Baylor coach Art Briles admits he was a bit surprised by how quarterback Bryce Petty answered questions after the No. 10 Bears’ bounce-back victory.

“But I was kind of pleased,” Briles said Monday.

In the postgame interview after Petty threw three touchdowns and Baylor scored on 11 consecutive possessions in a 60-14 victory over Kansas on Saturday, the usually talkative quarterback answered five of the six questions he was asked with the same answer — repeatedly responding, “Just ready for O-U.” The lone different answer was “Yep,” to the question of if he was ready for Saturday’s game against No. 16 Oklahoma.

“He’s in a mode where it’s kind of a no-nonsense mentality,” Briles said. “So I certainly appreciate that part of it.”

The defending Big 12 champion Bears (7-1, 4-1 Big 12, No. 13 CFP) rebounded from their lone loss at West Virginia with the expected big victory over Kansas. Now they play at eight-time champion Oklahoma (6-2, 3-2, No. 18 CFP), a place where Baylor has never won.

“It would be big from the standpoint that we’re trying to establish ourselves just like everybody else in this league as a team that can sustain,” Briles said.

If the Bears win the rest of their games, they would be guaranteed no worse than a share of the Big 12 title.

Oklahoma has a 21-2 series lead against Baylor, but the Bears’ two victories have come in the last three years at home. That included Baylor’s 41-12 win last year on way to its Big 12 title.

Briles had no interest in talking about how last year’s game applies to what will happen Saturday, but acknowledged the importance of the recent victories over the Sooners.

“I put a lot of stock into it because they are a storied program, without question,” Briles said “If you’re a casual football fan that keeps up with college football, the name Bud Wilkinson might mean something to you. Barry Switzer might mean something to you. Bob Stoops might mean something to you.”

“They’ve done a tremendous job for decades as a program up there. For us to be able to come out on the top side a couple of times here lately, it’s a boost for our program from a recruiting standpoint and from a national image standpoint, without question,” he said.

As for Petty, he was more like himself Monday during his weekly media availability that follows Briles.

Asked about his postgame comments two days earlier, Petty said he was — and still is — just really excited about this week.

“I never wanted to come off as Kansas wasn’t important, they’re a really good team, so anytime you get a Big 12 win, that’s huge for us,” Petty said “I’m really excited about this week. It’s a big opportunity. … I didn’t mean to come off as rude or obnoxious.”

(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Latest News:

[display-posts category=”news,sports” wrapper=”ul” posts_per_page=”5″]

Top Trending: