Tag: baylor bears football

Where does the Big 12 rank in the lastest 1-133 rankings from USA TODAY Sports?

After week four, where does the Big 12 land in USA TODAY Sports lates re-rank of each team in the Football Bowl Subdivision?

After our first full weekend of Big 12 play, several of our preconceived notions about the conference have gone by the wayside.

In particular, Texas Tech isn’t turning out to be the team that many thought they’d be heading into 2023. Also, who would have thought that Oklahoma State and Baylor would be two of the worst teams in the conference. And yet, that’s where we stand four weeks into the season and one week into Big 12 play.

Each week, Erick Smith of USA TODAY Sports re-ranks each of the 133 Football Bowl Subdivision teams.

After week four, Texas Tech experienced the biggest move of the week, falling hard after losing to West Virginia. Oklahoma State also experienced a steep drop in the rankings. On the flipside, West Virginia and Kansas earned double-digit increases compared to a week ago.

Let’s take a look at where the Big 12 ranks in the latest 1-133 re-rank.

Big 12 Power Rankings: Kansas gets big win, Baylor falls flat

The Kansas Jayhawks earned a big win over BYU and saw a bump in this week’s Big 12 Power Rankings.

In week four, six of the eight games featuring Big 12 teams were conference matchups. The weekend that was provided a fuller picture of the Big 12 landscape as 2023 progresses.

Several teams provided significant answers to their first conference test of the season, while others walked away with more questions.

It’s becoming clear that teams like Baylor, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech won’t factor into the Big 12 title race. There are too many issues for those teams to overcome, in particular at quarterback.

But over the next few weeks, we’ll get a clearer idea of who the contenders in the Big 12 are.

Take a look at this week’s Big 12 Power Rankings.

No. 3 Texas plays to the standard, beats Baylor 38-6

Texas showed fans what the standard was against Baylor.

The No. 3 Texas Longhorns (4-0) defeated the Baylor Bears (1-3) on Saturday. In doing so, Longhorns played like the No. 3 team in the country winning 38-6.

Starting quarterback Quinn Ewers continued his prime time road game success completing 18 of 23 passes for 293 yards and a passing touchdown. Ewers added a 29-yard rushing touchdown.

Texas running back Jonathon Brooks led Longhorns rushers with 18 carries for 106 yards. Ja’Tavion Sanders led Texas receivers with an explosive 110-yard game on five receptions.

Texas linebacker Jaylan Ford got another interception, while defensive tackle Byron Murphy compiled two sacks.

The major takeaway from the game involves perhaps the team’s most complete game of the season. The Longhorns dominated the first half carrying a 28-6 lead into halftime.

The lone blemish came in the return game. Three Longhorns muffed either a punt or kickoff return. Two of the three fumbles gave Baylor the ball in Texas territory.

Next up, Texas takes on the Kansas Jayhawks (4-0) on the heels of a big win over BYU.

Texas played to the standard. Now it must continue to do so over the next ten weeks.

Should Texas’ offensive game plan be in the air or on the ground?

How should Sark attack the Bears defense?

Texas could go either way when it comes to the Baylor defense. From a fans perspective, we would love to witness the Quinn Ewers connection to star receivers, but that may not be what we see.

Baylor has a decent pass rush, with Byron Vaughns leading the charge holding a 78.9 PFF pass rush grade, followed by linebacker Mike Smith Jr. and defensive lineman Devonte Tezino. Vaughns is Baylor’s best pass rusher, with six pressures on the passer, two sacks and four hurries.

Ewers is not the best when pressured so if the Bears want to make Ewers uncomfortable they will need to put pressure on him.

Baylor has decent cornerbacks in Carl Williams IV and Caden Jenkins. Williams has an 81.6 coverage grade and is the top corner for the Bears’ defense.

If Steve Sarkisian wants to air it out then he will have to have his wide receivers make big time plays and try to avoid the costly drops. They cannot afford to miss wide open touchdowns and easy targets dropped.

As much as the deep ball is pretty, the game plan might be better on the ground. Texas is expected to have freshman running back CJ Baxter back on Saturday and with Brooks coming off a phenomenal game against Wyoming, the backfield is in good hands.

The Longhorns have averaged nearly 150 rushing yards per game, and the Bears have allowed 170 rushing yards per game. If Baxter is 100% without limitations, it will be very exciting to see what he can do as he has had unfortunate injuries to start his young collegiate career.

The Texas Longhorns kickoff against the Baylor Bears at 6:30 P.M. CT.

Big 12 Predictions: New additions open conference play with big tests

New Big 12 additions face stiff challenges in a full week of conference action. Here are this week’s Big 12 predictions.

It was a rough go for the Big 12 last week. Iowa State lost to Ohio, Kansas State lost to Missouri, Cincinnati lost to Miami (OH.), and Oklahoma State lost to South Alabama.

The conference did pick up big wins, with BYU beating Arkansas and West Virginia taking down Pitt in the Backyard Brawl.

TCU got the first conference win of the season when they beat Houston. This week, three of the new Big 12 squads face significant tests, with Cincinnati hosting Oklahoma, BYU traveling to face Kansas, and UCF in Manhattan to take on Kansas State.

We’ll find out a lot more about the Big 12 and how each team stacks up after this weekend.

Here are this week’s Big 12 predictions.

Week 3: 8-5

2023 Overall: 29-12

How Texas can stop the Baylor offense

How Texas can stop the sluggish Baylor offense.

The Baylor Bears have started the season off slow. With loses in consecutive weeks to Texas State and Utah, they picked up a much needed victory against Long Island.

Starting quarterback Blake Shapen will not play against Texas on Saturday, so that puts Sawyer Robertson behind center again.

Robertson has not played well in his last two starts. He only has 315 yards and a single touchdown against Utah and Long Island with a 42% completion rate. The first way to stop the Bears offense is making Robertson throw the ball.

Texas has the eighth best defensive pass EPA (expected points added) in the country, whereas Baylor has the 110th ranked offensive pass EPA.

Baylor most likely will not be airing the ball out versus Texas, which leaves them with their rushing attack. If Baylor has any chance in this game, it will be on the ground, led by Richard Reese and Dominic Richardson. Reese was the best back last year for Baylor with 14 touchdowns and nearly 1,000 yards with an 85 run grade according to PFF. This year, he has shared the backfield more with Richardson and their stats are very similar.

Though their run game has been the best part of their offense, they will have to deal with a Texas defensive line lead by T’Vondre Sweat. Sweat has an 81.6 run defense grade and is exceptional at stopping the run. Texas has only allowed 96 rushing yards per game.

How Texas can avoid blindsiding loss it suffered in Week 4 last season

Last season, Texas lost to a lesser team to open conference play. It looks to avoid that fate this season.

The Texas Longhorns have suffered unexpected losses far too often in recent seasons. Last year was no exception. In 2022, Texas lost four games. Two came against teams it should have beaten with ease.

The Longhorns opened Big 12 play with an overtime loss to Texas Tech last season. The Red Raiders entered the game with a 2-1 record following a 27-14 loss to NC State. To put the Longhorns’ Week 4 loss in perspective, Texas Tech fans stormed the field earlier in the season after a three-point overtime win over the Houston Cougars.

This season, Texas opens conference play with a similar opponent. The Baylor Bears have potential to pull an upset any given week, but have struggled in early action in 2023. Even so, this week’s matchup is the type of game that could make an entire season for Baylor. To suggest that they cannot win the game after the Longhorns’ last three weeks might be too optimistic.

Texas can, and should, win the game. That said, the Longhorns have played with fire too often this season. Should they continue to play with fire, they can expect to get burned.

How does Texas avoid a blindsiding loss? The team needs to bring a level of urgency we haven’t seen outside of the Alabama game. It needs to avoid topping the FBS leaderboard in drop percentage in Week 4. It needs its quarterback to bring a higher level of focus as well.

Texas is not far from being a trustworthy team again. Winning its next game would get it closer to earning that trust.

Texas takes on Baylor at 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC.

Previewing the final rivalry matchup between Texas and Baylor

We preview the Longhorns’ crucial Big 12 season opener against the Baylor Bears.

The Texas Longhorns (3-0) face the Baylor Bears (1-2) on Saturday. It could be the final meeting between the two teams.

It’s a significant game for both teams. We have noted the importance of the game to Baylor alumni this week, but it needs to be as important to Texas given what is at stake.

The Longhorns have something to lose. The team is undefeated and ranked No. 3 in the country presently. Its goals and aspirations are all ahead of the team.

In our fall camp preview, we stated the importance of a 4-0 start in the 2023 season. I wrote the following on that topic.

“Texas can avoid letting a win slip away against Alabama or getting upset by Baylor early with a changed mindset. … (The program) shouldn’t be able to stomach another bitter upset loss to Baylor by the fourth game. It’s no longer okay for Texas to lose any of the first four games. Leadership will have to elevate the Longhorns to meet that standard.”

Now Texas’ leadership gets its opportunity to play championship-level football. It can start by performing well in the conference opener.

Let’s preview the game between Texas and Baylor.

Baylor Week: Will Texas play to the standard or to its opponent?

Expect another close game unless Texas starts playing to the standard this week.

The Texas Longhorns take on the Baylor Bears on Saturday. It poses another challenge for the team, albeit the challenge would be of Texas’ own making.

The Longhorns have played substandard football in two of their first three games. And as much as we have made of starting quarterback Quinn Ewers’ improvement, he is still completing just 60.7 percent of his passes this season. The completion rate is better than last season, but not good by any stretch.

Texas receivers are certainly culpable for Ewers’ low completion percentage. The unit has dropped catchable passes and missed on several other catchable footballs. Even so, there’s a marked difference between Ewers against Alabama and how he plays against lesser opponents.

The focus hasn’t been there for both Ewers and his receivers this season, and the lackadaisical nature of the passing game has led to unimpressive results. Texas might be 3-0 now, but it won’t be for long if the passing game continues to be inefficient.

On the flip side, a focused effort this week could lead to a strong performance against Baylor this weekend. Texas needs to play to a championship-level standard it wants championship results. If it does, the Longhorns should beat the Bears comfortably on Saturday.

Former Baylor QB J.J. Joe discusses the team’s matchup with Texas

“If we do what we did against Texas State, Sark will put a 50 spot on us … because he will isolate and attack.”

It’s Baylor week for the Texas Longhorns football program. And as much as some would like to reject it, the game is a rivalry as long as the two teams take the field.

The game kicks off at 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday. Former Baylor quarterback and current Baylor color analyst J.J. Joe shared his thoughts on the game with 365 Sports Radio. He started by discussing Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian and what he brings as a play caller.

“They have an elite play caller. Sark, I mean, we may think another way about his head coaching ability. I think he’s grown and learned a lot from being with (Alabama head coach Nick Saban). But offensively, that dudes a genius.”

Joe continued by discussing Sarkisian’s ability to isolate mismatches. He noted that if the Longhorns’ offensive play caller can pinpoint what Texas State exploited from the Baylor defense in Week 1, the Bears could be in for a long night.

“If we do what we did against Texas State, Sark will put a 50 spot on us … in the first half, because he will isolate and attack.”

We don’t expect Sarkisian and company to hang a 50-burger and certainly not in the first half where Texas has struggled this season. That said, there’s an opportunity for the Longhorns passing attack to make plays downfield. Baylor head coach Dave Aranda will have some say in whether or not those opportunities are clearly visible.