Following a bye week, Texas returns to action Saturday morning when they travel to Waco to face Baylor. The Bears are 6-1 on the season and have taken a big step forward in their second season with Dave Aranda at the helm. Let’s take a look at what to expect on both sides of the ball.
Offense
Aranda chose to completely overhaul the offense following a 2020 season that saw Baylor average under 3 yards per carry. He fired offensive coordinator Larry Fedora and opted to let starting QB Charlie Brewer enter the transfer portal. He replaced Fedora with BYU offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes and handed the quarterback reigns over to redshirt junior Gerry Bohanon. Grimes has successfully implemented his wide zone running scheme and completely turned around the Bears offense. Baylor is currently averaging over 6 yards a carry and Bohanon has only 1 interception through 7 games.
Grimes has a two headed monster he likes to use at running back in Abram Smith (785 yards and 10 TD’s) and Trestan Ebner (496 yards). Smith does most of his damage between the tackles, which isn’t surprising considering he spent some of his Baylor career at linebacker. Ebner is more of a home-run threat and is used heavily in the passing game and return game.
The leading Baylor receiver is senior Tyquan Thornton, who has hauled in 32 passes for 547 yards and 5 touchdowns. Fellow senior R.J. Sneed is the #2 option and has 398 yards on 25 catches. Baylor does like to use TE Ben Sims in the redzone (4 touchdown receptions).
The Baylor offensive line has really benefitted from the addition of guard Grant Miller and center Jacob Gall, both of which transferred-in this past offseason. Fellow guard Xaiver Newman-Johnson is strong in the running game. Grimes does a really good job of protecting Bohanon and not asking him to do a lot in the passing game. Expect the Bears to utilize the quick passing game heavily, which means there may not be many chances for Texas to get to Bohanon.
Defense
The Baylor defense has a ton of experience and has a difference maker at each level. Up front, Siaki Ika is a handful at 6’4 350 pounds and does a good job of holding the point of attack. At linebacker, Dillon Doyle and Terrel Bernard might be the best linebacker duo in the Big 12. Bernard in particular is a true impact player and will be the best defensive player on the field.
In the backend, Jalen Pitre flies all over the field and Aranda loves to use him in a variety of different ways. Safeties JT Woods and Christian Morgan are solid and do a good job of tying the backend together. If there is a weakness on the Baylor defense, it is corners Raleigh Texada and Kalon Barnes. Neither has the ability to completely shut down an opposing teams #1 option, so the opportunity should be there for Texas to try to get Xavier Worthy involved.
Final Thoughts
This is going to be another tough game for Texas. The Longhorns do not match up well very well when you compare the strengths of Baylor to the weaknesses of Texas. The Bears will attempt to control the game by running the ball against a shaky Texas defense and dedicating resources to shutting down Bijan Robinson. If Steve Sarkisian is unable to get the Texas offense into a rhythm, it is going to be a long afternoon in Waco. Likewise, if Texas can’t slow down the Baylor rushing attack and the play action game they build off of the running game, it is going to be a frustrating day for Pete Kwiatkowski’s unit. We are about to find out if Texas cleaned up anything during the bye week.
