Dave Aranda praises rushing attack after road win against Oklahoma

It wasn’t always pretty, but Baylor coach Dave Aranda is proud of his team for finding a way to win on the road against Oklahoma. Behind their run game, the Bears defeated the Sooners 38-35, claiming back-to-back wins against OU for the second time in program history.

Baylor leaned on the run all afternoon, finishing with 281 yards rushing and five touchdowns as a team. Speaking with ESPN postgame, Aranda gave credit to both his running backs and offensive line for the way they attacked.

“They wanted to finish forward,” he said. “I thought our running backs ran violent. I thought they continued to try to push forward. There were multiple hits at or near the line of scrimmage and they wouldn’t take that. They continued to churn their legs and work forward. Our O-linemen were coming off blocks and looking to push the pile. So all of that’s been the whole year in the making and it’s really good to see it when we need it most.”

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Craig “Squirrel” Williams led the backfield with 192 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries. That included to runs of 40 yards or more, and a 43 yard run with two minutes remaining that allowed the Bears to run out the rest of the clock and secure the win.

Although the Sooners scored the first touchdown of the game, Baylor responded with two of its own and the game was tied at 14 at the end of one quarter. But even as the game remained close throughout, the Bears kept fighting in a tough road environment, and Dave Aranda was pleased with the effort against Oklahoma.

“We stayed together,” he said. “I thought this had a lost of the West Virginia game in it. The West Virginia game where we broke. Feeling the onslaught from Oklahoma and just all their weapons and just the energy from their fans and the crowd, to not break and find a way to win and get an ugly win, it’s impressive for us and an area of growth for us. It’s good to see.”

Baylor improved to 6-3 with the win, and runs into a huge test next week against No. 13 Kansas State.