By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Baylor must quickly bounce back from an emotionally draining 29-28 loss to TCU this past Saturday to close out the home portion of the season at McLane Stadium. Baylor finished 3-3 on the Brazos.
With the Bears (6-5, 4-4) eliminated in the Big 12 title game chase, they now get to play spoilers when they travel to Austin on Friday to play Texas (7-4, 5-3) in the regular season finale. Baylor can ruin the Longhorns Big 12 title game hopes with a win.
So what was trending from a buying and selling mode from TCU? SicEmSports continues its new segment that began with the conference opener against Iowa State and runs through the rest of the season.
Buying: Rushing attack
Really, the performance against Kansas State wasn’t mysterious because Baylor never had the ball. What this outing against the Horned Frogs signaled was a continuation of what has been going on since West Virginia. Baylor rushed for 232 yards, averaged 5.0 yards per carry and saw Sqwirl Williams (112) produce his second 100-yard game in the last two weeks.
Selling: Final offensive play
It was already talked about in the Baylor Breakdown on 3rd-and-10 at the BU 18. A running play will pick up nominal yardage and is a waste of a play. The middle of the field was open. What quarterback Blake Shapen needs to do is trust the situation, trust his arm and make a throw. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. That’s what he was doing. Hopefully, it won’t be that way in 2023.
Buying: Devin Lemear
The redshirt freshman safety from Mano has come on in the latter half of the season. His confidence has been growing. Lemear had a big pass breakup in the game and was solid in run support. He led all Baylor defenders with nine tackles (seven solo). Perhaps a career-changing season for him.
Selling: No physical WR play
There’s nothing wrong with what Monaray Baldwin’s play. He had a tremendous day (6-123, long of 74). But this offense lacks a big body receiver who is going to be physical enough to fight for 50-50 balls and win more of them and just present a matchup problem. Hal Presley can be that, but he had to grow this year. It’s too early to say what other candidates are there to be that kind of receiver. Maybe he's not on the roster yet.
Hold: Last game mentality
Talked about this last week in preparing for TCU. But with their fate sealed, the outcome of this game against Texas really means. A better bowl could be in play. Obviously, a rival 100 miles down I-35 who is about to leave for the SEC should summon something. But this game kind of has the feel of major programs who just missed the NCAA tournament and wind up going to the NIT. That first game reveals if they want to be there. That’s what we don’t know about this team. You find what kind of competitors you have in your locker room in situations like these.
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 TCU. We’ll break it down from run blocking, pass blocking and overall in that order.
Grant Miller: 76 snaps, 64.2 run, 80.7 pass = 66.8
Jacob Gall: 76 snaps, 79.6 run, 79.0 pass = 84.8
Khalil Keith: 76 snaps, 72.5 run, 80.9 pass = 72.9
Micah Mazzccua: 24 snaps, 75.6 run, 78.3 pass = 76.6
Connor Galvin: 76 snaps, 66.5 run, 83.2 pass = 72.3
Mose Jeffery: 52 snaps, 64.3 run, 67.3 pass = 60.7
Publisher
Baylor must quickly bounce back from an emotionally draining 29-28 loss to TCU this past Saturday to close out the home portion of the season at McLane Stadium. Baylor finished 3-3 on the Brazos.
With the Bears (6-5, 4-4) eliminated in the Big 12 title game chase, they now get to play spoilers when they travel to Austin on Friday to play Texas (7-4, 5-3) in the regular season finale. Baylor can ruin the Longhorns Big 12 title game hopes with a win.
So what was trending from a buying and selling mode from TCU? SicEmSports continues its new segment that began with the conference opener against Iowa State and runs through the rest of the season.
Buying: Rushing attack
Really, the performance against Kansas State wasn’t mysterious because Baylor never had the ball. What this outing against the Horned Frogs signaled was a continuation of what has been going on since West Virginia. Baylor rushed for 232 yards, averaged 5.0 yards per carry and saw Sqwirl Williams (112) produce his second 100-yard game in the last two weeks.
Selling: Final offensive play
It was already talked about in the Baylor Breakdown on 3rd-and-10 at the BU 18. A running play will pick up nominal yardage and is a waste of a play. The middle of the field was open. What quarterback Blake Shapen needs to do is trust the situation, trust his arm and make a throw. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. That’s what he was doing. Hopefully, it won’t be that way in 2023.
Buying: Devin Lemear
The redshirt freshman safety from Mano has come on in the latter half of the season. His confidence has been growing. Lemear had a big pass breakup in the game and was solid in run support. He led all Baylor defenders with nine tackles (seven solo). Perhaps a career-changing season for him.
Selling: No physical WR play
There’s nothing wrong with what Monaray Baldwin’s play. He had a tremendous day (6-123, long of 74). But this offense lacks a big body receiver who is going to be physical enough to fight for 50-50 balls and win more of them and just present a matchup problem. Hal Presley can be that, but he had to grow this year. It’s too early to say what other candidates are there to be that kind of receiver. Maybe he's not on the roster yet.
Hold: Last game mentality
Talked about this last week in preparing for TCU. But with their fate sealed, the outcome of this game against Texas really means. A better bowl could be in play. Obviously, a rival 100 miles down I-35 who is about to leave for the SEC should summon something. But this game kind of has the feel of major programs who just missed the NCAA tournament and wind up going to the NIT. That first game reveals if they want to be there. That’s what we don’t know about this team. You find what kind of competitors you have in your locker room in situations like these.
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 TCU. We’ll break it down from run blocking, pass blocking and overall in that order.
Grant Miller: 76 snaps, 64.2 run, 80.7 pass = 66.8
Jacob Gall: 76 snaps, 79.6 run, 79.0 pass = 84.8
Khalil Keith: 76 snaps, 72.5 run, 80.9 pass = 72.9
Micah Mazzccua: 24 snaps, 75.6 run, 78.3 pass = 76.6
Connor Galvin: 76 snaps, 66.5 run, 83.2 pass = 72.3
Mose Jeffery: 52 snaps, 64.3 run, 67.3 pass = 60.7
