By KEVIN LONNQUIST
Publisher
The euphoria is over.
The bad 2017 season continues. The good news is that only two games remain.
Here’s what the Baylor is season is all about summed in Saturday afternoon’s 38-24 loss to Texas Tech at AT&T Stadium.
>Baylor defensive backs can’t tackle in the open field.
>Receivers are dropping passes that are clearly catchable.
>Three Red Zone appearances result in zero points.
>Another wide receiver is lost for the season with a knee injury.
>The offense committed four turnovers including the embarrassing kind where a receiver has the ball ripped from his grasp and it’s returned for a touchdown.
>The atmosphere in the building was stale because the 34,842 who were there (there weren’t that many in there) just hung out.
This was a forgettable afternoon in a game where Baylor had opportunities to make this game and perhaps steal it. Opportunities turned into misfires. Mistakes proved costly. Baylor is 1-9 and 1-6 in the Big 12.
Stop if you’ve read this a time or two. This is what bad seasons look like. There are few breaks and frustration after frustration follows.
Matt Rhule tried to put the best face on it. His honesty is refreshing. He’s not going to sugarcoat anything.
If the Bears stop killing themselves with huge mental mistakes, they give themselves every opportunity to make the drive back to Waco feel like 10 minutes instead 90.
He and I are of the same mindset. I’ve never believed in the “If this happens..’’ or “It’s supposed to do this…’’ mentality. It happens. It doesn’t matter that it didn’t come off the way as planned. Either you make the plays or you don’t.
Rhule believes that this team is getting better. To quote him, “You can be pleased with the progress but furious with the results.’’
I don’t know about all that. I said that the last three games should be a case where you see a crisper style of ball, a better sense of understanding of what’s expected and how the game is supposed to be played.
With Charlie Brewer setting school records in attempts (63) and completions (43), this isn’t the kind of football that Rhule wants. But he has no choice. With a roster that’s young, banged up and not very deep, the Bears are just going to have to exist to get through these two final games and then think about 2018.
“I think we’ve had about 2-3 years worth of injuries in one year,’’ Rhule said.
That’s probably true. Gavin Holmes is the latest to go down. Baylor won’t officially say it, but a person close to Holmes said it was torn left ACL and that he’s done for the season.
So that’s Holmes, R.J. Reed and Chris Platt. Pooh Stricklin is gutting it out on a bad foot. Tony Nicholson probably shouldn’t be playing because of his ankle but he is.
As for the up above, let’s start with the tackling.
Rhule expressed disappointment in the way the defensive backs played. This was a brutal day for Grayland Arnold and Jameson Houston. They were not good in one-on-one scenarios, biting on every fake Dylan Cantrell made on them or just not making plays.
That stands out in a pretty solid defensive effort. The Red Raiders are nothing special on offense. They had just 337 total and scored two other touchdowns on a 92-yard kickoff return to open the game and a 30-yard fumble return off a strip for a second score. A third score came when Tech fair caught an errant pooch/onside kick and started at the Baylor 32 because of kick catching interference. The last 30 were covered on a touchdown pass.
Now, let’s move to the red zone killers.
On the first with the ball at the Tech 13, Brewer has a miscommunication with JaMycal Hasty on the exchange. Brewer drops it. Tech covers it. Possession over. Opportunity lost.
On the second with the ball inside the Tech 1, Baylor calls timeout. Rhule goes for it. No problem with that. Season isn’t going anywhere. Try it. Terence Williams, who banged his other shoulder and wasn’t available for that possession, can’t be the option. However, offensive coordinator and play caller Jeff Nixon wants to go head to head and get the yard against a meh Tech defense. The blocks are OK. Fullback Kyle Boyd clears a path. But a Tech player sneaks through and Hasty is stuffed. Possession over. Opportunity lost.
I get why Rhule wants to set the tone. But when you have a mobile QB with a questionable offensive line, why not bootleg him out as a run/pass option and have a wide receiver run with him (again, no Baylor tight ends even targeted today).
On the third, the Bears drive to the 18. A penalty pushes them back to the 33. Brewer (someone needs to work with him with his spiral) mindlessly throws a duck into the end zone. It’s easily intercepted. Possession over. Opportunity lost. Rhule justifiably chews out Brewer.
At a maximum, that’s 21 points. At a minimum its’ nine. It became the worst-case scenario in none.
There really isn’t any solution to this. All we learned from this outcome is that Kansas is really bad, Baylor isn’t much better and Tech is just a team with a couple of players. That’s it.
This season is less than two weeks from concluding. Baylor seniors will be honored next Saturday against Iowa State.
You can only imagine what they’re thinking from the time when they arrived to what they’re thinking now.
Publisher
The euphoria is over.
The bad 2017 season continues. The good news is that only two games remain.
Here’s what the Baylor is season is all about summed in Saturday afternoon’s 38-24 loss to Texas Tech at AT&T Stadium.
>Baylor defensive backs can’t tackle in the open field.
>Receivers are dropping passes that are clearly catchable.
>Three Red Zone appearances result in zero points.
>Another wide receiver is lost for the season with a knee injury.
>The offense committed four turnovers including the embarrassing kind where a receiver has the ball ripped from his grasp and it’s returned for a touchdown.
>The atmosphere in the building was stale because the 34,842 who were there (there weren’t that many in there) just hung out.
This was a forgettable afternoon in a game where Baylor had opportunities to make this game and perhaps steal it. Opportunities turned into misfires. Mistakes proved costly. Baylor is 1-9 and 1-6 in the Big 12.
Stop if you’ve read this a time or two. This is what bad seasons look like. There are few breaks and frustration after frustration follows.
Matt Rhule tried to put the best face on it. His honesty is refreshing. He’s not going to sugarcoat anything.
If the Bears stop killing themselves with huge mental mistakes, they give themselves every opportunity to make the drive back to Waco feel like 10 minutes instead 90.
He and I are of the same mindset. I’ve never believed in the “If this happens..’’ or “It’s supposed to do this…’’ mentality. It happens. It doesn’t matter that it didn’t come off the way as planned. Either you make the plays or you don’t.
Rhule believes that this team is getting better. To quote him, “You can be pleased with the progress but furious with the results.’’
I don’t know about all that. I said that the last three games should be a case where you see a crisper style of ball, a better sense of understanding of what’s expected and how the game is supposed to be played.
With Charlie Brewer setting school records in attempts (63) and completions (43), this isn’t the kind of football that Rhule wants. But he has no choice. With a roster that’s young, banged up and not very deep, the Bears are just going to have to exist to get through these two final games and then think about 2018.
“I think we’ve had about 2-3 years worth of injuries in one year,’’ Rhule said.
That’s probably true. Gavin Holmes is the latest to go down. Baylor won’t officially say it, but a person close to Holmes said it was torn left ACL and that he’s done for the season.
So that’s Holmes, R.J. Reed and Chris Platt. Pooh Stricklin is gutting it out on a bad foot. Tony Nicholson probably shouldn’t be playing because of his ankle but he is.
As for the up above, let’s start with the tackling.
Rhule expressed disappointment in the way the defensive backs played. This was a brutal day for Grayland Arnold and Jameson Houston. They were not good in one-on-one scenarios, biting on every fake Dylan Cantrell made on them or just not making plays.
That stands out in a pretty solid defensive effort. The Red Raiders are nothing special on offense. They had just 337 total and scored two other touchdowns on a 92-yard kickoff return to open the game and a 30-yard fumble return off a strip for a second score. A third score came when Tech fair caught an errant pooch/onside kick and started at the Baylor 32 because of kick catching interference. The last 30 were covered on a touchdown pass.
Now, let’s move to the red zone killers.
On the first with the ball at the Tech 13, Brewer has a miscommunication with JaMycal Hasty on the exchange. Brewer drops it. Tech covers it. Possession over. Opportunity lost.
On the second with the ball inside the Tech 1, Baylor calls timeout. Rhule goes for it. No problem with that. Season isn’t going anywhere. Try it. Terence Williams, who banged his other shoulder and wasn’t available for that possession, can’t be the option. However, offensive coordinator and play caller Jeff Nixon wants to go head to head and get the yard against a meh Tech defense. The blocks are OK. Fullback Kyle Boyd clears a path. But a Tech player sneaks through and Hasty is stuffed. Possession over. Opportunity lost.
I get why Rhule wants to set the tone. But when you have a mobile QB with a questionable offensive line, why not bootleg him out as a run/pass option and have a wide receiver run with him (again, no Baylor tight ends even targeted today).
On the third, the Bears drive to the 18. A penalty pushes them back to the 33. Brewer (someone needs to work with him with his spiral) mindlessly throws a duck into the end zone. It’s easily intercepted. Possession over. Opportunity lost. Rhule justifiably chews out Brewer.
At a maximum, that’s 21 points. At a minimum its’ nine. It became the worst-case scenario in none.
There really isn’t any solution to this. All we learned from this outcome is that Kansas is really bad, Baylor isn’t much better and Tech is just a team with a couple of players. That’s it.
This season is less than two weeks from concluding. Baylor seniors will be honored next Saturday against Iowa State.
You can only imagine what they’re thinking from the time when they arrived to what they’re thinking now.
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