WACO, Texas — Last week, Baylor offensive lineman Jason Smith predicted a Bear victory over OU.

“This win that we’re going to get over OU will get us on the right track,” Smith said to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

That prediction backfired, as the No. 1 Sooners dominated both sides of the ball on the way to a 49-17 victory.

Behind another impressive performance from sophomore quarterback Sam Bradford — who threw for 372 yards and two touchdowns — the Sooners (5-0, 1-0 Big 12) were able to avoid the upset bug that stung them last season.

Last season, OU entered conference play undefeated and lost 27-24 to Colorado on a last-second field goal.

Against Baylor, the Sooners struck early — scoring 28 points in the first quarter — and didn’t look back.

“The guys were really solid and really focused in all parts of the game,” head coach Bob Stoops said. “And we played such great defense that we gave our offense good field position, and they took advantage of it.”

The Sooners will bring the nation’s top ranking and a perfect record into the Red River Rivalry next weekend against No. 5 Texas, which is shaping up to be a powerhouse showdown.

OU struck first when Bradford hit senior wide receiver Manuel Johnson for a 53-yard touchdown strike down the left sideline just over one minute into the game. That completion was the longest of the day for Bradford.

Moments later, Baylor turned the ball over on downs and the Sooners drove down and tacked on another score.

Sophomore running back DeMarco Murray capped a nine-play, 63-yard drive with a two-yard score to make it 14-0.

The rout didn’t stop there.

The Sooners added two more scores in the first quarter on one-yard runs from Bradford and sophomore running back Mossis Madu to go up 28-0 after the first quarter.

Baylor got onto the board early in the second quarter when freshman quarterback Robert Griffin led a drive that resulted in a score from one yard out.

Griffin ran for 102 yards on 21 carries on the day.

“That dude is fast,” sophomore defensive tackle Gerald McCoy said. “He slipped me a couple of times, but I still think we did a good job containing him.”

Baylor rushed 41 times for 194 yards on the day, the most the Sooners have given up this season.

“Robert Griffin is an excellent athlete and he’ll do that to anybody,” Stoops said. “I thought [Baylor head coach] Art Briles and his staff did a really good job preparing and getting their guys ready.”

But OU responded with more points midway through the second quarter as Bradford found his other senior wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias for a 42-yard strike.

“They were playing kind of soft,” Iglesias said when referring to his touchdown catch. “I just got behind them and ran with it.”

Baylor tacked on its last touchdown of the evening later in the second quarter when Griffin ran in another one-yard touchdown run in the final minute of the first half. OU held a 35-14 at the half.

The Sooners’ dominance continued into the second half. They marched down the field to go back up by 28 points when junior running back Chris Brown converted a fourth down play for a three-yard touchdown run.

Baylor added a field goal late in the third, and OU finished the scoring for the day when Murray found the end zone for a second time in the fourth quarter.

The win keeps the Sooners historically perfect against Baylor. They have now won all 18 meeting between the two teams.

The team’s focus will now shift to an important matchup with rival Texas.

In five of the last six seasons, the winner of the OU-Texas game has gone on to win the Big 12 South.

“Whoever wins this game will have a big jump on anyone else,” Iglesias said. “We’re going to prepare harder than we ever have and try to keep it up.”