Friday night’s Texas Tech-Houston thriller offered Baylor a clear preview of what’s coming later this season: two Big XII offenses with plenty of weapons, a few game-breaking plays, and a couple of matchups the Bears will need to handle cleanly if they want to beat both teams.
The Red Raiders and Cougars played a tight, high-level game, one that featured several jaw-dropping catches from both sides. A handful of those highlight grabs came from players wearing No. 2 - Houston’s Jalen Mayo and Koby Young, along with Texas Tech’s Kenny Johnson.
Baylor will see both teams on its schedule soon enough. The Bears open Big XII play next week, September 25th, to close out their three-game home stand against head coach Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes. Texas Tech comes to Waco on November 21st for Baylor’s final home game of the year, and Houston is the season finale on November 28, when the Bears travel to face the Cougars.
For Baylor, the Texas Tech tape points straight to the run game. Jacoby Williams didn’t get much work in the first half, but he broke loose for two explosive runs on the Red Raiders’ first drive after halftime, finishing the second one with a touchdown. He lined up both in the backfield and in the slot, which means Baylor will have to track him as both a runner and a decoy.
Cameron Dickey gives Texas Tech another layer. He can line up at running back or take the Wildcat snap, and he scored what became the deciding touchdown early in the fourth quarter against Houston. That kind of flexibility gives the Red Raiders plenty of ways to attack a defense.
If Baylor wants to beat Texas Tech in Waco, the path is clear: force quarterback Will Hammond to throw by shutting down the run as efficiently as possible. The defensive line has to do its part so the cornerbacks and safeties can focus on the passing game. Hammond has receivers to work with, but if Baylor can take away the ground game too, that makes the air attack far less dangerous.
Houston presents a different challenge, but the same basic principle applies. Conner Weigman finished with a strong stat line - 27 of 38 for 282 yards and three touchdowns - but Texas Tech’s crowd seemed to bother him late. After the Red Raiders had scored and taken a 28-20 lead, Houston stalled on a quick three-and-out that included three straight overthrown incompletions before punting it back.
That’s the template for Baylor against the Cougars: pressure Weigman and keep it coming. It sounds simple, but if the contact and disruption aren’t constant, he’ll have time to carve up a defense or make plays with his legs. Baylor will need defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman to put together some of his best schemes and packages for that one.
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What stood out most was the way Baylor handled the third set, when it had to dig out of a seven-point hole instead of letting the match drift. Those are the kinds of moments coaches point to when they talk about a team learning how to close, and this group has now shown it can win comfortably when things are flowing and still find a way when the margin gets tight. [Read more 🡒]
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Baylor Heads Into Saturday Facing Pressure In All The Wrong Spots
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The bigger concerns, though, still sit in areas that have followed Baylor for stretches of the season: the running game and the penalty count. Aranda has addressed both as part of the teams effort to clean up its play and get more consistent in the basics, and the Bears are also trying to create a stronger home-field look by asking fans to wear gold shirts for the matchup. With injuries forcing changes and execution still in focus, Saturday carries a little extra weight for a team trying to steady itself in the right places. [Read more 🡒]