Baylor Football: Zach Smith can help Bears get first win against Kansas State

Baylor football took some big steps forward against the Oklahoma Sooners thanks to a big effort from quarterback Zach Smith.

After proving his worth in place of transfer quarterback Anu Solomon, sophomore Zach Smith can lead the Baylor Bears to their first win of the season in Week 5 against the Kansas State Wildcats. In Week 5, Baylor nearly took down the No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners at McLane Stadium.

However, Oklahoma senior quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Sooners were too much for the Bears to handle and they ended up with a 49-41 win. Baylor is showing big signs of improvement over the last two weeks against OU and the Duke Blue Devils.

The 0-4 start signifies a tough end to the tenure of Art Briles but a new beginning under the direction of first-year head coach Matt Rhule. This season started out with Rhule turning to Solomon to find the best option at quarterback. Yet, Smith tossed seven touchdowns over the past two games, showing why he should be the starter for the rest of the year.

Next week, Baylor takes on legendary head coach Bill Snyder and Kansas State on the road. The Kansas State game last year was one of the first starts of Smith’s career, after Seth Russell went down with injury for the season. Smith threw for 258 yards and three touchdowns in that game. The three interceptions he threw were the biggest red flag.

Against a solid Oklahoma secondary, Smith completed 33 passes for a whopping 463 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. The biggest problem Smith had in his first start against Duke was turning the ball over. He showed what this Baylor offense can do when they take care of the football.

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The struggles that Kansas State showed against the Vanderbilt Commodores two weeks ago highlighted some key flaws with the Wildcats. Senior quarterback Jesse Ertz is the biggest source of offense. If Baylor can shut him down and Smith has another game like he did against OU, the Bears could claim their first win of the season.