NORMAN, Okla. -- No more what-ifs or what-should-have-beens for Oklahoma.
Missed field goals against Kansas State, a close call against TCU. Two losses by a combined five points.
None of that was the case Saturday against Baylor and now there's no more worrying about what the rest of the country is doing, who's winning or how it will affect this team.
Where earlier this season there were palatable excuses, Saturday left nothing but nasty, obvious questions:
What happened?
And how'd it all come undone?
No. 15 Oklahoma lost 48-14 to No. 12 Baylor on Saturday, the Sooners' worst home loss since 1997 when Texas A&M won here 51-7.
But that Oklahoma team wasn't any good. It finished the season 4-8. This year's team started No. 4 in the country, fat on sky-high expectations after a Sugar Bowl victory in January.
Now that's all gone in a wash of 45 unanswered Baylor points after OU took a 14-3 lead early, leaving the Sooners with consecutive home losses for the first time in the Bob Stoops era, three losses on the season and three games to go before getting the opportunity to start over in 2015.
"We couldn't do anything very well," Stoops said after the game. "Really poor on our part and a poor job by us all."
That much was obvious Saturday, but what yet to be uncovered is how the Sooners went from supposedly so good to glaringly so average.
To make matter worse, quarterback Trevor Knight was taken off the field after what looked to be a blow to the head late in the fourth quarter.
Unless something screwy happens, Oklahoma will finish this season with no wins over ranked teams and no identity whatsoever. The Sooners are 6-3 and were seemingly disinterested Saturday after the first quarter.
"I'm a lot of things," Stoops said after the game when asked to describe his emotions. "No, I'm not happy. I'm very displeased. I'm not going to sit here and express them so you can have headlines."
Remember, this team beat Alabama less than a calendar year ago, scoring 45 points on the mighty Crimson Tide, but that performance is looking more like a fluke and less likely to be duplicated any time in the near future. Meanwhile, the Sooners started the season with convincing wins and looked worthy of being in the discussion for the College Football Playoff.
Now, the only discussion is which run-of-the-mill, mid-December bowl the Sooners will get invited to. As quickly as OU rose last season with consecutive wins over Kansas State, Oklahoma State and then Alabama, it has plummeted this season in a span of just six games.
TCU showed the OU defense was far from great and the short-yardage offense was lacking. Kansas State exposed OU's short-yardage flaws, had little issue with the Sooner defense and picked on quarterback Trevor Knight.
Baylor showed OU is not elite enough to be on the national level and not good enough to compete for a Big 12 championship. Baylor ended a 37-game road losing streak against ranked opponents dating back to 1991 by bettering the Sooners at every element of the game.
Bears QB Bryce Petty threw for 396 yards and completed 32 of 42 passes for 387 yards and no turnovers. OU's Trevor Knight went 12 of 27 with a pair of touchdowns, but a crushing interception that ultimately gave Baylor the lead for good early in the second quarter.
While the Bears made adjustments -- OU had 130 yards after the first quarter then less than 200 the rest of the game -- the Sooners clearly lost direction. OU had more than 15 minutes of possession in the first half and less than 10 minutes in the second half.
Baylor drove 75 yards on 10 plays for a touchdown on its opening possession of the second half. The Sooners twice failed on fourth-and-1, and all but one of its drives in the second half went for a grand total of 15 yards or fewer.
That's a meltdown that teams competing for championships avoid.
"It's players, it's coaching. It's matchups," defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said. "Those are all areas we need to look at."
Yeah, that would be about everything. Hard to say where it went wrong, but it has, and it was obvious. Defensive back Julian Wilson arguing with coaches on the sideline and the home crowd booed the Sooners before a good number of them left early.
"It just happens," running back Keith Ford said not allowing himself to give any insight to why or how or when his downfall festered into this casualty of a season.
"I have no idea. This is my team. I don't want to speak on that."
He won't speak on it, but really there's nothing left to say. This was supposed to be a season of promise, not a flop of frustration.
Follow Andrew Gilman on Twitter: @andrewgilmanOK
