Following a bye week, Texas will return to the field Saturday afternoon to host Baylor. The Bears have been battling COVID issues throughout the season and have only played two games up to this point, knocking off Kansas and losing in overtime to West Virginia. The Longhorns have been battling issues of their own, losing back to back games to TCU and Oklahoma. Tom Herman will look to get a win he desperately needs against his college roommate, Dave Aranda. Let’s take a look at what to expect from Baylor:
Offense
The Baylor offense is now under the direction of former UNC head coach Larry Fedora. After being fired at the end of the 2018 season, Fedora spent last season in Austin as a quality control coach. Although the Bears have only played two games, there appears to be some wrinkles Fedora has implemented. Similar to past years, the Bears will lean heavily on the RPO game with Charlie Brewer at the helm. Brewer was banged up much of last season and has missed snaps multiple times already this season due to injuries. The senior has yet to push the ball down the field and has made his living on quick, short throws. Backup QB Gerry Bohanon is dangerous with his legs, and it would not be surprising to see Baylor try to utilize him to take some hits off of Brewer.
At running back, John Lovett and Trestan Ebner will receive the bulk of the carries. Lovett will see most of his work on standard downs and the Bears will try to get the ball to Ebner out of the backfield. He is also very dangerous in the return game, returning two kickoffs for touchdowns against Kansas.
RJ Sneed serves as the number one receiver and has 11 catches through the first two games on the schedule. Tyquan Thornton and Josh Fleeks will also be involved in the passing game, but as mentioned above, Brewer is simply unable to get the ball down the field so this group has been limited in what they can do.
Baylor offensive line coach Joe Wickline is a familiar name to Texas fans, having served in the same capacity with the Longhorns from 2014-2015. His unit features several returning starters mixed in with a key grad transfer, Jake Burton. Center Xavier Newman has started games all 4 years he’s been on campus and serves as the anchor of line. Burton has bounced back and forth between tackle and guard to start the season, but is strong in the run game.
Defense
Despite losing several key pieces on defense from a squad that went to the Sugar Bowl last year, it is no surprise Dave Aranda has the defense playing well again in 2020. The former LSU defensive coordinator will give the Longhorns offense a tough test. The Bears are particularly strong at linebacker, where Terrel Bernard and Iowa transfer Dillon Doyle make up one of the best linebacker duos in the Big 12. Bernard in particular will be all the over the field and could give the Texas offensive line problems coming on blitzes.
On the backend of the defense, CB Raleigh Texada is a 3-year starter and was named to the preseason All-Big 12 second team. The Bears are breaking in two new starters at safety (JT Woods and Christian Morgan) and Texas would be wise to try to test a Baylor pass defense that faced two of the worst passing attacks in the conference to open the season.
Overall Thoughts
It feels like this could be repeated every week, but the Longhorns have the advantage on paper in this matchup. The Texas defense has shown improvement week by week and has a chance to make a big leap against a limited Baylor offense. The Texas offense will certainly be tested against a Baylor defense that owned them a season ago. The Longhorn can not afford to be undisciplined and waste possessions or they could find themselves 1-3 in Big 12 play.