By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Baylor’s national championship aspirations took a severe hit late Saturday night and into early Sunday morning in the Wasatch Mountains.
The No. 9 Bears didn’t score in either of their two overtime periods and fell at No. 21 BYU, 26-20, in double overtime.
Now, 1-1 the Bears must put the disappointment of this one behind them and recognize there is still a conference championship to chase. There also has to be a lot of film review as to why there were so many penalties.
Now, Baylor returns home to play Texas State in its final non-conference matchup of the season. (FS1, 11:00 a.m.)
SicEmSports provides reflections, observations and three Golden Bears.
The Second OT
Let’s start there. When you get to 4th-and-3 at the BYU 18 and you gotta have it with a first down to keep the possession going, you better be thanking the man upstairs, Sqwirl Williams channeled his inner sqwirl and got just enough. A really risky play that should not have been called. However, Jeff Grimes got away with it.
From there, the possession was fine until 1st-and-goal at the BYU 5-yard line. No issue on the first running play. You may want to rethink 2nd-and-goal where Qualan Jones gets a yard. Then the procedure penalty on your reigning Big 12 offensive lineman of the year Connor Galvin is a killer. The third down pass to Seth Jones over the middle is a waste. A pickup of three yards does nothing for you. You’ve got to score. No difference in trying to score from nine or the six. Another procedure penalty on veteran Grant Miller pushes everything back to the 11.
Regardless of what anyone thinks, that fourth-down call never had a chance. Jones was the in the area of the pass but it was nowhere close to him. Plus, he was surrounded by three blue jerseys. And as I mentioned in the game story, I don’t think he even saw it. It almost looked as if Blake Shapen threw it away because that’s where the ball was going.
Baylor never dictated how it wanted that possession to go. Now, it’s 1-1 because they never gave themselves a chance at the end.
Discipline issues
When you get flagged 14 times for 117 yards – 20 coming in the overtime periods – you are playing two road opponents, BYU and yourself.
Really, the quiet killer was Ben Sims holding penalty in the first OT. That wiped out Sqwirl’s 17-yard run to the BYU 1-yard line. Baylor had to settle for a 42-yard field goal attempt from the now shaky Isaiah Hankins – he’s been iffy since the Big 12 title game against Oklahoma State – who badly hooked a 42-yard attempt.
But there were several other holding penalties that wiped out other big running plays. McWilliams had a big play for about 16 that was negated. At times, Baylor has done this on the road under Aranda.
Holding penalties are not a crowd thing or a scheme thing. They are a technique thing. For as veteran as this offensive line is, that was a really poor showing.
The Plan
First of all, give BYU credit because they knew they were embarrassed on how they played in Waco last year. The Bears pushed them around for 303 rushing yards. The Cougars wanted to show that they could be physical. They were. They punched back. At times, Baylor handled it find. At times, it had real issues with it.
As I mentioned in the preview, this was going to be Blake Shapen’s first true road test. Hostile environment. Just got the sense throughout the night that Grimes did not want to put his developing QB into many or any bad situations. Perhaps, he thought the same with a young group of receivers who needed to get a sense of how big-time football really looks and feels.
The play selection heavily tilted to the running game. Of the 80 plays, 52 were rushing attempts. And while the completion percentage is solid at 18-of-28 (64 percent), your average yards per attempt (4.9) is very conservative. Baylor never tested the BYU secondary. There probably could have been a couple shots just to loosen things up.
Why? Well, because your running game averaged just 2.9 yards per attempt. Take away the four Shapen sacks - 4-(-22) – and Baylor still averaged only 3.6. BYU sent a lot of people to the box. The Bears didn’t make them pay for it.
It will be a thing to see how this approach will look in two weeks on the road at Iowa State in the Big 12 opener. They have to be a little more aggressive.
Defensive quick hits
>What will be something to watch is how teams study BYU’s tempo and try to use it against Baylor moving forward. The Cougars opening possession and two-minute drive to end the first half were telling. That’s where they took advantage of the secondary and neutralized the pass rush to move the ball. Snaxx Johnson played like a DB just breaking in. He made some good plays, committed a PI but really had no chance on the TD pass at the end of the first half. That’s a really good ball Jaren Hall threw to the only place and to the only man who could catch it. Get ready for more people picking on him.
>Two hmmms through two games. Baylor only has four sacks and caused one turnover. Those numbers should have been higher, especially in the opener against FCS Albany. They have to double that Saturday against Texas State. If not, then look further into what they are not doing to create those especially with the conference season starting in two weeks. They were doing this last year.
>Honestly, Baylor got caught flat footed on the Chase Roberts 22-yard throw-back-to the QB Jaren Hall for the TD. Hall had an escort to the end zone before he dove into it. It's really cool when Baylor pulls out the trickeration on the other guy and it works - notice Baylor tried that Dillon Doyle deal again and it was stuffed at the goal line - but it can be frustrating when Baylor is on the other side of it.
Two players
>Taye McWilliams – Obviously, he didn’t return to the game and it’s not really clear what his situation is. If you want to speculate that it’s a concussion, you may not be far off. It was a pretty violent collision he took. Hopefully, we’ll know more Monday at Aranda’s presser.
>Dillon Doyle – By rule, Doyle sits out the first half against Texas State. But there is an appeal process in place for this season. Per the NCAA rules committee: The appeal starts with the conference submitting a request to the NCAA national coordinator of officials, who would review video of the play. If it is obvious that a player was incorrectly penalized for targeting, the call would be overturned, and the player would be cleared to play in the first half of the next game.
Golden Bears
The yearly tradition returns. No matter the outcome, we select the three who had the most impact on the Bears’ performance. The following are from Baylor’s 26-20 2OT loss at BYU.
Sqwirl Williams, RB, Jr.: Maybe the best he’s ever looked at running back for the Bears. He ran tough between the A gaps. That’s saying something for someone who is 5-9, 168. While the 4th down call in the second OT was risky, that was sheer will Sqwirl demonstrated to get the first down. Depending on McWilliams status, Williams earned more PT this coming week.
Notable - Rushing: 17-68 (4.0 avg); KOR: 3-65 (Lg, 23)
Qualan Jones, RB, Jr.: The early reports of his demise have been greatly exaggerated. The talk out of fall camp was that he was impressing to the point where he was going to figure into the rotation. Jones scored twice and was physical on his runs.
Notable – Rushing: 16-67 2TD (4.2 avg.); Receiving: 3-17
Matt Jones, LB, Jr.: He was really good for this defense. He nearly came up with an interception but recorded a sack of BYU QB Jaren Hall. Jones moved well all over the field. He’s even a little faster than you think he is.
Notable – 5 solo tackles, 3 assisted tackles, 1 sack, 1 PBU
Publisher
Baylor’s national championship aspirations took a severe hit late Saturday night and into early Sunday morning in the Wasatch Mountains.
The No. 9 Bears didn’t score in either of their two overtime periods and fell at No. 21 BYU, 26-20, in double overtime.
Now, 1-1 the Bears must put the disappointment of this one behind them and recognize there is still a conference championship to chase. There also has to be a lot of film review as to why there were so many penalties.
Now, Baylor returns home to play Texas State in its final non-conference matchup of the season. (FS1, 11:00 a.m.)
SicEmSports provides reflections, observations and three Golden Bears.
The Second OT
Let’s start there. When you get to 4th-and-3 at the BYU 18 and you gotta have it with a first down to keep the possession going, you better be thanking the man upstairs, Sqwirl Williams channeled his inner sqwirl and got just enough. A really risky play that should not have been called. However, Jeff Grimes got away with it.
From there, the possession was fine until 1st-and-goal at the BYU 5-yard line. No issue on the first running play. You may want to rethink 2nd-and-goal where Qualan Jones gets a yard. Then the procedure penalty on your reigning Big 12 offensive lineman of the year Connor Galvin is a killer. The third down pass to Seth Jones over the middle is a waste. A pickup of three yards does nothing for you. You’ve got to score. No difference in trying to score from nine or the six. Another procedure penalty on veteran Grant Miller pushes everything back to the 11.
Regardless of what anyone thinks, that fourth-down call never had a chance. Jones was the in the area of the pass but it was nowhere close to him. Plus, he was surrounded by three blue jerseys. And as I mentioned in the game story, I don’t think he even saw it. It almost looked as if Blake Shapen threw it away because that’s where the ball was going.
Baylor never dictated how it wanted that possession to go. Now, it’s 1-1 because they never gave themselves a chance at the end.
Discipline issues
When you get flagged 14 times for 117 yards – 20 coming in the overtime periods – you are playing two road opponents, BYU and yourself.
Really, the quiet killer was Ben Sims holding penalty in the first OT. That wiped out Sqwirl’s 17-yard run to the BYU 1-yard line. Baylor had to settle for a 42-yard field goal attempt from the now shaky Isaiah Hankins – he’s been iffy since the Big 12 title game against Oklahoma State – who badly hooked a 42-yard attempt.
But there were several other holding penalties that wiped out other big running plays. McWilliams had a big play for about 16 that was negated. At times, Baylor has done this on the road under Aranda.
Holding penalties are not a crowd thing or a scheme thing. They are a technique thing. For as veteran as this offensive line is, that was a really poor showing.
The Plan
First of all, give BYU credit because they knew they were embarrassed on how they played in Waco last year. The Bears pushed them around for 303 rushing yards. The Cougars wanted to show that they could be physical. They were. They punched back. At times, Baylor handled it find. At times, it had real issues with it.
As I mentioned in the preview, this was going to be Blake Shapen’s first true road test. Hostile environment. Just got the sense throughout the night that Grimes did not want to put his developing QB into many or any bad situations. Perhaps, he thought the same with a young group of receivers who needed to get a sense of how big-time football really looks and feels.
The play selection heavily tilted to the running game. Of the 80 plays, 52 were rushing attempts. And while the completion percentage is solid at 18-of-28 (64 percent), your average yards per attempt (4.9) is very conservative. Baylor never tested the BYU secondary. There probably could have been a couple shots just to loosen things up.
Why? Well, because your running game averaged just 2.9 yards per attempt. Take away the four Shapen sacks - 4-(-22) – and Baylor still averaged only 3.6. BYU sent a lot of people to the box. The Bears didn’t make them pay for it.
It will be a thing to see how this approach will look in two weeks on the road at Iowa State in the Big 12 opener. They have to be a little more aggressive.
Defensive quick hits
>What will be something to watch is how teams study BYU’s tempo and try to use it against Baylor moving forward. The Cougars opening possession and two-minute drive to end the first half were telling. That’s where they took advantage of the secondary and neutralized the pass rush to move the ball. Snaxx Johnson played like a DB just breaking in. He made some good plays, committed a PI but really had no chance on the TD pass at the end of the first half. That’s a really good ball Jaren Hall threw to the only place and to the only man who could catch it. Get ready for more people picking on him.
>Two hmmms through two games. Baylor only has four sacks and caused one turnover. Those numbers should have been higher, especially in the opener against FCS Albany. They have to double that Saturday against Texas State. If not, then look further into what they are not doing to create those especially with the conference season starting in two weeks. They were doing this last year.
>Honestly, Baylor got caught flat footed on the Chase Roberts 22-yard throw-back-to the QB Jaren Hall for the TD. Hall had an escort to the end zone before he dove into it. It's really cool when Baylor pulls out the trickeration on the other guy and it works - notice Baylor tried that Dillon Doyle deal again and it was stuffed at the goal line - but it can be frustrating when Baylor is on the other side of it.
Two players
>Taye McWilliams – Obviously, he didn’t return to the game and it’s not really clear what his situation is. If you want to speculate that it’s a concussion, you may not be far off. It was a pretty violent collision he took. Hopefully, we’ll know more Monday at Aranda’s presser.
>Dillon Doyle – By rule, Doyle sits out the first half against Texas State. But there is an appeal process in place for this season. Per the NCAA rules committee: The appeal starts with the conference submitting a request to the NCAA national coordinator of officials, who would review video of the play. If it is obvious that a player was incorrectly penalized for targeting, the call would be overturned, and the player would be cleared to play in the first half of the next game.
Golden Bears
The yearly tradition returns. No matter the outcome, we select the three who had the most impact on the Bears’ performance. The following are from Baylor’s 26-20 2OT loss at BYU.
Sqwirl Williams, RB, Jr.: Maybe the best he’s ever looked at running back for the Bears. He ran tough between the A gaps. That’s saying something for someone who is 5-9, 168. While the 4th down call in the second OT was risky, that was sheer will Sqwirl demonstrated to get the first down. Depending on McWilliams status, Williams earned more PT this coming week.
Notable - Rushing: 17-68 (4.0 avg); KOR: 3-65 (Lg, 23)
Qualan Jones, RB, Jr.: The early reports of his demise have been greatly exaggerated. The talk out of fall camp was that he was impressing to the point where he was going to figure into the rotation. Jones scored twice and was physical on his runs.
Notable – Rushing: 16-67 2TD (4.2 avg.); Receiving: 3-17
Matt Jones, LB, Jr.: He was really good for this defense. He nearly came up with an interception but recorded a sack of BYU QB Jaren Hall. Jones moved well all over the field. He’s even a little faster than you think he is.
Notable – 5 solo tackles, 3 assisted tackles, 1 sack, 1 PBU
