Baylor Bears: CFN College Football Preview 2021

College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Baylor season with what you need to know.

College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Baylor season with what you need to know.


Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
Top Players | Keys To The Season
What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
Baylor Schedule Analysis
– Baylor Bears Previews
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

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2020 Record: 2-7 overall, 2-7 in Big 12
Head Coach: Dave Aranda, 2nd year, 2-7
2020 CFN Final Ranking: 87
2020 CFN Preview Ranking: 42
2019 CFN Final Ranking: 21

Baylor Bears College Football Preview 2021: Offense

Yeah, the whole Baylor offense thing didn’t exactly work in Dave Aranda’s first season. There was an attempt to change things around a bit, but the results were painful – the program had NO time to work in the global pandemic offseason.

The Bears finished 118th in the nation in total offense averaging just 310 yards per game, and the scoring didn’t get better as the year went on and the O failed to get past 24 points six of the nine games. However, there’s plenty of experience returning, a full offseason, and a new offensive coordinator in Jeff Grimes from BYU to get this going.

First things first …

Baylor has to settle its quarterback situation, and Grimes doesn’t have a Zach Wilson to work with. Longtime starter Charlie Brewer is off to Utah, but backups Jacob Zeno and Gerry Bohanon are around with a little time logged in. True freshman Kyron Drones might be a factor in the fall camp battle for the open gig.

The receivers are there to start opening things up a bit more. The trio of RJ Sneed, Gavin Holmes and Tyquan Thornton has one of the best combinations of experience and explosion in the Big 12 – and potential. Getting back good receiving TE Ben Sims helps, too. Now the passing game has to work the pop and big plays weren’t there.

The ground game has to be better, and the offensive front that struggled in pass protection has to be a whole lot stronger despite losing three starters. The transfer portal should help with a few new parts coming in – Grant Miller from Vanderbilt and Jacob Gall from Buffalo – to push for jobs along with veterans Connor Galvin at tackle and Xavier Newman-Johnson at one guard spot.

The running backs are there to do a whole lot more for an attack that averaged just 2.7 yards per carry. 5-8 sophomore Craig Williams is a quick back who averaged 7.5 yards per carry with 197 yards in just four games.

2018 and 2019 leading rusher John Lovett left for Penn State, but 230-pound Qualan Jones and 215-pound super-senior Trestan Ebner return in a good rotation.

– What You Need To Know: Defense
Top Players | Keys To The Season
What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
Baylor Schedule Analysis

NEXT: Baylor Bears College Football Preview 2021: Defense

College Football News Preview 2020: Baylor Bears

College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Baylor Bears season with what you need to know.

College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Baylor Bears season with what you need to know.


CFN in 60 Podcast: 2020 Baylor Bears
Baylor preview in 60 seconds

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Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
Schedule Analysis
– Baylor Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

2019 Record: 11-3 overall, 8-1 in Big 12
Head Coach: Dave Aranda, 1st year
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 16
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 21
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 48

NOTE: Obviously, no one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.

5. College Football News Preview 2020: Baylor Bears Offense 3 Things To Know

The offense wasn’t always a powerhouse, but it was effective enough when it had to be. The running game was just okay, the passing attack wasn’t all that efficient, and the pass protection was missing far too often. But the scoring came in bunches with 31 points or more scored seven times.

Now it’s up to new offensive coordinator Larry Fedora – the former North Carolina head man who came up as a Baylor assistant in the early 1990s and worked as the OC at Florida and Oklahoma State – to work with a veteran attack that has to do a whole lot more to make up for what might be a struggling D.


CFN in 60 Video: Baylor Bears Preview
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Charlie Brewer got beaten up throughout last year, but he still managed to keep on producing. He finished with 3,161 yards and 21 touchdowns with just seven interceptions, and he ran for 11 scores, but he took some massive pops late in the season.

Sophomore Gerry Bohanon stepped in against Oklahoma in the second meeting and almost pulled out the Big 12 Championship, and Jacob Zeno is a good-looking redshirt freshman who’ll get at least a look.

Leading receiver Denzel Mims is gone along with deep threat Chris Platt, but the junior combination of Tyquan Thornton and RJ Sneed are back. The 6-3 Thornton averaged over 17 yards per catch, the 6-1 Sneed made 42 grabs, and there are enough returning parts to get the passing game going right away.

Four starters are back on an offensive line that got Charlie Brewer blasted a bit too often, and wasn’t always a rock for the running game. Guard Xavier Newman-Johnson is the best of the bunch, but the tackles should be better with decent depth and options to play around with.

The ground game has the backs. Leading returning rusher John Lovett is back, but JaMycal Hasty is done. The quarterbacks will bring a boost to the ground game, but senior Trestan Ebner and a slew of underclassmen will be a part of the rotation.

NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Baylor Bears Defense 3 Things To Know