BAYLOR PASS OFFENSE vs TEXAS PASS DEFENSE
Blake Shapen is out again this week so it’ll once again be Sawyer Robertson leading the Baylor offense. Robetson has struggled this year, completing just 45% of his passes with 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions. Robertson doesn’t always trust his arm enough. The Baylor coaches have said he either isn’t trusting himself enough, or he’s trusting himself too much and getting into trouble. Aranda said this week that Robertson is trying to be perfect and playing not to lose the game. When the offensive line gives him time, he can put some zip on it but that hasn’t been shown much. Robertson is better on the short to medium routes but has had trouble throwing the deep ball. Monaray Baldwin is a guy they want to get the ball to more than they have so far. Ketron Jackson is the number one guy, but the staff wants to get Baldwin more involved. Drake Dabney at tight end is a threat as well.
Edge – Texas ***
BAYLOR RUN OFFENSE vs TEXAS RUN DEFENSE
Baylor will probably be without Dominic Richardson this week although that has not been fully confirmed. Sophomore Richard Reese and freshman Dawson Pendergrass will get most of the touches. Reese was the top back coming into fall camp. He’s a smaller guy at 5-9 and 182 pounds and has had some durability issues. Pendergrass averages a healthy 5.1 yards per carry. Baylor does average 166 yards per game on the ground. Texas is giving up 96 yards on the ground but just 2.9 yards per carry despite giving up the one big touchdown run last week.
Edge – Texas **
BAYLOR OFFENSIVE LINE vs TEXAS DEFENSIVE LINE
Baylor has given up just three sacks in three games, but the line is still very much a work in progress. As a whole, the line needs to clean up some penalties. The Bears had an incredible 10 false starts in first two weeks. Center Clark Barrington is the strength of Baylor’s line. He’s a transfer from BYU and is a fifth-year senior and team captain. The personnel for Baylor is hard to pin down because the coaches have been shifting the depth chart a lot.
Edge – Texas **
TEXAS PASS OFFENSE vs BAYLOR PASS DEFENSE
The Bears are giving up a respectable 164 yards passing per game, good enough for third in the Big 12. But this is a pass defense that has had some problems. Devyn Bobby at safety and Chateau Reed at corner are good players but none of the starting DBs have recorded any interceptions. The weakness of the defense has been defending the short routes in the middle of the field so this could be a game where someone like JT Sanders or Jordan Whittington puts up solid numbers. Texas’s passing game has a ton of talent but has been inconsistent.
Edge – Texas **
TEXAS RUN OFFENSE vs BAYLOR RUN DEFENSE
The Bears are second to last in the Big 12 in run defense, giving up 170 yards per game and 4.4 yards per attempt. Senior linebackers Mike Smith and Matt Jones are solid, very productive (32 combined tackles) and hard hitting. Baylor has struggled some with the quarterback run game so this could be a game where Quinn Ewers has some runs. If Texas can get to outside, Baylor’s lack of speed can be an issue.
Edge – Texas **
TEXAS OFFENSIVE LINE vs BAYLOR DEFENSIVE LINE
The defensive line has come along and is playing better. TJ Franklin is tied for the team lead in sacks (with former Longhorn Byron Vaughns) with two and the line forced a couple fumbles against Utah. True Freshman Trey Wilson hasn’t filled up the stat sheet (1 sack) but he’s a guy the Baylor coaches are high on. Baylor uses a lot of packages up front and rotate a lot of guys so you won’t see a lot of gaudy numbers but the Bears feel they have some capable depth here.
Edge – Texas **
SPECIAL TEAMS
Baylor has a pretty good kicker in Isaiah Hankins. He has missed two but both were long attempts. He had the on both kicks but was wide. The punting game is decent. The weakness of the special teams is that it doesn’t really block well to set up big returns.
Edge – Texas **
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