylor head coach Dave Aranda opened the door for criticism on that front when he ran out his kick unit to put three extra points on the board at the end of his 27-14 victory over Oklahoma.
However, it turns out he had a really good reason to chase those points.
Why did Baylor kick a field goal late vs. Oklahoma?
Aranda explained after the game that it was all about the Big 12 tiebreaker.
“That was for the Big 12 tiebreaker. We wanted to be over 10,” Aranda said.
Essentially, Baylor needed to win by as many points as possible to give themselves a potential tiebreaker over Oklahoma State. The Cowboys beat the Bears by 10 points while TCU beat them by two. A 13-point victory, rather than a 10-point one, over the Sooners could be critical in the end.
Aranda understood that Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley might not be particularly happy with him.
“I talked to Lincoln very quickly and it seemed like he was upset and I can understand why. It’s emotion. It’s an emotional game. I consider Lincoln a friend. I assume we’ll talk again pretty soon,” Aranda said per Eric Kelly of KWKT.
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