By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Baylor suffered a tough 31-3 loss at home to No. 15 Kansas State this past Saturday at McLane State.
The loss effectively ended Baylor’s hopes as repeating as Big 12 champions. The Bears (6-4, 4-3) would have to win out against No. 4 TCU this Saturday and at Texas the day after Thanksgiving and then get some help in order to return to AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Dec. 3.
Senior Day is this Saturday with an 11:00 a.m. kickoff with the Horned Frogs. The game will be carried by FOX.
So what was trending from a buying and selling mode from Kansas State? SicEmSports continues its new segment that began with the conference opener against Iowa State and runs through the rest of the season.
Buying: Blackout
There’s not a lot on the field your publisher can point to from this game that would fit this category. So let’s go with the fans beautifully executing the blackout. The movement began on social media. Baylor then followed suit with an aggressive marketing campaign to help spread the word. When McLane Stadium was full at the start of the game, a sea of black filled every seat where a Baylor fan sat. Nice work by everyone involved.
Selling: Blake Shapen
I’ve documented his issues in Baylor breakdown from Sunday. He’s just really struggled. His footwork is all over the place, which impacts his mechanics. That’s contributing to the seven interceptions he’s thrown in the last six games going back to Oklahoma State. Mix in the three fumbles and that’s 10 turnovers since Oct. 1 when the Bears faced the Cowboys. His completion percentage has been dropping since Kansas. His ability is there. You can see it. Baylor QBs (Shapen 13, Kyron Drones 1) have thrown the fewest TD passes in the Big 12.
Buying: Bounceback
This team doesn’t have any choice but to do that. It owes it to itself to do that. It owes it to the long-standing rivalry with TCU to do that. It owes it to the seniors to do that as they will walk out and play at McLane Stadium for the final time. If there is any good that comes from this loss to the Wildcats, it’s that teams can typically put a blowout behind them faster. Now, practicing well and preparing well during the week are one thing. They need to come out and play with energy.
Selling: Defensive Line
For what I thought was probably going to be the No. 1 position group on this team has been far from that. There are no words to express what this group hasn’t done. It’s not an injury issue. They’re fine. They lost Cole Maxwell for a couple of games earlier in the season. But that’s been it. There’s not much of a difference between Texas Tech which leads the Big 12 in sacks (24) to Baylor sitting tied for 8th (19). In 14 games in 2021, Baylor had 44 QB takedowns. And last year’s front would never have allowed a team to go 97 yards for a touchdown.
Buying: John Mayers
You have to be impressed with the season the kicker has had. He starts the season behind Isaiah Hankins and then when Hankins struggles, they go back to him. The biggest question about Mayers’ career has been his ability to hit from 40-49 yards. He was 4-7 for his career prior to 2022. This year, it’s all flipped. He’s 4-4 from that distance and is 7-7 overall. That’s a credit to his work and dedication.
PFF OL Grades
Thanks to Rivals’ relationship with Pro Football Focus, each week we’ll share with you how Baylor’s offensive line graded from the previous week. This one comes following Kansas State. We’ll break it down from run blocking, pass blocking and overall in that order.
Grant Miller: 57 snaps, 60.3 run, 50.8 pass = 59.5
Jacob Gall: 64 snaps, 50.0 run, 60.4 pass = 51.7
Khalil Keith: 64 snaps, 60.0 run, 69.7 pass = 64.7
Micah Mazzccua: 64 snaps, 52.2 run, 53.7 pass = 50.5
Connor Galvin: 64 snaps, 74.8 run, 69.3 pass = 74.9
Mose Jeffery: 7 snaps, No run grade, 78.0 pass = 62.0
Publisher
Baylor suffered a tough 31-3 loss at home to No. 15 Kansas State this past Saturday at McLane State.
The loss effectively ended Baylor’s hopes as repeating as Big 12 champions. The Bears (6-4, 4-3) would have to win out against No. 4 TCU this Saturday and at Texas the day after Thanksgiving and then get some help in order to return to AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Dec. 3.
Senior Day is this Saturday with an 11:00 a.m. kickoff with the Horned Frogs. The game will be carried by FOX.
So what was trending from a buying and selling mode from Kansas State? SicEmSports continues its new segment that began with the conference opener against Iowa State and runs through the rest of the season.
Buying: Blackout
There’s not a lot on the field your publisher can point to from this game that would fit this category. So let’s go with the fans beautifully executing the blackout. The movement began on social media. Baylor then followed suit with an aggressive marketing campaign to help spread the word. When McLane Stadium was full at the start of the game, a sea of black filled every seat where a Baylor fan sat. Nice work by everyone involved.
Selling: Blake Shapen
I’ve documented his issues in Baylor breakdown from Sunday. He’s just really struggled. His footwork is all over the place, which impacts his mechanics. That’s contributing to the seven interceptions he’s thrown in the last six games going back to Oklahoma State. Mix in the three fumbles and that’s 10 turnovers since Oct. 1 when the Bears faced the Cowboys. His completion percentage has been dropping since Kansas. His ability is there. You can see it. Baylor QBs (Shapen 13, Kyron Drones 1) have thrown the fewest TD passes in the Big 12.
Buying: Bounceback
This team doesn’t have any choice but to do that. It owes it to itself to do that. It owes it to the long-standing rivalry with TCU to do that. It owes it to the seniors to do that as they will walk out and play at McLane Stadium for the final time. If there is any good that comes from this loss to the Wildcats, it’s that teams can typically put a blowout behind them faster. Now, practicing well and preparing well during the week are one thing. They need to come out and play with energy.
Selling: Defensive Line
For what I thought was probably going to be the No. 1 position group on this team has been far from that. There are no words to express what this group hasn’t done. It’s not an injury issue. They’re fine. They lost Cole Maxwell for a couple of games earlier in the season. But that’s been it. There’s not much of a difference between Texas Tech which leads the Big 12 in sacks (24) to Baylor sitting tied for 8th (19). In 14 games in 2021, Baylor had 44 QB takedowns. And last year’s front would never have allowed a team to go 97 yards for a touchdown.
Buying: John Mayers
You have to be impressed with the season the kicker has had. He starts the season behind Isaiah Hankins and then when Hankins struggles, they go back to him. The biggest question about Mayers’ career has been his ability to hit from 40-49 yards. He was 4-7 for his career prior to 2022. This year, it’s all flipped. He’s 4-4 from that distance and is 7-7 overall. That’s a credit to his work and dedication.
PFF OL Grades
Thanks to Rivals’ relationship with Pro Football Focus, each week we’ll share with you how Baylor’s offensive line graded from the previous week. This one comes following Kansas State. We’ll break it down from run blocking, pass blocking and overall in that order.
Grant Miller: 57 snaps, 60.3 run, 50.8 pass = 59.5
Jacob Gall: 64 snaps, 50.0 run, 60.4 pass = 51.7
Khalil Keith: 64 snaps, 60.0 run, 69.7 pass = 64.7
Micah Mazzccua: 64 snaps, 52.2 run, 53.7 pass = 50.5
Connor Galvin: 64 snaps, 74.8 run, 69.3 pass = 74.9
Mose Jeffery: 7 snaps, No run grade, 78.0 pass = 62.0
