In head coach Matt Rhule’s third season it’s time for Baylor football to take it to the next level with 15 of 22 starters returning.
It was a rather average season in 2018 for Baylor as they went 7-6 but did cap it off with a nice bowl win over Vanderbilt. 7-6 is an improvement though as following the whole Art Briles ordeal, the Baylor football program was left in shambles. Now, the once elite Baylor offense has been slowly rebuilt under Matt Rhule. Junior quarterback Charlie Brewer was great for the Bears last season throwing for 3,019 yards and 19 touchdowns, he should be even better in 2019.
The running game should have plenty of talent to work with and the same goes for the wide receiver unit as well. What the Bears do need to be worried about, however, is an offensive line that vastly underperformed last season. It gave up the most sacks and tackles for loss in the Big 12 last season and while they have veterans such as center Sam Tecklenburg and Johncarlo Valentin back this season, the unit will have to be better if Baylor wants to see quarterback Charlie Brewer take the next step.
The defense has never been the focal point at Baylor and that is alright because it isn’t for most teams in the Big 12. But the experience on that side of the ball always helps to slow down the potent offenses in the conference and the Bears definitely have it.
The run defense was especially bad last season but hopefully, with all of their starting linebackers back, leading tackler Clay Johnson and the rest of the linebackers can start to change that. Two of their big, beefy defensive lineman return too, as Bravvion Roy and James Lynch should help to plug up the middle for the Bears. The pass defense, on the other hand, was third-best in the Big 12 in 2018 last season and was a big reason why they were able to notch seven wins on the season. Second leading tackler Chris Miller will be back at safety and they will also have corner Raliegh Texada returning as well.
Baylor football best-case scenario
- Aug. 31 – vs. Stephen F. Austin – W
- Sept. 7 – vs. UTSA – W
- Sept. 21 – at Rice – W
- Sept. 28 – vs. Iowa State – W
- Oct. 5 – at Kansas State – W
- Oct. 12 – vs. Texas Tech W
- Oct. 19 – at Oklahoma State – L
- Oct. 31 – vs. West Virginia – W
- Nov. 9 – at TCU – L
- Nov. 16 – vs. Oklahoma – L
- Nov. 23 – vs. Texas – L
- Nov. 30 – at Kansas – W
Record: 8-4 (5-4 Big 12)
It’s going to be tough sledding in the Big 12 this season, but I see it very possible that Baylor can come out swinging with a very easy non-conference schedule as well as a favorable away match up against Kansas State early in the conference schedule.
But the late trips to Oklahoma State and TCU as well as back to back home matchups against Oklahoma and Texas will derail what could have been a surprising season for Baylor.
The good news for the Bears is that the combination of another year of Charlie Brewer behind center and a talented group of skill position players should make the Bears competitive with everyone in the Big 12 outside of Texas and Oklahoma. Which is more than they could have said just 2 years ago.
Baylor football worst-case scenario
- Aug. 31 – vs. Stephen F. Austin – W
- Sept. 7 – vs. UTSA – W
- Sept. 21 – at Rice – W
- Sept. 28 – vs. Iowa State – L
- Oct. 5 – at Kansas State – L
- Oct. 12 – vs. Texas Tech W
- Oct. 19 – at Oklahoma State – L
- Oct. 31 – vs. West Virginia – L
- Nov. 9 – at TCU – L
- Nov. 16 – vs. Oklahoma – L
- Nov. 23 – vs. Texas – L
- Nov. 30 – at Kansas – W
Record: 5-7 (2-7 Big 12)
An easy non-conference schedule makes the overall record of this worst-case scenario look not that bad, but make no mistake, going 2-7 in conference in 2019 would be a disaster for the Bears as they were able to go 4-5 with a much more inexperienced squad last season.
Unfortunately, a tough Big 12 schedule makes this scenario possible for the Bears in 2019 especially if the offensive line continues its woes and Charlie Brewer regresses after an impressive sophomore campaign.
As I said before, its a defense that returns a lot of players but it loses the most from a secondary that was 3rd best in the Big 12 last season. If the secondary takes a step back, and there is a decent possibility that it could, that would be trouble in the pass-heavy Big 12.
With all of that though, I find it hard to see that offensive line continues to be as bad as it was in 2018 and if they get better, so too will Charlie Brewer, allowing for much better offensive production. In the Big 12, more offensive production normally means more wins and a continued upward trajectory for the Baylor football program.