The Baylor football program went through another massive upset, at the hands of the UTSA Roadrunners, after they lost to an FCS team in Week 1.
There was hope that the Baylor football program would be able to recover from the scandal that cost former head coach Art Briles his job. Yet, it does not look like the Bears will be able to make any sort of run in the Big 12 in 2017.
After an embarrassing Week 1 defeat against the Liberty Flames out of the FCS, Baylor was still favored over the UTSA Roadrunners in Week 2. However, even UTSA promised to be too much for this Baylor team. They gave the Roadrunners their first win in program history over a Power Five conference team.
UTSA quarterback Dalton Sturm completely outpaced former Arizona transfer quarterback Anu Solomon all game long. Sturm threw for 155 yards and two touchdowns. He also did not throw a single interception. Meanwhile, Solomon threw for less than 130 yards and one touchdown with one interception. That was not good enough for Solomon to even keep his starting job entering the third week of action.
Sophomore quarterback Zach Smith got most of the workload after Seth Russell went down for the season after an ankle injury ended his 2016 campaign. Smith played well, amassing more than 1,500 passing yards and 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
The Big 12 has gotten used to Baylor consistently contending for the conference title. However, they are likely to finish at the bottom of the conference standings this year. Unless a huge turnaround happens very quickly, matchups with some of the top Big 12 teams will not be as close as they were in year’s past.
Now, let’s take a look atfive overreactions from Baylor’s loss to the UTSA Roadrunners in Week 2.
1. Baylor will lose to Duke by more than 20 points
The Bears have their toughest non-conference test of the season this week when they travel to Durham, NC, to face the Duke Blue Devils. This is an undefeated Duke team that just rolled through a good Northwestern football team by a 41-17 score.
Baylor has yet to face a team as good as Duke this year, and they’ve not won a single game yet. Quarterback Daniel Jones is the real deal as he’s thrown for nearly 600 yards and four touchdowns through the first two games of the year.
Duke is a 14-point favorite against Baylor. This is somewhat of a surprise considering the opposite directions that both programs seem to be headed in. Duke could be one of the under the radar teams that could contend in the ACC.
This will be a huge test to see how Matt Rhule prepares his team for a tough opponent. The defense needs to hold strong against a good offensive attack and the offense needs to actually put some points on the scoreboard.
2. Matt Rhule still pulls in solid recruiting class
It was nothing short of impressive for Matt Rhule to rope in as many recruits as he did in the 2017 class. He’s done much of the same again for the 2018 recruiting class. Baylor already has 18 commits in line.
The main goal for the Bears is to rebuild their program over the next two years and make a run when Rhule finally has a roster stocked full of his recruits to fit his scheme. With how much talent he has brought into the program over the past few months, that should take too long.
It doesn’t look like Baylor’s 0-2 start has scared away many commits. However, if the Bears continue to lose, it will really test the loyalty of their 18 recruits. Finding quality recruits in the state of Texas is hard to do with so much competition. Texas is the main source of recruiting for nearly every Big 12 school.
Rebuilding this program starts with recruiting and young players buying into the system. Matt Rhule built up something special with the Temple Owls and he could do it again. It will just take some time.
3. Baylor only wins one Big 12 game this year
This process of rebuilding will really test the patience of Baylor fans this year. They packed McLane Stadium for the game against UTSA. However, that turned out to be all for naught as home field advantage did not give Baylor too much of an edge.
The Big 12 seems to be as good as ever since the College Football Playoff-era began. With how good the Oklahoma Sooners, Oklahoma State Cowboys, Kansas State Wildcats, West Virginia Mountaineers, and TCU Horned Frogs look, Baylor could be in for a long season.
Even defeating teams like the Iowa State Cyclones, Texas Tech Red Raiders, and Kansas Jayhawks will be a challenge. A four-win Texas Tech squad was able to beat Baylor last year and should do the same once again.
Kansas might be the only conference opponent that Baylor is favored against. The Jayhawks were looking good until they met the Central Michigan Chippewas. If Central Michigan is able to handily defeat Kansas, then Baylor might be able to as well.
4. Zach Smith is the best option at quarterback
All signs during the preseason pointed to sophomore Zach Smith getting the nod as the starting quarterback this year. He led Baylor to a huge bowl win last year over the Boise State Broncos, even after the Bears entered the mathcup on a six-game losing streak.
Meanwhile, Anu Solomon, despite all of his experience behind center, was not able to get Baylor in the win column once. That led to Smith getting the start in Week 3. This is his chance to run away with the role as Baylor’s offensive leader.
Smith has only gotten the chance to throw two passes this year. Rhule seems to have really trusted Solomon to run the offense. But this team needs a spark from somewhere and that could be huge if they find their quarterback of the future.
Not only does Baylor need to find an answer at quarterback, they need to find a face for the program. If Smith pans out, he could bring new life to this team and finally get them going in the right direction again.
5. The offensive line could be the worst in the country
UTSA’s defense is not one known for its pass rush. However, they got to the quarterback four times. The Roadrunners also racked up 10.0 tackles for loss. They were able to hault any progress the Baylor offense made by bringing pressure.
The ground game has been better than the passing attack but it has not been enough to fuel any sort of consistent efficiency. Starting running back John Lovett has rushed for 161 yards and two touchdowns so far.
In the absence of Terrence Williams and JaMychal Hasty, Baylor needs someone in the backfield to continue to provide some relief for the quarterback. If Zach Smith does not get the time he needs to get comfortable and spread the ball around, it’ll be another long week for this offense.
Next: Zach Smith gives Baylor new life after rough start
Duke brought down Northwestern’s Clayton Thorson four times and also forced three fumbles. This is a very good defense that Baylor is going up against and the offensive line needs to step their game up soon.