Baylor Wins In Norman For The First Time As Sooners Fans Lament

Baylor kicked the unholy dogshit out of Oklahoma today, a turn of affairs that many Sooners fans, raised to believe in lasting hierarchies of college football, simply cannot countenance. And how can you blame them? For generations, the people of the allegedly great state of Oklahoma have relied on a juggernaut football program to ease the existential grief of spending their lives where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain. The world had order. During more than a century of football you'd beat speedbumps like Kansas and Kansas State more than 70 percent of the time, while smearing your in-state rival Oklahoma State better than 80 percent of the time across more than 100 meetings. Life may plod but autumns prove God hears prayer.

And Baylor. Don't even get started on Baylor. Oklahoma beat Baylor the first 20 times the schools played. Seems weird now, in this post-RGIII world we wander through, but a deep and abiding core of suck runs through the Bears' history. That a titan like OU would in fact win all and lose none isn't that bizarre.

Then, in 2011, a first. Baylor, ranked 25th, beats No. 5 Oklahoma 45-38. OU was the highest-ranked team Baylor had beaten since '85. It's Baylor's first win in a 110-year-old series. Robert Griffin III throws for 479 yards as Baylor tallies 616 total yards, the most Oklahoma has ever surrendered. OU's defensive ends coach summarizes the massacre nicely: "They worked us pretty good."

In 2012, a return to form. No. 14 Oklahoma beats unranked Baylor 42-34. Dogs and cats go back to living apart.

In 2013, No. 5 Baylor beats No. 12 Oklahoma 41-12. This is a sound thrashing from one top-15 team to another, and Oklahoma nearly drops out of the Top 25. Today, a virtual replay. Baylor, ranked 12th, trailing 14-3 after the first quarter, slings the ball up, over and through a limp, bickering defense that seemed to be miming flag football through much of the game. Corey Coleman catches 15 passes (the most Oklahoma has ever allowed a single receiver, if you care for trends) for 224 yards. The Bears cruise 48-14.

This is Baylor's first win in Norman. If you are an Oklahoma fan, this is a sign that the tide has truly turned: No more fluke years out of Waco, no more automatic W's, at least for a while. For the remainder of the college football universe who are not Oklahoma fans, well, we all know that paybacks are a bitch.

Photo credit: AP