With a roster full of returning starters and experienced players on both sides of the ball, Baylor will be a lot more than that pesky team that could give the Big 12’s best a hard time.
In Art Briles’ first season last year, Baylor may have gone just 4-8, but little separated them from that 4-8 season and their first winning season since 1995, the last year of Southwest Conference play.
There was a three-point loss at Connecticut in which they led in the fourth quarter, a loss at Nebraska in which they led at halftime, a three-point loss to Missouri, and a seven-point loss to Texas Tech in which they led by two touchdowns in the third quarter. Hold two leads in two of those games, and the Bears would’ve been a postseason team.
But the experience gained from those tough losses last season will help Baylor take the next step this season, and it also doesn’t hurt that they have some talent too.
The Big 12 is renowned for its plethora of talented quarterbacks, and Baylor has one of them in dynamic sophomore sensation Robert Griffin. Griffin made a name for himself as a true freshman last season, throwing for 2,091 yards and 15 touchdowns and rushing for 846 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Griffin will have a target on his back this season, and some new starters will be broken in on the offensive line. But he’s got a year’s worth of experience under his belt, and he also has a nice supporting cast.
Led by Griffin and leading rusher Jay Finley, Baylor averaged 195.9 rushing yards per game last season, and with Finley also returning, the ground game will once again churn out yards upon yards.
The passing game will also help Art Briles rest easy at night. Last season, Griffin set a I-A record for most passes without an interception to start a career with 209, and he tossed only three interceptions in 267 attempts.
If the line gels, the sky is the limit for the offense. But as good as the offense could be, Baylor could have one of the top defenses in the Big 12 this season, with so much returning experience and the addition of a man monster in the middle of the front line in Penn State transfer Phil Taylor, who was named the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.
Taylor isn’t the only top talent on Baylor’s defense. All three of the Bears’ starting linebackers return, led by one of the best in the nation in senior Joe Pawelek, who had 128 tackles and six interceptions last season. Baylor’s secondary boasts one of the nation’s best safeties in Jordan Lake, who had 97 tackles and three picks last season.
With the exception of Taylor, who may have sat out last season as per the transfer rules but is anything but inexperienced, every player listed as a starter on Baylor’s depth chart received playing time last season.
Baylor ranked near the top of the Big 12 in takeaways last season with 27, and that number should once again be high, but Baylor’s defense will be even more dangerous if more plays are made in the backfield. With Taylor to go with their many returnees in the front seven, that should happen, and if it does, it’ll pay big dividends, and not just on the stat sheet.
The talent’s clearly there to make a run at the postseason, but how does the schedule set up?
Baylor 2009 Schedule
9/5 at Wake Forest - L
9/19 Connecticut - W
9/26 Northwestern State - W
10/3 Kent State - W
10/10 at Oklahoma - L
10/17 at Iowa State - Toss-up
10/24 Oklahoma State - Toss-up
10/31 Nebraska - W
11/7 at Missouri - L
11/14 Texas - L
11/21 at Texas A&M - Toss-up
11/28 vs. Texas Tech - Toss-up
If there’s ever a year for Baylor to have their best season since the Southwest Conference was still in existence, it’s this year.
Even though I have it down as a loss, I wouldn’t put it past the Bears to pull off the upset at Wake Forest, with Baylor’s offense taking on a Wake Forest defense that has several new starters. After their opener, the home schedule sets up for the Bears to be able to pad their win total early on and head into Big 12 play in a good position to earn bowl eligibility,
With the way that they came so close against Missouri and Texas Tech, I don’t see both Oklahoma State and Nebraska leaving Waco with a victory, and even though their showdown against Texas is marked down as a loss, the Longhorns can’t come in thinking that a win is an automatic.
The road games at Iowa State and Texas A&M are both very winnable, and after they gave a top-10 ranked Texas Tech team all they could handle last season, there’s more than a fair chance they could land their first win over the Red Raiders since 1995, which could also seal their first winning season since that year‘s 7-4 finish.
That season ended with the Bears missing out on the postseason, but with the Big 12 having no shortage of bowl tie-ins and the conference likely to end up with two teams in BCS bowls once again, I fully expect to see the Bears bowling come December.
