By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Each week, Big 12 coaches have their weekly meetings with the media at their press conferences during the college football season. Baylor head coach Dave Aranda’s comments have already been posted. Rankings are from the AP Poll. Here are some highlights elsewhere in the league. Quotes and notes are taken from those pressers if not specified elsewhere. All games are Saturday unless otherwise noted.

Brent Venables, Oklahoma (5-3, 2-3) – The Sooners play host to Baylor: The Sooners maligned defense made progress in the win at Iowa State. “It's not an easy thing. You know, but our guys are smart,’’ Venables said. “They've got a lot of video evidence. What we've been able to do on the practice field, again, the improvements that they've made. I think that's where you can continue to have confidence in our belief, in our coaches, and our schemes. And good things will happen to those that attack, and that's what we've been trying to get our guys, is pulling through the knot hole when it comes to having the attack mindset all the time. Trust, and again [Iowa State] was just another step forward.”

Lance Leipold, Kansas (5-3, 2-3) – The Jayhawks play host to Oklahoma State: The Jayhawks started back in preparation for the Cowboys. “We practiced last night and moved around well you could see that,” Leipold said. “They're anxious to get back at it. So, all in all, I thought it was productive. But you'll never know until you kind of see how it plays out here the next month.’ QB Jalon Daniels, who missed the last two games with a shoulder injury, practiced as well.

Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State (6-2, 3-2) – The No. 18 Cowboys play at Kansas: Gundy summed up the emotions following the stunning 48-0 loss at Kansas State. "You know, all these questions are good and they're fair, but guys, I've been doing this 18 years. We've won as many games as anybody in college football over the last 10 or 12 years at a very, very high level. We didn't play good. We didn't coach good. And they played really well for what they were trying to accomplish. Chris (Klieman) is a good guy, the coach. And like he said after the game to me, he said, 'I don't know we could have played a more perfect game against you all.' And I said, 'Well, you picked a shitty day to do it.'’

Chris Klieman, Kansas State (6-2, 4-1) – The No. 13 Wildcats play host to Texas: The evolvement of QB Will Howard since Adrian Martinez went down to injury has kept this team playing at a high level. He threw for 296 yards and four TDs in the 48-0 whitewashing of Oklahoma State. “Just his vision downfield, his pre-snap looks on things,’’ Klieman said. He sees the field. It's this, all that stuff has slowed down for him. And so he knows what he's getting at, trusting his reading and trusting his eyes. And then he just goes and plays fast and that's where I've seen the most growth is just how well he sees the field. And he's seen a lot of football. What's crazy is I don't know if you guys consider him a young kid or an old kid but he's seen a lot of football. And you can tell it's starting to slow down for him.”

Neal Brown, West Virginia (3-5, 1-4) – The Mountaineers play at Iowa State: The heat continues to be turned up following the 41-31 loss to TCU. “I’m proud of how they played,’’ Brown said. “We’re based on outcomes, and I get that. The outcome wasn’t what we wanted, but I’m proud of how they played. People can be upset with me, but they can’t question how those guys played today. People can be frustrated with me and it’s fine, but there shouldn’t be any ill-will with those kids today. They competed and they played."

Joey McGuire, Texas Tech (4-4, 2-3) – The Red Raiders play at TCU: With his QB situation in flux following a nightmare against Baylor (three QBs threw five INTS), McGuire still might be leaning to his freshman Behren Morton. “I think we started today and it’s probably going to be the same tomorrow that Behren [Morton] would take the [first-team] reps; you know, walk on the field first,” McGuire started. “One of his big strengths is how we can run our tempo. It fits him. He gets the ball out fast and he’s done that.
“I think [QBs] already know this… you can’t be the brand and have [being] competitive as part of your brand and who you are and whenever you come out of a game and different people struggle, not have other people competing for that job.”

Matt, Campbell, Iowa State (3-5, 0-5) – The Cyclones play host to West Virginia: The running game is really struggling. It averaged just 2.7 yards per game, while the offense is relying on the passing game too much. ISU has become predictable.
"Right now, it is not where we need it to be," Campbell said. "And it needs to be there for us to be successful offensively."

Sonny Dykes, TCU (8-0, 5-0) – The No. 7 Horned Frogs play host to Texas Tech: Following their 41-31 win over West Virginia, Dykes became the first coach in Big 12 history to begin his season 8-0. Since 2019, his teams at SMU and TCU have gone 29-2 through September and October. In November, his SMU teams went 4-8. Will the trend continue in Fort Worth. Time will tell.

Steve Sarkisian, Texas (5-3, 3-2) – The Longhorns play at Kansas State: Sark gave his assessment as his team enters the stretch run. “I feel good about our team. Like I said, I think that we played a lot of good football,’’ he said. “I feel like we've been a little unfortunate. When we haven't been at our best, it's become magnified to some degree and it’s hurt us. But I think that we played good football. I think that we've got a team that's committed for this final month of the season, but we have to be cautious not to look down the road. We got to focus on this game and we got to handle our business this week and it's going to be a heck of a game.”

But here's the quick update injury situation for those who missed or left during Saturday's win at Texas Tech.

>TE Drake Dabney broke his fibula and is having season-ending surgery Monday.
>WR Monaray Baldwin (hamstring) still unclear for availability at Oklahoma.
>RB Sqwirl Williams (concussion) still unclear for availability at Oklahoma.

*****
Opening Statement

Dave Aranda
In reviewing the tape, there were a lot of positive things. The energy was really good from start to finish. There was edge on tape. Tech plays hard, they play inspired. For us to go out and play the way we did, I’m way proud of the team. There are so many examples of here’s something in practice, he’s a drill, here it is showing up in a team period, and here it is showing up in a game. We continue to build with that thought in mind, I think just really keeps us focused on a process and gets us better and better, which we’re going to need to be for this next one. I have a lot of respect for Coach Venables and his team we’re playing, the environment, and all of it. So we’re going to have to continue to grow and improve, so that we can put our best effort forward.

(Dillon Gabriel) He’s got a really live arm, and there’s great confidence in him. He’ll throw from one hash to the other sideline. He’s got great anticipation so that he throws when guys are open. He can beat you with his legs too if everything’s covered, and there’s nowhere to go with it, he can take off running. So you have to be really sound with your pass rush, and it helps to have vision on the ball with your coverage or vision on the quarterback rather. He makes it very difficult

(Drake Dabney) He broke his leg, so his fibula is broken. He’s having surgery today. We’re going to miss him. When I look at Drake, I think of just this year all the improvement he made and just his mindset toward work. He was progressing from here’s the second tight end to,here’s a guy who can block when Ben’s getting out on the routes, to here’s Drake, here’s your game plan, here’s your routes, here’s your matchups. He was looking forward to more of that.

(Biggest difference between Riley and Venables OU teams) I think right now with Coach Venables, they’re still trying to find themselves. You can say that about us too over here. There’s been improvement the past couple of weeks, they’re playing hard for him, and so you can see the inspired play. I think you can see kind of a defense that has found an identity and is playing toward it. Offensively, they really ran the ball well this last game, and I’m sure that helped them with their defense. So you’re seeing kind of a collective team emerging. I think the best way to answer that question is this Oklahoma team is becoming right now.

(Interceptions) There’s been a lot of work into it. From a players’ perspective, don’t practice afraid of making mistakes. Practice to make a play. Then when you practice to make a play, stay within this framework of technique, structure and scheme. That alone right there for a young player is the whole thing. Then while that’s going on, the coach is here’s drills to high point a ball, here’s drills to have vision and break, here’s drills to undercut a receiver and make a play on the ball. And so from the coaches perspective is to continue with those drills and find the good in it, and don’t always point out the bad, and build, build, build. So for all that to be happening and not a lot of, I guess produce is one way you can say it, it’s kind of a barren landscape where you’re just kind of tilling dirt, and then for all of a sudden for that to happen, I think it’s important for the coaches and players to know that it’s not all of a sudden, there’s been a lot of work into that, and to continue with that I think will give us a chance to do it again.

(How similar is this OU offense to what you saw from Jeff Lebby’s Ole Miss offense in last year’s Sugar Bowl) I think the tempo is familiar. I think there are less spread-out sets. At least here lately, there’s been more of a focus on the run game. There’s a fair amount of runs that you remember back from OU a year ago to two years ago kind of showing up. When you look at Ole Miss, there was some of that, but it was just more speed and balls on the perimeter. Where here lately . . . as was kind of highlighted before, I think some of it is just to help the overall team and the pace of play and the defense and that. So, there’s some (similarities), but not a lot.

(How much of a focal point has Richard Reese become, and could he be the anchor you lean on) He’s been a good focal point. Still don’t know about Sqwirl (Williams) yet, hoping that we can get Sqwirl back. You saw some positive things from Qualan (Jones). There’s physical runs, physical blocks. I think he’s coming on at a way-important time. So, I think there is going to be more running back-by-committee, just to help with that overall carry number. But, at the same time, just way proud of Richard and just his effort and his attitude, because there’s some goal-line runs in there where daylight is . . . you could quarter in that thing. And he found it, and found it in an aggressive manner. We way appreciate that.

(Six sacks, what did y’all do to put so much pressure on the QB) I think one positive thing leads to another thing. That’s a big part of it. That might be the biggest part, to be honest. But, I think overall there’s a plan and a feeling of, ‘Hey, we’re going to be aggressive.’ We’ve been trying to protect this and trying to protect that, and what else do we have to protect, and all this other stuff. And I think to be aggressive and maybe change up a look or two in the back end tighten things up, where in the past it’s been more of a zone presentation and covering guys that are covering guys. And then, along with that, implementing more man pressures and simulated pressures, I think all of that combined for the thought going into the game that we’re attacking these people. And I think once you have that thought, that frees you up in just your base third-down rush to attack, too.

(How have you seen Gabe Hall progress) These past couple weeks have probably been his best. I think there’s been a growth in him with just his practice habits and a growth in him in effort with which he plays. So, it’s really good to see the success that’s coming his way based upon his adoption of just great effort and really fine focus on details. I think that’s going to serve him well, serve us well here coming up, too.

(What Jackie Marshall brings) Physicality. I think he brings an edge to us. There was a quarterback run in there, and he was in coverage, he came out of it, and the quarterback kind of gave us a 1-2 (move), and Jackie stayed right with it and was able to make the tackle. So, I think he gives you some athleticism, too. One of the things I love the most is you see the growth in people off the field and you see how that drives the performance on the field. And Jackie’s a great example of that. You go back to this time last year, to where it is now, it’s way cool.

(What have you seen from OU over the past couple weeks to get them in a groove) Complementary football. The defense and offense play off of each other. O-line-wise, you see physicality. I think defensively, you see just great effort. I think they’re starting to find their groove, and like us, it’s within a simplified structure. They’re playing their best football right now.

(On Khalil Keith’s impact coming back) I love just Khalil’s story. It was difficult for him in summertime and all of it when he was having to make a decision on, do we try to play through it or do we do something about it? And to do something about it meant this late start for him. And just with this being it for him, a very difficult decision to make. And for him to go through all that, and then to do the work, so that when he came back, there wasn’t added work on top of it because of, we’re not in shape or the grades aren’t in order or this and that. He handled all of it, and that’s a way cool thing, because that speaks just to his maturity. So many people, so many hands in that, just in his career here. But yeah, there’s a physicality that comes with him, there’s a confidence that comes with him. And I think there’s a feeling of, we’re going to get this done, when he’s in there. And it’s not a dig at anyone else, I just think he brings that. And we’re thankful for it. He played well, I thought, on Saturday.

(On Kelsey Johnson, is he playing a bigger role now?)
Yeah, he does. Kelsey’ way aggressive. Film was way impressive. His film might be the most impressive of all the impressive performances that we had on Saturday, it might be Kelsey Johnson the most. I think he really got into some blocks and finished violently. So, thankful for that.

(One good thing leads to another on defense, how much was interceptions on back end as a result of push up front or vice versa?)
Yeah. No, I think a lot of it had to do (with that). I think that first series, or you could probably go the first two series, kind of told the story that really played out throughout the game. I think to start the game, you notice the quarterback’s holding on to the ball and he was expecting Tampa 2 and zone and seams and none of it was there. And he was holding on to it. There's changes that all took place in the back end (to) keep it tighter. And then on the other side of it, typically, the D-lineman are real thick on the offensive line and fighting through guys to squeeze off run gaps and all of it. And if it's a run, it's great. If it's a pass, you're kind of blocking yourself and so there's stunts that, if it’s a run, no stunt. If it's a pass set, it turns into a stunt. And we were getting pressure just based upon that.

And so, I think all of it is is good in the time and space that was last Saturday's game and now that that's on tape moving forward with that type of thinking and continue trying to push the envelope to be able to give our guys the best opportunity to play this aggressive is going to be key.

(On Monaray’s status/hamstring)
We're hoping that we get him back. I think it's a wait and see right now. He worked out some yesterday and he's working out again today. I think it looks promising. (We’ll) probably know more … Thursday's gonna be kind of the cut off for that.

(Media rights deal, what are your thoughts on the job Brett Yormark has done so far?)
Yeah. Well, I mean, very proud to be in this conference. And I mean, you just look at – just speaking for football – I mean, you look at a couple years ago with Iowa State, you look at last year with us and then we're still fighting in it now. But you look at for sure, TCU and Kansas State and everything. It just shows the depth of the conference.

And then I think just with the news that's coming out now it just makes a strong conference even stronger. And so, excited for the future and excited for him specifically, too.

(Are there a couple of guys who really stepped up as leaders in the last couple of weeks?)
I think that's continuing. I think we've had guys like Dylan Doyle and Blake Shapen, Connor Galvin, Jacob Gall, kind of been stalwarts … Bryson Jackson, But then, like Micah Mazzccua and Apu, Garmin Randolph. We've had some guys that have just really kind of been through it, in terms of the maturity thing and which we all go through it. But to come out on the other side, and to see that, “Hey, the off the field drives the on the field.” It's pretty neat. And so, I think that's happening right now.

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
The RJB interrupts the stroll through signature hits of the 80s to recognize the holiday season.

Ah, the Halloween Franchise. Michael Myers, Laurie Strode and the cast of those who met their end courtesy of MM. Well, it appears that after 44 years and 13 films, this slasher movie series has reached its end. Hence the name Halloween Ends.

Maybe the Haddonfield, IL matriarch Strode finally can rid herself of him. Maybe Michael just can never be killed. Maybe you don’t really care, which the RJB is betting you don’t.

After the franchise grossed $773 million from the first 12 films, the joke was on those who watched them.

It wouldn’t be All Hallows Eve with the RJB bringing back the theme that best sets the mood than this one. You don’t need many notes to know this theme. Just like Jaws.

Login to view embedded media
*****
In this space next week, I’ll have my preview of the No. 5 men’s basketball team which opens the season at 11:00 on Nov. 7 at the Ferrell Center against Mississippi Valley State.

*****
Mrs. Razorback and I are ready for the trick or treaters on Monday. We have the Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, Kit Kats and Snickers filled up in a bucket.

I’m not a one-for-you, one-for-you and one-for-you type of distributor. If you’re coming to my house, you’re hitting the lottery. The main reason? I want to get rid of it so I’m not tempted. I’m already fighting the urges since the Peanut Butter cups are my candy weakness.

*****
Another fun, quick trip to Minneapolis. Great to see my cousin. Weather was outstanding. I’ve been doing this since 2009. First time I can recall watching the Gophers in short sleeves. Kicked off at 69 degrees. And they beat Rutgers, 31-0. Funny thing about shutouts. You’re cool with the win. But you’re still kind of into it because you want to see the blanking. Don’t get to see those too often.

Game finished fast so I had plenty of time to get and watch the Bears.

*****
We’re entering the money month of the college football season where championships are won or lost by what happens over these last four weeks.

I look at the pursuit to get to AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Dec. 4, a five-team race between Baylor, TCU, Oklahoma State, Texas and Kansas State.

Currently, TCU holds the top spot at 5-0. Kansas State is 4-1. Baylor, Oklahoma State and Texas are all 3-2. If you’re a team with three losses, you’d have to run the table and get a bunch of help. Never mind.

Here are the schedules for the contenders. Odd to not include Oklahoma in this discussion.

TCU: Home to Texas Tech, at Texas, at Baylor, home to Iowa State.

Kansas State: Home to Texas, at Baylor, at West Virginia, home to Kansas.

Texas: at Kansas State, home to TCU, at Kansas, Baylor

Oklahoma State: at Kansas, home to Iowa State, at Oklahoma, home to West Virginia

Baylor: at Oklahoma, home to Kansas State, home to TCU, at Texas

Let’s start with TCU. Short of a November implosion – Sonny Dykes coached teams have a history of crashing and burning in this month – the Horned Frogs are practically in the title game. Texas Tech should not be considered a land mine.

Obviously, consecutive road games to Austin and Waco are not gimmes. At the very worse, I see the TCU going 3-1. The Horned Frogs have everything lined up with big home wins over Oklahoma State and Kansas State.

Toughest schedule? That’s a tie between Baylor and Texas. What favors both is that each controls its destiny because each plays Kansas State, TCU and each other. There’s nothing they can do about Oklahoma State.

Yet the margin for error is narrow. One more loss and by the time they see each other the day after Thanksgiving, it’s just going to be the regular season finale.

Easiest schedule? Kansas State. If the Wildcats split these next two with Texas and Baylor – it may not matter how they split it – and you presume they take care of business with West Virginia and Kansas, they should be fine to get to AT&T. But if they lose these next two, they’re toast.

Who really needs help? Oklahoma State. While the Cowboys have wins over Texas and Baylor, blowing that 17-point lead at TCU is really stinging.

Technically, Mike Gundy’s schedule is easier than Kansas State’s. However, the Cowboys really can’t consider themselves one game behind KSU. They’re two because of the loss in Manhattan, KS. They are Texas and Baylor fans over the next two weeks for them to be serious players.

If we end the season with multiple teams tied for one or both spots to reach the championship game, then we’ll examine the Big 12 tiebreakers when the time calls for it

*****
Now, to the national scene

>The first College Football Playoff poll will be released on Tuesday. I have a Top 4 of 1. Georgia. 2. Ohio State 3. Tennessee. 4 Michigan. Clemson and Alabama are the two wild cards. But I could see one-loss Alabama one spot higher than Clemson. I’ve said Ohio State is the best team in the country. And I think the Buckeyes should be No. 1 and Georgia No. 2.

When Tennessee visits Georgia on Saturday, it could be a playoff elimination game. The loser likely can’t get into the SEC championship game unless the winner slips up the final three weeks.

Ohio State can stroll into the Michigan game on Nov. 26 in Columbus because its next three are Northwestern, Indiana and Maryland. When they were scheduled, the thinking was playing Iowa and Wisconsin were going to be difficult. Those programs are having down seasons.

Michigan’s next two are Rutgers and Nebraska. However, the Wolverines have a test against possible Big 10 West winner Illinois Nov. 19 in Ann Arbor.

Clemson’s playoff chances hang on what happens this Saturday at Notre Dame. The Irish aren’t great. But a night game could make this hmmm. The trip to South Bend is the last road games. The Tigers finish the ACC schedule with home to Louisville and home to Miami (FL) before the rivalry game against South Carolina.

Alabama knows its on the edge. A loss at LSU and it’s over. Survive that and then there’s a trip to Ole Miss the following week. Survive that then the Crimson Tide cruises into the SEC championship game after playing an FCS team and then the Iron Bowl against awful Auburn.

Plenty of drama. Saturdays in college football are never boring. Saturdays in November in college football are delicious.

*****
Now, a look at other Baylor sports…

>The No. 13-ranked Baylor volleyball team swept West Virginia on Sunday afternoon, 3-0, in the Ferrell Center to take the season series from WVU.

The Bears (19-4, 8-2 Big 12 Conference) took the match from the Mountaineers (7-16, 0-10 Big 12) in a quick three sets: 25-19, 25-5, 25-18.

Baylor broke its record for lowest opponent point total in a 25-point set in set two where West Virginia had just five points. BU first broke the record this season on Oct. 1 against North Texas, where the Mean Green had just six points in the first set.

The Bears hit the road once again, this time to Lubbock to face Texas Tech on Wednesday.

>Sera Hasegawa shot a 1-under 70 to lead Baylor women’s golf to a tie for eighth at the Battle at the Beach on Sunday at Club Campestre San Jose. Baylor wrapped up its fall season.

Hasegawa carded her sixth-straight round at par or better as BU finished with an 11-over 863 to complete the fall semester. Playing as an individual, Anika Veintemilla had the best week of her career, collecting her career-first top-10 finish after an even-par 71 on Sunday clinched a tie for ninth for the senior.

BU finished tied with Arkansas at 11-over 863. LSU won the event with a 14-under 838, six shots better than second-place TCU, who fired an 8-under 844.

>Baylor men’s golf will host the Bear Brawl for a second-straight season beginning Monday morning at Ridgewood Country Club. The Bears will account for two squads in the eight-team field, allowing all nine available players to see action on Monday.

> Women’s tennis wrapped up the Baylor Invite on Sunday at the Hurd Tennis Center, posting a trio of wins in singles play and a doubles victory.
Alina Shcherbinina (6-4, 6-7, 13-11) and Daniella Dimitrov (6-2, 0-6, 10-7) remained undefeated in singles play on the weekend, posting victories over TCU’s Destinee Martins and Houston’s Gabriela Cortes, respectively. Additionally, Liubov Kostenko picked up a 6-2, 6-1 decision over Washington State’s Eva Alvarez Sande.

Baylor concludes its fall slate next weekend when it travels to Stillwater, Oklahoma, for the Big 12 Individual Championships.

>Baylor cross country ran in the Big 12 Championships on Friday morning at LCU’s Chaparral Ridge Cross Country Course. The women finished the race in sixth place, while the men finished seventh overall.

The Bears return to the Dale Watts Course in Bryan-College Station for the NCAA South Central Regional on Nov. 11 to fight for a spot to the NCAA Championships in Stillwater, Okla. The race is scheduled to begin at 9:15 a.m.


Let’s make it a great week!

Baylor football junior defensive lineman Gabe Hall and freshman running back Richard Reese have been named Big 12 Players of the Week, as announced by the conference on Monday.

Hall collected Defensive Player of the Week honors after racking up three sacks for a total loss of 24 yards in BU’s 45-17 win at Texas Tech on Saturday. The Waller, Texas, native led the charge defensively for the Bears, recording half of the team’s season-high six sacks on the night. Baylor constantly found pressure on Tech’s trio of quarterbacks throughout the game, forcing five interceptions, its most in a single game in over 30 years. Hall also added a QB hurry to his career high-tying stat line.

Reese was recognized as the Big 12’s Newcomer of the Week for the second time this season following a massive effort on the ground. The rookie was once again a workhorse for the Bears in the victory, carrying the ball a career-high 36 times and rushing for 148 yards and three touchdowns. Saturday marked Reese’s fourth multi-TD effort of the year, third 100-yard performance of the season, and second three-TD output of 2022. He also added 12 receiving yards on three catches as BU won its fifth game of the season.

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Baylor exorcised the AT&T Jones Stadium demons that hounded them since 1990.

A wire-to-wire 45-17 victory at Texas Tech kept the Bears (5-3, 3-2 Big 12) in the running for a Big 12 title game appearance. Baylor reached the two-thirds poll of the 2022 season.

In a stretch of playing three out of four away from McLane Stadium, Baylor finishes with 2:00 p.m. kickoff at Oklahoma (5-3, 2-3) next Saturday. The game can be seen on ESPN+.

SicEmSports provides reflections, observations and three Golden Bears from this one.


Upon Reflection
Well, this was the team we thought we were going to see when the season began Sept. 3 against Albany. It just took getting to game No. 8 to get there. The good news is that it isn’t too late in terms of the goals competing for a conference championship and a NY6 game.

With the exception of an Issac Power shanked punt – he was due for a bad one – Baylor was locked in, pretty much eliminated the Jones Stadium crowd from the opening possession, calmly handled the adversity in the third quarter and played complimentary football.

Everyone should feel beyond good how this one went. The execution in all three phases was tremendous. The running game (even though it was 3.9 ypc) was sound.

Most importantly, the Bears won the turnover battle 5-to-1. Is this what we can expect to see moving forward for the final four games? Well, football is a week-to-week game. The opponent always has something to do with it.

However, there is also the element that your team can also control what it can control. Baylor did that.

We’ll find out next week in Norman, OK. What you hope happened in Lubbock is that the light came on.

While all four games against the Sooners, home to Kansas State, home to TCU and at Texas are challenges, they’re also winnable.


Part 1: DL/Secondary marriage
Now, you know why a really good pass rush is a secondary’s best friend. When quarterbacks are constantly under duress, they typically make rushed and bad decisions. That leads to good things for the secondary.

Baylor’s maligned pass rush and secondary play was justified through the first seven games. They weren’t good. The numbers showed that. Baylor was tied for last in the conference with sacks (11), while the secondary only had four INTs. They more than doubled that over the next 60 minutes.

Because of what they did to confuse Tech freshman QB Behren Morton followed by Donovan Smith and Tyler Shough, the Red Raiders could never find an offensive rhythm. They were frustrated all night.

While a lot of the attention will be paid to the five interceptions between Devin Lemear, Mark Milton, AJ McCarty, Tevin Williams and Al Walcott, this crew also had six PBUs where a couple could have been INTs. That’s 11 negative plays.

It’s made possible when the front generates six sacks, three other hurries and just imposes its will against the Tech offensive line. There were times Morton looked lost.


Part 2: Blake Shapen
Best performance of 2022. Not even close to any other. For starters, he took care of the ball. He had six in the last three games. Now, he got credit for the fumble on that toss to Reese. But both of them share the blame on that.

He directed an offense to where it was precise. Shapen knew where he wanted to go with the football. Finished with 211 yards, completed 63 percent of his attempts – 19 completions to nine different receivers - and you can see him and Gavin Holmes have that “it’’ relationship. This is the No. 1 pass-catch combo. Holmes finished with five receptions for 77 yards. Then there was the beauty of a 9-yard TD pass to Hal Presley in the end zone. Perfect ball. That’s why Shapen won this job in the spring.

Shapen then picked the right spots to run and kept himself healthy. Baylor was 12-20 on third down. Also, Shapen was on the field for 40 minutes with his teammates.


Notables
>Baylor penalized just four times for 4-46. It really should have been 2-16 had Christian Morgan not lost his composure on two personal foul penalties. He knows better. Each hit after the play was over was inexcusable.

>You cannot know how good of a play Tevin Williams made in the end zone to take away a TD pass from Red Raider receiver JJ Sparkman. When you watch it in real time, that’s a touchdown and you’re immediately thinking this is 31-24. But as Sparkman is landing, Williams come ups and basically starts to take it away from him. Slow motion is “how did he do that?”. A bold initial ruling by the officials because tie balls go the receiver. Replay confirmed it. Perhaps the play of the game that sealed it before the Pick6.

>Finally got to see the projected starting offensive line with Khalil Keith making his first start. November is money time. Good timing to have him back.

>Injury update situation. Maybe the Bears will get running back Sqwirl Williams (concussion) and wide receiver Monaray Baldwin (leg) back for next week at Oklahoma. There’s optimism running back Taye McWilliams (concussion) can return for the first time in nearly two months. Wait and see on him. With tight end Drake Dabney (possible ACL) probably done for the season, that might mean we see more burn with Kelsey Johnson.

>One thing I found curious was how Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire used his QBs. As much as Morton struggled in the first half, I thought McGuire was going to and should have made a change to Donovan Smith for the second half. Let Morton clear his mind. But then Morton takes a sack on the first play and then throws a pick on the second play.

What also was bizarre is how McGuire would insert Smith into the middle of drives. That’s a tough ask for a QB. It showed on his INT. I kind of understood the use of Tyler Shough when he did. It was 31-17 and Tech started a possession inside its 10. Red Raiders were not going to rally. Of course, he turns out the lights on the Pick6 to McCarty.

>Third down defense still not great. The Red Raiders were 8-of-15.


Golden Bears
The yearly tradition returns where SicEmSports highlights the three players who stood out in their performance on a weekly basis. Win or lose, they deserve the recognition.

The following are from Baylor’s 45-17 victory at Texas Tech.

Richard Reese, RB, Fr.: He’s back in this category for the second consecutive week. He’s running with a confidence. Had a career-high in carries and TDs. Aranda said after the game, Reese came up to him and said he wanted more.

Notable – Rushing: 36-148 (4.1 ypc) 3TD; Receiving: 3-12


Devin Lemear, S, RFr.: Lemear has been pretty good all year. But he took it up a notch in this one. His interception – Baylor’s first – when Tech was deep in Baylor territory was important because it changed the momentum in the early stages of the game.

Notable – 4 solo tackles, 2 PBU, 1 INT (21 yards)

Gabe Hall, DT, Sr.: His best game of the year. Hall got after Morton and was also very good against the Red Raider running game. The internet legend continues to grow.

Notable – 3 solo tackles – all sacks/TFL for 24 yards in losses


Honorable Mention: Blake Shapen

Baylor football will face off with No. 13/14 Kansas State at McLane Stadium on Nov. 12 and the game will be televised by FOX or FS1 and kickoff at 6 p.m. at McLane Stadium, it was announced by the Big 12 Conference office on Monday morning. Final television designation will be announced following Saturday’s games.

WBB> has a verbal from Letycia Vascomelos a 6ft 7 post from Monterale FL 36 ranked player class 2023

This is from Baylor's youtube channel. They stack all the interviews into one video.

Login to view embedded media

Dave Aranda

I thought the week was a real positive one. Our Tuesday practice might have been the best Tuesday that we’ve had. Our Thursday practice might have been the same, the best Thursday that we’ve had. A lot of good things throughout the week. I look at the emphasis on takeaways. I look at the emphasis on being physical with the ball and to see it transfer over to a game was pretty cool because it hadn’t really happened so far like that this year. The growth of the team, I think this has been a team where we can all tell them the stove is hot but they have to touch it. I’m hoping we don’t have to touch the stove any more on certain things.

(Defensive performance) I’m proud of them. A lot of credit goes to Ron Roberts and that staff. There were probably more early morning and late night meetings this week than I can remember. I think offensively what Tech was doing really stresses you. There’s a fair amount of creativity with their tempo. I credit the players because they went out and really had a chip on their shoulder and played with an edge. Now I will say that starting in the third quarter, it gets closer than it probably should be. I think all of that is still growth for us. As a team we’re probably I imagine like anyone else, when things are good we’re happy, and when things are bad we’re angry and we’re mad. That’s not going to cut it. That’s not how you win. When things are good, we have to have a chip on our shoulder and our standards should be higher, and coaches and players have to hold everyone to that standard, and we’re fighting for that.

(75-yard drive in third quarter for TD) It was good to see. I thought the offensive line really took it upon themselves to impose their will and to really be physical, and our running backs really worked on playing behind their pads and churning their legs and all of it. I thought our receivers did a good job blocking. All of that played into it. When you run the ball like we were doing, it opens up RPOs and play-action passes and that. I think the physicality, we get that for four quarters, I think we’re a little more who we want to be.

(Silencing crowd) I think when you execute, you silence the crowd. That’s really the only way the crowd gets silenced. You could wish that it would go away or you could try to talk louder or yell maybe, but the only way to silence the crowd is if you execute. So it ain’t really about the crowd, it’s what we can control and what we do. I think there were times tonight where we really focused on the focus, so it was good.

(Running the ball) When you need it, I wish it wouldn’t come down to that particular score when you need it. I wish we could keep our foot on the pedal the whole way, and we’re aiming to do that still. I think we’re built that way to go to the run. We’ve done that prior earlier in the year, but no one noticed because it didn’t work. So many times when there’s youth, words aren’t enough, there has to be actions. I need to probably find better words because it would be easier to have to not go through to get closer to it.


complementary football) I thought there were good things. The credit goes to the team. One of the hardest things about night games on the road is the distractions. There are so many things that can get in the way. They're watching games that are on TV, and they're seeing this and they're seeing that, and they're talking about this game and that game. If you're not careful, just how like we are as fans, well, this can happen and that can happen and all of that has a place, but it has nothing to do with the game we're about to play. It's just stuff getting in the way. In the past for us, that has gotten in the way. For them to handle all of that the right way, and then to be in tough road environments and almost reach a peak at pregame, and then come into the locker room and have to try to regain what we just blew off the top in pregame, that's happened too. It's the amount of things that a lot of times you take for granted, and you really, really have to coach and you have to step by step get it to where you want it. I think a lot of those things are going well for us right now, after a lot of failure.



(was winning time of possession necessary) I think anytime you're facing an offense as explosive as Tech, you want to physically impose your will, you want to pound the rock, and you want to limit their possessions.



(two-minute drive before the half) It was good to see. We spend quite a bit of time on that with just our practice schedules. It was good to see just a calmness and not forcing things. One of the things we talked about this week was that games like this, with all of the storylines and the night game and the guy being celebrated here, whatever that was, all of those things that come up don't have anything to do with the game. So you go into the game and if you don't let those distractions in, you find that all that I need to be is to me and that all that our team needs is for us to be our team. And not really go outside of ourselves. That's a great illustration, with that two-minute drive. There was a great patience and confidence that you really can't fake.



(Reese due for 40 carries) We were walking up to the locker room and he put his arm around me and he goes, 'I'm ready for the next one.' I think that's totally him. We're blessed to have him. He's special now, and he's just going to keep getting better.



(update on Dabney) It doesn't look great right now. I think we're still waiting on some X-rays and all of it. But it's unfortunate for Drake. I thought he was really playing well and I thought he had a great energy and a great confidence about him in this game. I'm disappointed and sad for him.



BLAKE SHAPEN



(the way you answered when Tech got it to 24-17 with a touchdown drive) That was an emphasis all week, really. And in the past few games, I’m sure you guys have noticed just us not being able to fully close out games and making key mistakes, including me, if it’s a fumble, a pick or whatever it is. We’ve struggled in that area and not being able to close the game out. It was really good to see us be able to do that tonight and I’m so proud of everybody on our team.



(physical game, looked like you took some shots) I’d say so. Every game is physical, but they were ready to play, we were ready to play. A lot of the people on that coaching staff were at Baylor maybe a year ago. So, I think that had a lot to do with it. They had those guys ready to play, and so were we.



(Richard Reese) He’s a stud. Our O-line is great, too. I was handing the ball off, and it was just like, ‘Golly!’ you just look at the holes that are being made. It was unbelievable just to watch after I hand the ball off. Actually, I was watching like a fan sometimes, because they’re opening holes, he’s hitting them and finding them. He’s been electric the past couple of weeks, for sure, and all season.



(what does this win do for the team) It does a lot. That was a huge win for us to come on the road. It wasn’t easy to come on the road and beat a team like them. They’re a great team. We came in, handled business, and I think it just gives us momentum if we take it the right way and be able to take the positives and also look at the negatives in the game and be able to grow from the game, even though we won, and be able to bounce back and have another good week next week. It’s key for us to come back and be ready to go Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and put together a good week.



(how do you mentally get past the hurdle of getting hit after having the concussion) The game of football is pretty violent. There are going to be times where you’re going to have to take those hits and able to wear them. I took a few of them tonight and maybe in the past. It’s just about getting back up from them and keep on going and not letting that stop me.



(saw you in the tunnel before the game and you looked pretty amped-up. Is that who you are, or was there a little extra tonight) Usually, I’m pretty fired up to play. I’m always ready to play. Maybe tonight, I don’t know if I was a little more. I don’t know. But, I was pretty pumped to play.



(on the crowd) Every road game is a challenge, just with communication and things like that. I thought they were pretty loud. And I thought we were able to execute with communication and being clear with what we’re supposed to do. We had a few hiccups and we were able to bounce back. That’s the biggest thing. It was fun to play in, though.



(was the TD to Presley the call, or did you see him late) He was actually my second read. It was a play action fake, Gavin was my first read, and the safety kind of blanketed that, and I went back late and that was my second ready to Hal, and he made a good play and got his feet in. It was a great play by him.



(good connection with him) Yeah, I just expect us to continue to grow. This is his first year playing, this is my first full year starting. So, for us to keep building on this and keep getting better. He does some unbelievable things. It’s kind of gone unseen maybe a little bit this year with him, but he can do some great things. He’s very lengthy and he catch the football really well and he’s really fast. The more experience we get together, the better we’ll get.



(felt like a true team win, complementary football) Yeah, for sure. I felt that. Whenever we were down, the defense picked us up and special teams at times. And then, whenever the defense maybe struggled a little bit, we were able to back them up, too. And that’s what it’s all about, just being able to come together as a team and be able to find that driving factor, and everybody has a role in that, even the guys not playing. And tonight, I really felt it a lot. I felt we played as a team more than ever tonight. So, we just have to build on that, for sure.



MATT JONES



(completely shut Tech down in the first half, what was the key there) Really, the motto going into this game was just to execute from the start, play fast, play green. I felt like we went out there and executed from the start. We were more physical, we were just playing from whistle to whistle, playing smart, doing our job. Everyone was doing their job, communication was on point. We went to our expectations and executed them.



(jackers and robbers, five interceptions) Man, it was great. I know we came into this game wanting to take three, from the old model: Take 3. But yeah, it just felt good coming into this game, and just from the start, interception, getting turnover after turnover, it was a key point to helping us win this game.



(first collegiate win for you out in West Texas) It’s awesome. It’s a blessing. I can’t speak about how much it means. Coming out to West Texas, I remember getting off the plane, and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, the dirt smell, that’s just what I needed.’



(going up against Joey, how do you balance that with winning the game) I think from the get-go, coming into this game, we were saying, yeah the emotions are going to be high, we love him and all that.’ But, at the end of the day, we don’t like him throughout the four quarters. So, just coming in with the emotions high and knowing what we need to do to execute and what we need to do to put our emotions to the side and just play ball.



(able to silence the crowd) Oh, it was awesome. I remember seeing them just leaving early, even when they still had a chance. Seeing them leave early, I guess you could call them some fake fans. But, it was nice.



(did you see your former Odessa Permian teammate, OL Landon Peterson) Yeah, I saw Landon. I said hey to him. He told me about having a little torn labrum earlier in the week. So, that kind of made me a little sad, I guess you would say. I remember before the first play, I just looked at him, he looked at me, and we just did a little head nod saying, ‘What’s up.’ So, it was great seeing him, seeing a former teammate.



(second week in a row been able to close out, even when the other team gets a little momentum going in the second half) I think just pounding the rock, man. We came in the locker room and just preached, ‘Hey, this game is not over.’ And just from the West Virginia game, past experiences, we knew that we had to come back into this half and pound the rock and out-physical team, out-effort them, fly to the ball and let every snap be our best snap.



(when you look back at the West Virginia game, does this even look like the same defense) No, not at all. (the difference) I would say more effort, we played way more physical. We came into this game with a great game plan, something we haven’t ran all year. So, I think installing that throughout the week and executing at a high level and just practicing with full effort every day and having intentional reps, it led over to the game.



(on the crowd) I thought BYU was more electric, more intensified. I didn’t think the crowd really brought it like we were expecting. I think we had high expectations coming into the game with the crowd and how it could be a distraction. But, I don’t think it really distracted us one bit.

Could tell the tale of how the rest of the season goes. Have to handle the chaos of a night game in Lubbock.

Big 12 Standings after Week 9.

The transitive property does not work in college football.
Baylor loses to West Virginia. Texas Tech destroys West Virginia. Baylor destroys Texas Tech. The Baylor-Tech and Oklahoma State-Kansas State games were crazy out of the expectations.
On paper, Tech was a bad match up for Baylor. They were at home, night game, coming off a rousing victory, and had Patrick Mahomes coming back in the house. I don't even know what to think about Oklahoma State, except they did a great impression of Amber Heard last week, if you get my drift.

If Baylor looks at one game with regret this season, it will be West Virginia. They goofed it away, and if they hadn't, they'd be tied with K-State. As of now, they have to win out and hope someone else beats Oklahoma State.

This game was important for Aranda, in terms of fan perception. Joey McGuire applied for the Baylor job. If the Red Raiders had won this game, there would have been a lot of fan discussion about whether Baylor made the right choice. Hey, McGuire was on staff for Baylor's championship last year, and he went to Tech, who had underperformed ever since Mike Leach took his sideshow press conferences to Washington State. They bopped Texas, in a game they shouldn't have won, while Baylor gave away a game they should have won to West Virginia. I'm not saying there would have been a "fire Aranda" movement, but a lot of people would have been looking at Joey like they look back on the girl they dated in high school, and thinking, "what if?"

A lot has been made of Baylor not winning in Lubbock since 1990, and yeah, considering that in 1990 Tom Brady was in middle school and Emmitt Smith was a rookie, it has been a long time. In context, after Grant Teaff retired, the Baylor coaches were Chuck Reedy, Dave Roberts, Kevin Steele and Guy Morriss. It was not the golden age of Baylor athletics. Texas Tech had Spike Dykes followed by Mike Leach. They may not have had Tech on a roll, but they at least had them on a stroll. Art Briles took over for the Bears in 2008, and the series moved to Dallas in 2009. Since then, Baylor's won consistently.

Bill Parcells said, "You are what your record says you are." Iowa State's bad.

What to say about Texas A&M? As a Longhorn, I tend to say this:

Beyond the fact that Longhorns are genetically required to hate aggy, when I attended UT in the 70s, Marty Akins was the qb. I lived in the same dorm as the athletes, and Akins was coming off a knee injury when they played A&M. Ed Simonini nailed him right in that knee well after a hand off, putting him on crutches. On top of that, Simonini ended up marrying Playboy playmate Karen Christy, totally ruining my chances with her.

A&M shows the dangers of spending money on NIL and coaching salaries like Nicholas Cage in a strip club.
On the podcast, we talked about Jimbo Fisher, and how it would end up costing the Aggies 92 million to fire him, but even after that, they'd have to let his staff go and hire all new. Total replacement costs could be up to 150 million. Even if they get rid of Jimbo, they can't just bring in Clyde from the mail room. They have to get a name coach.

Now about that #1 2022 recruiting class, with something like eight five stars and twenty four stars. It's falling apart. Several have been suspended, and others have entered the transfer portal. Art Briles said, the hardest part about coaching was teaching players to be team mates. "All these guys were the best players on their teams. They didn't have to get along with anybody. Everybody had to get along with them." For the most part, three star players are happy to get an offer and have something to prove. Four and five stars HAVE to be handled differently. There are a lot of things Nick Saban has done right, but one of his signature talents is getting those four and five stars, who tend to be prima donnas, to be team members. NIL has accelerated this differential. Bijon Robinson has a Lamborghini and his own brand of mustard. These differentials are guaranteed to create chaos if not handled properly. With A&M, we're watching a school spend itself into a mess that even that big SEC TV contract can't cover. They won't be the only one.

Stupid thought: Coaches have signature looks. Art Briles NEVER wore a short sleeve shirt. I've always suspected he got some tattoos in his wild and younger days, and later regretted them (no, I don't know for sure.) Mike Gundy and Lane Kiffen wear visors instead of caps. They're just flexing on those of us with bald spots. Matt Rhule wore a smock, either to cover up his dad bod or maybe he had a ceramics class after the game. I've never seen Dave Aranda in a hat. I thought about this because I just had surgery to remove (another) skin cancer from my face, cause I've spent most of my life outside and only started wearing a hat after the skin cancers started popping up. Hope he doesn't end up with the same problem I have now.

From Baylor SID

TEAM NOTES
• Baylor is 5-3, 3-2 in the Big 12 Conference and Texas Tech is 4-4, 2-3 in the Big 12.
• The Bears lead the all-time series with Texas Tech, 41-39-1 and Texas Tech leads the series in Lubbock, 24-15-1.
• This was Baylor’s first win in Lubbock since 1990, snapping a 10-game losing streak. The two teams played for 10 consecutive years in Dallas-Fort Worth.
• Baylor captains: Jacob Gall, TJ Franklin, Bryson Jackson, Micah Mazzccua.
• Baylor is 19-12 under third-year head coach Dave Aranda.
• The Bears are 5-1 in 2022 when scoring first and 14-4 under Aranda.
• Baylor is 5-1 when leading at halftime in 2022 and 16-3 under Aranda.
• The Bears intercepted five passes, its most since going for five 1989 vs. TCU.
• BU returned an interception for a touchdown for the first time since the 2022 Sugar Bowl.
• Baylor has 57 takeaways and 36 giveaways in 30 games under Aranda.
• Baylor had the football for 40 minutes and 17 seconds, its second consecutive game with over 40 minutes in time of possession.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
• Freshman RB Richard Reese rushed a career-high 36 times for 148 yards and three TDs.
• Reese has rushed for a team-leading 12 TDs on the year, equaling the total of Abram Smith in 2021.
• Reese had his second career three-TD rush game.
• Reese went over the 100-yard rushing mark for the third time in 2022 and for the second consecutive game.
• Sophomore QB Blake Shapen threw for 211 yards on 19 of 30 passing with one TD, adding 30 on the ground. • Shapen has 18 career TD passes and 13 in 2022.
• Freshman WR Josh Cameron made his first career start.
• Senior John Mayers made a 48-yard field goal in the first quarter and was 4-for-4 in PATs.
• Mayers has 199 career points, ranking sixth in program history.
• Mayers has made 106 career PATs, good for fifth in BU history.
• Mayers has made 31 career field goals, tied for sixth in program history.
• Mayers has made 79.5 percent of his field-goal attempts, ranking tops in program history. • Mayers has made 99.1 percent of his PATs, ranking fourth in BU history.
• Junior S Devin Lemear had four tackles and an interception. • Lemear intercepted his first career pass.
• Lemear has three pass break-ups on the year.
• Baylor senior OL Connor Galvin made his team-leading 45th-career start and made his team-high 34th-straight start. • Galvin ranks third in BU history in starts.
• Senior S Al Walcott finished with a team-leading eight tackles, one for a loss, and an interception. • Walcott picked off his first pass of the year and the fourth of his career.
• Walcott has seven tackle for a loss on the year and nine in his career.
• Walcott has broke up four passes on the year.
• Junior LB Matt Jones finished with four tackles and half a sack. • Jones has 13.5 tackles for a loss in his career and 3.5 in 2022. • Jones has two sacks on the year and 4.5 in his career.
• Senior DL Brayden Utley had two tackles and half a sack. • Utley has six career tackle for a loss and 0.5 in 2022. • Utley has three career sacks and 0.5 in 2022.
• Junior DL Gabe Hall went for a career-high tying three sacks. • Hall has 1.5 sacks on the year and 7.5 in his career.
• Hall has 10 career tackles for a loss and 2.5 in 2022.
• Hall has six career QB hurries and two in 2022.
• Freshman LB Jackie Marshall notched his first two career QB hurries. • Marshall recorded his first career tackle for a loss.
• Junior RB Qualan Jones had eight carries for 38 yards and a TD.,
• Freshman CB Tevin Williams intercepted his first career pass.
• Sophomore CB AJ McCarty notched his first career interception, returning it for a score.
• Senior LB Dillon Doyle had five tackles.
• Sophomore CB A.J. McCarty broke up his third pass of the year and the fourth of his career. • Freshman S Devyn Bobby had two tackles.
• Bobby has one pass break-up in 2022.
• Senior LB Bryson Jackson made his first career start.
• Junior OLB Garmon Randolph had four tackles and two sacks.
• Randolph has 3.5 tackles for a loss on the year and 6.5 in his career.
• Randolph has two sacks on the year and four in his career. • Senior CB Mark Milton picked off his first career pass.
• Milton broke up his first pass of the year.
• Senior DL Chidi Ogbonnaya played in his 54th career game, ranking fourth in program history.

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
In Lubbock, playing easily its most complete game of 2022, the defending Big 12 champion Bears kept their title game appearance hopes alive.

Using five interceptions coupled with Richard Reese rushing for 148 yards and three touchdowns, Baylor surprisingly handled Texas Tech, 45-17, Saturday night at AT&T Jones Stadium.

The Bears won in Lubbock for the first time since 1990 and broke a string in this series where the last three games had been decided by three points. Baylor never trailed in this game.

Baylor (5-3, 3-2) controls its destiny with the final four games against at Oklahoma, home to Kansas State and TCU and at Texas.

Coming into this game, Baylor's maligned secondary had just four interceptions. However, five different defenders - Devin Lemear, Mark Milton, AJ McCarty, Tevin Williams and Al Walcott - picked off three different Tech quarterbacks.

The first of two significant was when Williams came up with an INT in the end zone to take a touchdown reception away from Red Raider receiver JJ Sparkman early in the fourth quarter. The second was McCarty's 20-yard Pick6 to seal it.

Plus, Baylor's fledgling pass rush emerged with six sacks and gave different looks to frustrate Tech starting QB Behren Morton and backups Donovan Smith and Tyler Shough.

Reese, a true freshman, continues to take advantage of his ever increasing role as the Bears go-to running back. He had a career-high 36 carries that led to another productive night

Baylor built a 17-3 halftime lead on Reese's second touchdown of the night seconds before the close of the first 30 minutes.

The Bears then opened the second half when Mark Milton produced an interception on the second play of the third quarter. That set up a short 34-yard scoring drive that finished in Blake Shapen's nifty 9-yard TD pass to Hal Presley.

Texas Tech (4-4, 2-3) rallied to close to within, 24-17. However, the Bears responded with a 75-yard drive that ended early in the fourth quarter on Reese's third scoring run. Shapen finished throwing for 211 yards.

Baylor continues the road trip next Saturday to Norman, OK with a 2:00 p.m. kickoff at Oklahoma (ESPN+).

Was not expecting this for this game. But get your subscriptions fired up for next Saturday at 2 pm.

@jbhouse powered through with an 8-2 mark to get his third weekly win. @kentowens and @timfwilliams both got 7-3. A lot of people had a little something to brag about. @reagan1288 was the only picker to get Wisconsin's win correct, and only missed the final score by 3 points. Baylor won 35-23; he had 38-23. @seguinagave came closest to getting the spread, being off by only one.



This week, it was tougher to find games, cause there just weren't a lot of intriguing match ups outside of the Big 12. But, we found some that may be a challenge.
Tiebreaker is point spread between Baylor and Texas Tech.

All games Saturday, October 29th.

Big 12 Games
#7 TCU (7-0, 4-0) @ West Virginia (3-4, 1-3)
Oklahoma (4-3, 1-3) @ Iowa State (3-4, 0-4)
#9 Oklahoma State (6-1, 3-1) @ #22 Kansas State (5-2, 3-1)
Baylor (4-3, 2-2) @ Texas Tech (4-3, 2-2)

Other Games
Notre Dame (4-3) @ #16 Syracuse (6-1)
#20 Cincinnati (6-1, 3-0) @ UCF (5-2, 2-1)
#RV Arkansas (4-3, 1-3) @ Auburn (3-4, 1-3)
#15 Ole Miss (7-1, 3-1) @ Texas A&M (3-4, 1-3)
#17 Illinois (6-1, 3-1) @ Nebraska (3-4, 2-2)
SMU (3-4, 1-2) @ Tulsa (3-4, 1-2)

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher

Baylor (4-3, 2-2) at Texas Tech (4-3, 2-2)
Site: AT&T Jones Stadium, Lubbock
Time/Day: 6:30 p.m. Saturday
TV/Radio: ESPN2/ESPN Central Texas
Betting Line: Texas Tech -2
Series: Baylor leads, 40-39-1

There are several ways to look at Baylor’s game at Texas Tech.

>First, the Bears need this win to stay relevant in the Big 12 title game chase.

>Second, they’d like to end a drought of not winning in Lubbock for what is going on two generations.

>Third, they just need to put together a complete game which really hasn’t occurred all season.

>Fourth, they’re going to have to do this when Tech when has called for a blackout. It’s honoring Patrick Mahomes by inducting him in to its Ring of Honor.

Whatever the motivation is, the Bears know what they are facing. Winning on the road is never easy. Baylor is 1-2 away from McLane Stadium thus far with trips to Norman, OK and Austin to finish the campaign.

The interesting part of this season is that Baylor has held a lead in all seven games. Of course, the lead against Oklahoma State was brief at 3-0. But in the other six, the Bears had the lead in the fourth quarter. They finished four. They didn’t finish the other two – on the road at BYU and on the road at West Virginia.

“I think for us it’s going be starting fast, and when we do start fast, not having a third quarter, so to speak,’’ Baylor head coach Dave Aranda said. “So we continue to pound the rock and continue to work on the things that are right in front of us, so we’re in a position to finish strong. I think that complete game has been way elusive to us, and I think that’s probably going to be the most difficult thing of all.”

Not to bury the lead, but it has been exhausted this week about Baylor facing former Associate Head Coach Joey McGuire who accepted the Tech job last November.

Emotions and football always go together. That’s how this game lives. What will be key for Baylor players facing their former mentor and how Red Raider players handle it for wanting to do well for McGuire is how they control those.

“I want them to win, I want them to have success, just not versus us,’’ Aranda said. “I want them to be successful, I know the type of people they are, and what it means to all of them and everything.”

Baylor’s injury situation is the following. Wide receiver Monaray Baldwin (Ben Sims rolled into his leg on the sideline) and running back Sqwirl Williams (concussion) status will not be officially known until gametime. However, it does appear Sqwirl didn’t have any setbacks.

Running back Taye McWilliams (concussion) is out and his return at any point this year is unknown.


Here are some key things to look for
>As always, it will be a rowdy, energized night crowd at Jones Stadium. That’s just the way it is out in Lubbock. It’s tough enough to play the Red Raiders out there. Night games can be a different animal for whatever reason. Tortillas notwithstanding, it’s going to be a matter of how Baylor can separate that atmosphere and just play the game straight up.

>While McGuire has said that he could play three quarterbacks in this game between freshman Behren Morton, Donovan Smith and Tyler Shough, he also said that last week prior to West Virginia. Well, Morton played most of the game. Smith played some. Shough never saw the field. What happened against the Mountaineers could be the same Saturday.

>Baylor’s pass rush has been arguably the greatest disappointment of the season. The Bears are tied for last in the Big 12 in sacks with 11. It’s causing issues for a secondary that has been picked on quite a bit. What Aranda and defensive coordinator Ron Roberts must determine is how much do they want to blitz to shake things. There’s risk, of course. But what’s been happening so far hasn’t offered much.

>The unusual is a part of offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes way of doing business. He’s used Sims on goal line runs, linebacker Dillon Doyle on goal line runs and backup QB Kyron Drones with other packages. The message is the Bears want to be the more physical team in that spot. When Baylor has that opportunity, look for something like that again.


Notable
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Keys to the Game
>A second defense – What’s been trending well over the last two weeks is how well the running game has performed. Long, sustained drives that churn out 4-6 yards per carry will be appreciated as it will keep Tech’s offense off the field. The fact that Baylor should have three rushers between Richard Reese, Qualan Jones and Sqwirl will help.

>Shape up Shapen – The turnover issue is No. 1 for both teams. The Bears and Red Raiders are each -3. That lends itself to whoever wins that battle wins this game. For Baylor, it comes down to quarterback Blake Shapen who has been brutal the last three weeks with six of Baylor’s eight (four interceptions, two fumbles). If he repeats any of this on the South Plains, the Bears won’t win.

>Striking distance – Obviously, it would be ideal to lead a game wire to wire. That’s not reality. In Baylor’s case, it has to be in a situation where it’s not chasing the game. Should the Bears fall behind, the max deficit they can endure is 14 points. A deficit of more than that is going to make a comeback a real problem…unless Tech somehow helps.

>YAC – Aranda talked about the hidden yards that come with special teams play. That’s true. But the other hidden yards are the YAC. For running backs, it’s yards after contact. For wide receivers, it’s yards after catch. Tech’s passing game makes its living this way. Baylor’s running game makes its living this way. Baylor must have the advantage in the grown man’s yards.


Prediction
This has been a season filled with high expectations that have not been met. That’s not breaking any news there. What’s frustrating about the Kansas win is that in some cases it was a win that had a bad finish. Sometimes, this team can be its own worst enemy. There isn’t a talent issue. It’s playing together for four quarters that’s the issue.

I’ve picked the Bears to win in their first seven games. Like the Bears, I’m 4-3. I can’t pick them in this one. While Baylor can stop the run, Tech doesn’t care about that. The Red Raiders are 4-to-1 pass to run. BU’s pass rush is key in this. Given its track record this season, there’s no reason for me to think any different. Baylor must create some turnovers, get short fields and protect the football.

Baylor’s players know McGuire. He knows them. I wish I felt differently about this. Maybe this prediction is just what the doctor ordered.



Texas Tech 38, Baylor 27

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher

The Topper
Just a heads up that this is my Minnesota weekend. I leave Friday and return Sunday. For those who don’t know, I take an annual trip to Minnesota to honor my late father Vincent and watch his alma mater, the University of Minnesota, play.

But not to worry. The Gophers kick off with Rutgers at 1:30 pm. It will not impact my coverage of Baylor at Texas Tech since that game kicks at 6:30 p.m. Everything will look the same. The only difference is that the Baylor Breakdown for Sunday may be a bit later than normal because of my return flight.

Brathwaite fallout
It’s too early to know which way Baylor is going to go on this after losing high 3-star linebacker Christian Brathwaite, who flipped to LSU on Wednesday.

Baylor could try to replace in the high school ranks. Chances are the rating of the player won’t match what Brathwaite was. Per our Nick Harris story, we know Baylor has yet to make contact with SMU commit and Katy Paetow star Alex Kilgore. We also know that Arkansas commit Carson Dean from Lewisville Hebron is solid with the Razorbacks at this time.

You always allow for the possibility of something weird happening with a big name at another school. Still, Baylor could go JUCO or December transfer portal period or wait until the spring transfer portal period in May to see if there is someone the staff believes could fit.


DFW 2025 LB getting started
Dallas Skyline linebacker Elijah Barnes picked up a Baylor offer recently. There’s a lot of intrigue over someone who is 6-3, 210 with a lot of high school ball in front of him.

The Bears are his first P5 offer to go along with SMU, Grambling and Arkansas State. Running backs coach Justin Johnson, who covers Dallas, extended.
“It’s an honor to get a big time offer like that and have coaches by my side through all of this that’s going on,’’ Barnes said. “Just being humble and keep working that’s the mindset I have to have to make an impact on the next level.’’

Barnes is just starting to get know the staff. You can look at him as a Garmon Randolph starter kit because of his length. While he could be a defensive end in theory, Baylor initially likes him at outside linebacker.

It’s been a tough season for the Raiders. They are 0-9 following Thursday’s 37-0 loss to Mansfield. Barnes plans to take his first visit to Baylor Nov. 12 when the Bears meet Kansas State.

“For the most part I am still building connections with coaches and I have more to learn about everything up there,’’ he said. “My season it’s going really good. I’m staying healthy. I’m keeping my grades up. I’m just grateful to keep playing the game and doing what I love to do.’’


Red Oak Playmaker
Well, it worked before with snaring Red Oak tight end Kelsey Johnson. Now, Baylor is making its move for another rising pass catcher. This time it’s 2025 receiver Taz Williams, Jr.

The Bears also offered Williams not long ago. They are among his early seven offers including Arizona, Penn State, Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Ole Miss. That’s a pretty good start for someone whose name is bound to blow up even more.
Williams visited Baylor for the Texas State game. Depending on how Red Oak’s postseason unfolds - the Hawks have already clinched a berth - he plans to make another trip.

“I loved the coaches when I went down to the Baylor vs Texas State game and they have been showing interest ever since,’’ he said. “Also, they are a great group of coaches and players to be around.”

What makes Williams a problem for opposing defenses is his physical style of play. The ability to win 50-50 balls will go a long toward success at the next level.

“They told me that my ability to make contested catches, get separation from my defenders, my speed and staying humble stand out to them,’’ Williams said. “[At the Texas State game] I noticed that their receivers never take breaks whenever they know they aren’t getting the ball and they are always engaged and locked in on the game.

So far, Williams leads all Red Oak receivers with 25 grabs for 422 yards (16.9 ypc) and four scores. He models himself after the just retired Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders.

“I feel like i get a lot of separation from my defenders, make contested catches, my ability to play all over the field, and my speed,’’ he said. “I feel like i can work on my route running some more, you can never go wrong with that. Also, my speed, can never go wrong with getting faster.’’

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Baylor players talk Texas Tech
Bears wide receiver Gavin Holmes and safety Devin Neal spoke with the media earlier this week to discuss the challenge of playing Saturday in Lubbock.

Gavin Holmes
(Psyched up for that atmosphere) I’m pumped, I’m super excited. It’s going to be a fun night, I’m excited.

(What have you heard about playing in Lubbock, since the last trip was during COVID) I’ve got friends that go there. They’ve been talking smack to me already. Of course, I’ve got friends on that team; coaches on that team that I respect, that I had great relationships with when they were here. So, we know it’s going to be a crazy atmosphere. Black out, Pat Mahomes is going to be there, all that stuff. But, those are just distractions to us, essentially. So, we’re just going to go out there and play our game.

(Heard about the tortillas) Yeah, we’ve seen it on film, you see them throwing them on film and stuff. So, like I said, another distraction.

(How do you limit the outside noise) I mean, obviously, we can’t turn off the crowd. But, we’ve been in atmospheres before like BYU, Iowa State. We just have to go out there and trust our training. We’re bringing energy out here at practice. We know when we go out there, it’s only going to be us. Everybody else is going to be wanting to take our heads off. So, we’re just preparing for that. We’ve got noise in practice, especially for the offense, and it’s blaring right behind us. So, yeah, we’re just working on that right now.

(Are there elements of this defense that has elements of a Joey McGuire offense that you’ve worked against in the past, or is it different) They run a lot of just straight man coverage. Man coverage, a lot of blitzes, a lot of different things. So, we’re just preparing for that. We haven’t seen a lot of that this year, maybe one or two teams we’ve played have played heavy man. But, the rest of them have been drop eight kind of coverages. So, we’re excited. We’re up for the challenge, for sure.

(Great 1st half versus Kansas, how do you keep that consistency) I think just coming out here and practicing hard every day. These past two games, against West Virginia, we threw the ball for a lot of yards, didn’t run it as well as we wanted to. But this past week, we ran it for a lot of yards and didn’t throw it as well as we wanted to. So, we’ve been preaching putting that together, that run-pass balance. And I think we can be an extremely dangerous offense. So, that’s the goal for this week is just to put it all together and go out there and perform.

(What are the elements that have been going right for you on offense in the past two games against West Virginia and Kansas) Yeah, I think like I said, just working in the run game on perimeter blocking. And the pass game, just play-action, just throwing and catching and just doing our base stuff. We have the right game plans, the coaches are going to put us in the right positions. So, I think it’s just going out there and doing what we do, running our base plays and execute them at a high level.

(How gratifying was it for you to put up those numbers in the West Virginia game, just from where you’ve come from with all the injuries) I mean, it was great, but honestly, I would much rather have gotten the win. That was obviously extremely disappointing. But we bounced back and got the win this past week. So, we’re just looking to move forward and keep that momentum going.

(Coach talked about how last week was the best week of practice since he’s been here. Have you carried that into this week and maybe had some shifts in energy) Like Coach said, last week was a great week of practice. So, we know what we have to do in practice to achieve that. And we’ve just been preaching that. It started yesterday, I thought we had great energy at practice yesterday. And today, I thought we had great energy, too. It’s just a matter of stacking those days and being consistent.

(Easier to work on things that went wrong coming out of win than loss) I think there’s more optimism. Everybody is like yes. I think even in the loss against West Virginia, especially the offense, we were encouraged by how we played. Whether you win or lose, there are always good things and there are always bad things. So I think being able to identify the bad even when we win and to come out here and execute it is extremely important moving forward.

(When did you get on same page as Blake) As soon as we knew Blake was going to be the starter, we just started working. When we were back home in Dallas, we would link up. We’d always spend a lot of time together just trying to build that connection off the field. We knew that would kind of translate on the field, just getting in extra work.

(Can Blake put turnovers behind him) Yeah. We preach, especially in the offensive meeting room, there’s going to be mistakes, guys are going to mess up, that’s part of the game. As a team you grow stronger together in those situations. I think when you have guys around you who lift you up and support you through everything, I think it’s easier to move on. We rally around Blake no matter what.

(Did they rally around you after Oklahoma State game) For sure. Obviously, I took a lot of that to heart. I was pretty disappointed after that game. But I got great teammates and coaches, and they said they still believe in me. They didn’t flinch. I just had a bad game, and I came back the next week and bounced back. So that’s why I’ve always told myself to keep going, there’s always going to be adversity.

(Young guys making impact) It’s just a testament to the work they put in. It’s really cool to see guys like Richard Reese, Hal Presley, Josh Cameron, Monaray, they’re all young guys but if you’ve seen them play you wouldn’t think that. That’s just a testament to work they put in the offseason. We’re always together, always hanging out and getting in the work that we can.

(Coach Baker) It’s crazy because a lot of people can see that. That’s my dog, I love Coach Baker. He’s been a father figure to me out here and all of us. This is the closest receiver room that I’ve been a part of. I’ve been here six years and have had four different receiver coaches. So this is by far the closest receiver room I’ve been a part of, and I think it’s a testament to him. He just preaches unity. Yeah we talk football but it’s more about life with him. You can see that when he celebrates with us. He’s genuinely happy for us and he genuinely cares. It’s so easy to play confident for a coach like that, so I think that’s just helped us out a lot.


Devin Neal
(Bracing for the TTU environment?) Well, we talked about the atmosphere first thing, just everybody getting their heads right. Making sure we all came, like brought our energy because we're all we got. Everybody's coming from Waco. There's nobody else. It’s just gonna be nothing but just people from Texas Tech at the game and us. So, we got to bring our own energy and just get fired up and stay focused and just keep our heads down.

(Have you ever had tortillas thrown at you before?) Oh, I was watching the film and I was wondering what that was flying on the field. I thought that was like paper plates or something.

(No, they like stuff throw tortillas down and then they throw them) They actually throw those on the field? Oh, I didn’t even know that was a thing. That’s interesting. No, I’ve never had a tortilla thrown at me.

(On TTU offense) They're a spread offense, heavy air raid team. They love to pass. They love to use No. 1, that's their main guy that they love to use. They have a pretty good offense. And we got to make sure we just keep things down, like as possible. They're going to try to run the ball, they're going to try to beat us on the air and the DB’s got to step up. That’s how I see it.

(How rewarding was it to stop the run against Kansas?) That was really great. That was a really great run performance we had. We haven't had that in a while and we all talked about it as a whole as a defense because it’s all 11 guys, it's not just D-line or DB’s. If one guy doesn't do their job, that's it. You can't have one mess up. All 11 have to do their job. And just having everybody execute and do their 1/11th – that’s what we call it – it was really awesome to see that.

(On 3 possible QBs, how do you prepare for that) Really, the best thing I can say for that is film study. You don't know who's gonna be out there, what they're doing until the last second. You see a formation or what guys [are] out there. You're not going to know what you're getting into unless you watch film and get some sort of experience. And we just got to make sure we're all together watching the film, know whose strengths and weaknesses are.

(Was there a message that easy key in getting that defensive performance against Kansas) Yeah, well I said it earlier and our message was just what Coach [Ron] Roberts said. He said “Do your 1/11th.” So, what that means deep down, for offense it’s like, no matter where you play football, you can have a mess up, you get another down. Defense, you have one mess up, DB has a bust, that's [a] touchdown. You can't afford to mess up at all. You got to do your 1/11th. All 11 men on the field have to do their job in order for the defense to be effective.

(Preparing for the night game? Is there anything more challenging in that regard?) Not really, not really the time of day. More so the atmosphere and what the game is to them. It’s going to be [a] blackout, Patrick Mahomes is going to be there, everybody’s gonna be rowdy, hyped up. And we just gotta stay locked in, stay focused. Everybody has to execute. I know it's gonna be tough for the offense, because [of] the noise. You're trying to hear the cadence and it’s just people on your necks yelling. For defense, we just got to make sure we don't let them get any momentum. We gotta keep it down, don't let their tempo go. We just have to keep things under control.

(Is that a noise maker we heard?) Yeah, it’s a big speaker.

(How do you guys go about communication knowing you might be able to hear each other?) Well, we got to throw in some hand signals. The thing for defense, when their offense is going, they don't really make as much noise – the away team. So, it's more easier to hear. It's more so at home really, it's harder to hear for our games, but we got to make sure we communicate. Probably make it like a cone with our mouths to get the voice going in their direction. It really helps.

(What’s better, riling up a loud home crowd or silencing a loud away crowd?) I'd really say silencing an away crowd. And one memory that brings up from the season is Iowa State. It was initially really loud at the beginning of the game. You could feel the momentum, it was back and forth. And then just defense, like doing what they had to do on offense, taking it away from them. You could see people leaving the game. You didn't hear anything. It felt like practice. I'm like, “This is a Tuesday practice.” That's what we all was saying . So yeah, I like the away games more, taking the energy away.

(On Matt Jones) I feel like he brings knowledge and experience. Because I remember, I recall him playing the Jack if I’m not wrong. He played the Jack, he plays the Will and I feel like him being able to bring the experience and tools that he used from one position to the other is really useful. Because, like I don't know how to put it. Like, the more versatile a player is, the more effective they can be. You just can know what's coming more. The way [Jalen] Pitre, he used to play linebacker, for example. When he was a Star, he knew runs was coming and he could just play ahead.

(Have you been able to look at film to fix 2nd half mistakes from Kansas?) Really, yeah. The first half, we talked about it like we played [a] really good first half of defense. It’s just, second half, we gotta like as a team, we have to play a whole four quarter game. We can't just play half, we can’t play second half, because against really good teams – like the team we’re about to play this upcoming weekend – you can't just take a half off. Because we saw last game, we almost got caught up too. We can't afford to have any mistakes like that. And we're looking at that. It's more so just getting too comfortable. You can't really get too comfortable with any lead in any sport, no matter what it is. College, pros, you can't get too comfortable with a lead. And I feel like we just got to keep stepping on their necks and keep going.

SicEmSports Big 12 Power Rankings
Each week, SicEmSports unveils its looks at the league who in its view deserves to be ranked where. Agree or disagree, here’s how they look.
1. TCU – Horned Frogs keep the story going
2. Oklahoma State – Spencer Sanders living up to preseason hype
3. Kansas State – QB Adrian Martinez’s injury status impacts this team
4. Texas — Walking out on the Eyes of Texas
5. Texas Tech – Emotions run high for HC Joey McGuire vs. Baylor
6. Baylor – RB Richard Reese thriving in RVO
7. Oklahoma – QB Dillon Gabriel’s presence means that much
8. Kansas – Well-needed bye could help injury QB Jalon Daniels
9. West Virginia – Neal Brown love-hate is a wild stock
10. Iowa State – Cyclones hope OU upset kickstarts their season


Big 12 Weekend
A look at the Big 12 schedule for the upcoming weekend. All games are Saturday unless otherwise listed. Rankings are from the coaches and AP polls. All times are central. TV is listed. Texas and Kansas have byes.

No. 7 TCU (7-0) at West Virginia (3-4, 1-3); 11:00 a.m., Milan Puskar Stadium, Morgantown, WV (ESPN)
Series: West Virginia leads, 7-4
Notable: TCU’s offense has scored no fewer than 38 points in any of its first seven games. Plus, the Horned Frogs are tied for the Big 12 lead in turnover ratio (+6). West Virginia is last in the Big 12 in turnover ratio (-4). Mountaineer defense allowing 275 passing yards per game.

Oklahoma (4-3, 1-3) at Iowa State (3-4, 0-4); 11:00 a.m., Jack Trice Stadium, Ames, IA (FS1)
Series: Oklahoma leads, 78-7-2
Notable: The Sooners are trying to figure out where they are offensively with the return of QB Dillon Gabriel. But they still struggle to stop the run (207.3). Iowa State has lost all four league games by a total of 14 points.

No. 9 Oklahoma State (6-1, 3-1) at No. 22 Kansas State (5-2, 3-1); 2:30 p.m., Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Manhattan, KS (FOX)
Series: Oklahoma State leads, 42-26
Notable: A Big 12 title game elimination contest. Wildcats have the second-best scoring defense in the league (19.7). Cowboys are tied with TCU as the top-scoring team in the conference (44.7).

Baylor (4-3, 2-2) at Texas Tech (4-3, 2-2); 6:30 p.m., AT&T Jones Stadium, Lubbock (ESPN2)
Series: Baylor leads, 40-39-1
Notable: It’s been four decades since Baylor has won in Lubbock.

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
The date of Oct. 29, 2022 has been marked on the Baylor calendar decked with nostalgia but offset by the determination to win.

Baylor and head coach Dave Aranda travel to the South Plains to take on old friend, former BU associate head coach and new Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire and the Red Raiders.

The game kicks off at 6:30 p.m. at AT&T Jones Stadium (ESPN2). A look the Red Raiders followed by out Q&A with Justin Apodaca of our Texas Tech Rivals affiliate, RedRaiderSports.com

Opponent: Texas Tech Red Raiders
Head Coach: Joey McGuire (1st year)
2022 Record: 4-3, 2-2
Record vs. Baylor: Baylor leads, 40-39-1
Returning Starters: 5 offense, 5 defense
Key Returners: QB Tyler Shough, WR Myles Price, RB SaRodorick Thompson, RB Tajh Brooks, DL Tyree Wilson, S Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, LB/S Reggie Pearson
Common Denominator:
• Texas Tech Inside linebackers coach Josh Bookbinder served as the quality control coach for the Bears for the last three seasons also served as a student assistant from 2007-08 before joining the Red Raiders. He is the grandson of legendary Baylor head coach Grant Teaff.

• Tech tight ends coach Josh Cochran served as the quality control coach at Baylor in 2019 after two seasons as the offensive line graduate assistant (2017-18).

• Texas Tech’s head strength coach Lance Barlow served as the senior associate director of athletics performance at Baylor in 2021.

• Quintin Jordan, the director of football operations at Texas Tech, spent the last four years at Baylor, including time as the associate director of student-athlete development in 2018, director of football administration in 2019, and as director of football operations under Aranda in 2020.

• Director of Player Personnel at Texas Tech, James Blanchard, served as the director of recruiting at Baylor in 2019 and 2020 and as the assistant athletics director for scouting in 2021.

• Texas Tech’s director of scouting, Brian Nance, spent three years on the Baylor staff as assistant director of football operations in 2019 and the previous two seasons as associate director of player personnel. He played at Baylor from 2014-17, where he saw action in 38 games with 10 starts on the defensive line, totaling 33 tackles, 8.5 TFL and 2.5 sacks in 2017.

• Baylor Assistant AD for Football Scouting, Aaron Hunt, was an All-American and All-Big 12 defensive lineman at Texas Tech (1999-2002). Hunt set the Texas Tech and Big 12 record with 34 career sacks. He joined the Baylor staff in January 2021 as a recruiting and personnel assistant.

Offensive Formation: Multiple
Defensive Formation: 3-3-5

About Texas Tech on Offense: While starting QB Tyler Shough is making his way back from a shoulder injury, freshman Behren Morton has run the offense with an impressive start. He’s thrown for 886 yards and is expected to make his third consecutive start. Donovan Smith should see some time. He’s thrown for more than 1,500 yards. The running game isn’t that effective averaging 3.5 yards per attempt. Veteran SaRodorick Thompson leads the way at 369 yards. Tahj Brooks has 322. This is offense is basically 4-to-1 pass to run. There are seven different receivers who have caught at least 17 passes. Xavier White (409, 13.2 3 TD) and Jerand Bradley (359, 13.3, 3 TD) are the biggest targets. The offensive line has surrendered 24 sacks. But consider that Tech has run 372 passing plays vs. 254 running plays. However, Tech QBs have thrown 10 INTs including two which have been Pick6s.

About Texas Tech on Defense: This isn’t the same Tech where the offense is explosive, but the defensive is implosive. The Red Raiders are third in the Big 12 in total defense at 354 yards and second in pass defense at 219 yards. Tech has done a decent job getting after the QB with 16 sacks and has created 10 turnovers with five FR and five INT. Senior LB Krishon Merriweather leads the team with 56 tackles. However, Texas A&M LB transfer Tyree Wilson has settled in and leads the team with six sacks. Wisconsin DB transfer Reggie Pearson has a pair of INT and brings a ball-hawking mentality. UCLA DB transfer Rayshad Williams has seven PBUs.

About Texas Tech on Special Teams: Nothing special in the kick and punt returns. White is the primary kick returner. The Red Raiders have used several in punt returns. Austin McNamara is having a very good punting season at 44 yards per effort including seven that have traveled 50+ yards. Trey Wolff is the No. 1 kicker. He hasn’t missed a PAT and is 10-13 on field goals and is a respectable 4-7 on attempts between 40-51 yards. He does have 51-yarder to his credit.

Bottom Line: Tech is a better defensive team. Offensively, the Red Raiders can move it, but like Baylor they have a turnover problem at -3 in the turnover ratio. Because they are a better defensive team, they won’t surrender yards as easily.


Q&A with Red Raider Sports.com Justin Apodaca

SicEmSports: Joey McGuire has tried to keep this game with Baylor on an even keel. But given his history with BU, what do you think this game means to him?
JA: As you mentioned, McGuire wanted to keep this storyline buried, but I'm fairly certain that it will be a big deal to him. He has mentioned his relationship with Coach Aranda multiple times this season and how his time at Baylor revitalized his career. The players know it too, as Matt Keeler, the RT who filled in for the injured Monroe Mills, spoke about the situation saying that all of the guys in the locker room want to show out for McGuire.

SicEmSports: Give an overall synopsis of McGuire's first year. Has it been about what everyone expected? Beyond? Less than?
JA: McGuire has exceeded expectations for this roster for a lot of people here. The Red Raiders identity under McGuire has been to be extremely hard working and competitive and it has shown on the field with multiple comebacks from multiple scores this season. This Texas Tech team never quits and it's made folks happy around Lubbock.

SicEmSports: Behren Morton has slid in nicely at QB with a pair of 300+ games, what's helped the transition and is the starting job his? I assume he starts Saturday.
JA: Morton wasn't outright named the starter as McGuire said that the returning Tyler Shough will compete with Morton for the job this week. Shough is coming off a shoulder injury that occured against Murray State on opening night. However, I personally believe they roll with Morton who has moved the offense exceptionally using his great arm talent and his ability to move with tempo.

SicEmSports: What's been notable about Tech's defense?
JA: The biggest key for the Tech defense has been Tyree Wilson off the edge. The likely first round pick has been key in stopping the run and getting in the backfield. Another key to the defense has been the secondary's development. With the likes of Malik Dunlap, Rayshad Williams, Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, & Marquis Waters the Red Raiders have drastically improved over the top and have played much better than the stats portray. The only struggle at times for the defense has been tackling in open space.

SicEmSports: In Tech's wins, what's been the common denominators?
JA: Limiting turnovers on offense has been the biggest key. In their three losses, the Red Raiders have turned the ball over nine times, which isn't a winning formula. Donovan Smith really struggled with turnovers while in at quarterback and was a big part of the struggles in Raleigh. Since the implementation of Morton, the offense has opened up while the Tech defense has been consistent this season, other than their worst performance of the season against Kansas State in Manhattan.

SicEmSports: For Tech to win, what will it have to do?
JA: The Red Raiders will have to win the turnover battle while keeping the running back room for the Bears in check. I believe Tech will try to make Shapen beat them in the air this weekend. On offense, the key starts with Behren Morton, in my opinion. Morton needs to get the start to avoid the uncertainty of the returning Tyler Shough. The Red Raiders are getting back one of their best receivers in Myles Price this weekend and I expect more of the same from the Tech offense pace-wise if Morton is the quarterback. If Tech can continue their momentum after the stomping of West Virginia, they should be in good shape.

IRVING, Texas – The Big 12 Conference announced the conference portion of the 2023 spring baseball schedule on Thursday, with Baylor set to compete in the traditional 24-game slate.

The Bears open up league play by hosting Kansas State on March 17-19 before traveling to Oklahoma State for a three-game set on March 24-26.

BU heads to Kansas on March 31-April 2, then welcomes defending national runner-up Oklahoma to Baylor Ballpark on April 6-8. The Bears take on Texas in Waco the following weekend, April 14-16, before hitting the road for Lubbock to face Texas Tech on April 21-23.

Baylor closes out its home conference ledger against West Virginia on April 28-30 at Baylor Ballpark and finishes up at TCU on May 12-14. The 2023 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship is scheduled for May 24-28 at Globe Life Field in Arlington.

All series dates are subject to change. Finalized dates and times will be announced by institutions prior to the start of the season. Season ticket information, as well as Baylor’s complete 2023 schedule, will be released in the coming days.



To stay up to date on all things Baylor baseball, follow the team on its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorBaseball.

2023 Big 12 Baseball Schedule (Conference Only)

March 17-19 (Fri-Sun)

Kansas State at Baylor

March 24-26 (Fri-Sun)

Baylor at Oklahoma State

March 31-April 2 (Fri-Sun)

Baylor at Kansas

April 6-8 (Thurs-Sat)Oklahoma at Baylor

April 14-16 (Fri-Sun)

Texas at Baylor

April 21-23 (Fri-Sun)

Baylor at Texas Tech



April 28-30 (Fri-Sun)

West Virginia at Baylor

May 12-14 (Fri-Sun)

Baylor at TCU

2023 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship

Wednesday, May 24-Sunday, May 28, Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas

This guy doesn't seem to be playing much or at all. When he transferred it same like we got a sure thing. What is the deal?

Thanks to Pat Carrigan for allowing use of some of his photos from Baylor-Kansas. Pat's a retired high school coach who has transitioned to sports photography.

Happy Halloween!​

We talk about Christian Brathwaite flipping to LSU, the upcoming game with Texas Tech, and pick a few games.




Came in at 22:54

Listen to the podcast here

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Baylor has held a lead in all seven of its games in 2022. The Bears jumped out to what appeared to be a commanding 28-3 halftime advantage over Kansas before needing a touchdown late in the fourth quarter to put it away, 35-23.

The Bears are 4-3 and 2-2 in the Big 12 as they prepare to travel to Lubbock, a place they haven’t won at since 1990. It will be a 6:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday at AT&T Jones Stadium (ESPN2).

So what was trending from a buying and selling mode? SicEmSports continues its new segment that began with the conference opener against Iowa State and runs through the rest of the season.

Buying: Offensive Line/Richard Reese
For the last two weeks against West Virginia and Kansas, this has been the productivity Baylor’s faithful had been seeing in 2021. Even with no Khalil Keith, the party of five (anyone get that reference?) is opening holes and imposing its will. The average YPC has been 4.8 in each game. The unexpected but welcomed breakthrough of Reese has come with it. He’s on pace to have a 1,000-yard season. Currently, Reese is at 643 with a team-leading nine TDs.

Selling: Blake Shapen turnovers
It’s bad when a team turns it over. It’s even worse when the majority of them are coming from the guy who has the ball on every snap. All by himself, Shapen has six turnovers in the last three games, two fumbles and four INTs. It’s really hurt this team because it lost the first two games and allowed Kansas to rally in the third. Talking about it and being remorseful about correcting it, is touchy feely but that's it. Actions need to speak louder than words starting Saturday in Lubbock.

Buying: Dave Aranda’s 4th down stubbornness
You may agree with it sometimes and you may climb the walls when he’s goes for it on fourth down from his 2-yard line early in the first quarter (just kidding). Aranda sticks to his principles of what analytics tell him, and he’s willing to absorb the heat from it. The reality is that it’s an all-or-nothing play. Convert it and you look a genius. Miss it and you get clubs, torches and arrows. However, the joke is on Aranda's critics. Baylor is 16-23 (70 percent) on that down.

Selling: 3rd Down Defense
This hasn’t been very good the last three weeks. Oklahoma State was 6-of-15. West Virginia was 7-of-13. Kansas was 6-of-11. Do the math and that’s nearly a 49 percent conversion rate. This group can’t get off the field on that down. What’s troubling is that things have flipped the other way because Baylor was really good here at the start of the season. The percentage was in the low 30s.

Buying: Owning Kansas
Now, no one is ever going to confuse the Jayhawks as being a solid P5 program. We can acknowledge they are better this year. We witnessed it Saturday. But there is something to be said for a series that looks so lopsided. Baylor has won 13 consecutive meetings against KU. Texas, TCU and West Virginia are among those who cannot say that. It’s a tribute to the Baylor program to take care of business against a program it knows it should beat.

Our Nick Harris has the latest with Christian Beathwaite and LSU.

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WACO, Texas – Baylor men’s basketball head coach Scott Drew is one of eight new members of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, announced as a member of the class of 2023 on Wednesday.

A two-time national coach of the year, Drew joins Robert Brazile (Houston Oilers), Jose Cruz (Houston Astros), Carlette Guidry Falkquay (University of Texas), Priest Holmes (San Antonio Marshall High School/University of Texas), Adrian Peterson (Palestine High School), Cynthia Potter (Houston Lamar HS) and Michael Strahan (Texas Southern) in the newest TSHOF Class.

Entering his 20th season at the helm of the men’s basketball program, Drew has engineered one of the greatest rebuilds in college basketball history, which reached its pinnacle in April of 2021 when the Bears captured the program’s first-ever National Championship.

With 397 wins, he is Baylor’s all-time winningest coach and has transformed the Bears into one of the most consistent programs in the game, joining Kansas as the only Power-5 program with 18+ wins every season since 2008.

In addition to the national title in 2021, Drew has led Baylor to 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, five Sweet 16 berths and three trips to the Elite Eight. Additionally, the program achieved its first No. 1 national ranking, a Big 12 Conference-record 23-game winning streak, two five-week streaks at No. 1, and an entire season ranked in the nation’s top-3 in 2021.

Baylor joins Gonzaga as the only programs ranked No. 1 nationally in each of the last three seasons and is one of four programs to earn No. 1 national rankings in four of the last six seasons, joining Duke, Gonzaga and Kansas. Baylor has averaged 24 wins per season since the first year Drew led BU to the NCAA Tournament in 2008.

The three-time defending Big 12 Coach of the Year has the Bears poised for another big season. The league's coaches picked them as the preseason conference favorite for the second time in three seasons. Adam Flagler was named to the preseason All-Big 12 squad, while Keyonte George was tabbed as the preseason Freshman of the Year and joined LJ Cryer as an All-Big 12 Honorable mention selection.

Season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at BaylorBears.com. Follow @BaylorMBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for additional updates.

The 62nd Annual Texas Sports Hall of Fame Induction Banquet, presented by Texas Farm Bureau Insurance, will be held in the BASE at Extraco Events Center in Waco, Texas, on Saturday, April 15, 2023. Tickets and sponsorship packages for the 2023 Texas Sports Hall of Fame Induction Banquet and Reception are on sale now and available at tshof.org/2023. For more information or questions, please contact Krista Martin at krista.martin@tshof.org or 254-756-1633.



BEARS IN THE TEXAS SPORTS HALL OF FAME

Jackie Robinson — Basketball — 1966

Wesley Bradshaw — Football — 1966

Barton Koch — Football — 1967

John Drew Johnson — Football — 1973

Frank Bridges — Football Coach — 1973

Bill Henderson — Basketball Coach — 1976

Jack Patterson — Track Coach — 1980

Ted Lyons — Baseball — 1985

Bill Glass — Football — 1987

Grant Teaff — Football Coach — 1995

Mike Singletary — Football — 1995

Jody Conradt — Basketball — 1997

Clyde Hart — Track Coach — 2000

Larry Isbell — Football — 2000

Carroll Dawson — Basketball Coach — 2003

Stanley Williams — Football — 2003

Jim Ray Smith — Football — 2007

Lawrence Elkins — Football — 2009

Kim Mulkey — Basketball Coach — 2009

Don Trull — Football — 2014

Jeremy Wariner — Track and Field — 2015

Robert Griffin III — Football — 2020

Scott Drew — Basketball Coach — 2023

Well, I'm going to keep Christian Brathwaite on there until I see something official from there. Remember, you're committed until you're not. If he announces while this is still posted, I'll remove him.

Good news as Carl Williams IV is expected to return this week.

Commitment Update