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.
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.
