Controlling the controllable is Baylor's path to victory
Turn off the pressure, play loose and control what you can control. That isn't an exact Matt Rhule quote, but it might as well be as Baylor heads to Norman to face the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday afternoon.
Head coach Lincoln Riley and the Oklahoma offense place an incredible amount of pressure on opposing defenses. Enough that pressure from any additional sources, including internal, will be enough to burst even their best opponents.
In game four of Rhule's first season in Waco the Bears recovered an on-side kick with 1:41 remaining in the final quarter to give the offense an opportunity to send the game to overtime. The recovery was followed up by a Baylor miscue, a forced fumble on a sack, that gave the ball back to the Sooners who went on to run the game clock to 0:00.
The fumble was the last of a handful of costly errors by the Bears that evening. Make no mistake, the Sooners did plenty of damage that the Bears could not have prevented, but a one-possession game in the fourth quarter means that it is crucial to eliminate mistakes that lead to outcomes like 99-yard touchdown runs.
As they enter into Oklahoma Memorial Stadium a year later, the Bears need to be focused on eliminating those unforced errors on both sides of the ball.
“I always try to tell the guys that we cannot control the other team," Rhule said. "We can control ourselves and how we play, and we just have to focus on playing well. We just have to play well.
"Regardless of who we play we have to come out and give our best effort. We just have to worry about us and go out and play with tremendous energy and passion.”
It's possible that Baylor fans saw a glimpse of the "process" beginning to come together last week as the Bears put their best overall effort together in all three phases against Kansas.
Baylor took control of the contest by scoring on all but one drive in the first half, and outside of a long run by running back Pooka Williams, Jr. in the third quarter, never let the Jayhawks find much room to maneuver on offense. It wasn't without flaw, but it was arguably the most complete game of the Rhule era until this point.
Oklahoma will get their usual production, but a similar clean effort Saturday — minus the dreadful run of penalties — should have Bears in the game in the second half. A blown assignment or two early and all bets are off.
"I'll always talk about process and it being about us," Rhule said. "The whole goal, the chance to win Big 12 games is to play really well. We'll try to make sure that our guys understand, let's hold on to the football, let's not have mistakes, let's eliminate penalties, let's catch the football with confidence, let's go play well."
With game 17 of the Rhule era set to unfold, there is still a laundry list of items that can and will need to be crossed off before the Bears are ready to compete with the best in the country on a weekly basis.
However, controlling what can be controlled is one of the most, if not the most, important on the list. At least according to Rhule.
"We want to eliminate things that can cause mistakes and let our guys go play," Rhule said.