The Good, The Bad & The Ugly from Baylor's Week of Sports
Football suffered a tough home loss in front of a fiery crowd, but there was still some good to pull from the overall experience. Around the rest of the fall calendar, Women's Golf has a potential star in the making, conference play continues for Volleyball and Soccer, and overall, the fall calendar continues building momentum.
Here's a look at The Good, The Bad & The Ugly from the past week in Baylor Athletics.
The Good
Monaray Baldwin — The former Shoemaker star was an x-factor, hauling in seven receptions for 174 yards and two scores of 49 and 70. The catch and run 70-yarder on 4th down was tremendous, and the 49-yard deep ball over his shoulder was a fantastic dime from Shapen, but also an outstanding catch that should be front and center on both players' highlight reels. Seeing him healthy and available was great because he's a difference maker.
Winnable — Baylor can beat Oklahoma State in a rematch, just like last season. Even with costly mistakes on Saturday, they still had plenty of opportunity to nab a victory, but give the Cowboys a ton of credit. The Big 12 is wide open, and we'll likely see plenty more parity. But the Bears can't afford to slip much more if they want another shot at the Pokes.
Third Quarter Explosion — Both teams combined to score a total of 22 points in the 1st, 2nd, and 4th quarters. Elsewhere, there were 39 points scored in the third quarter alone. That was quite the entertaining frame, and the crowd was oh so close to becoming utterly unglued as the Bears flirted with tying or taking the lead — a memorable back and forth and glimpse into Baylor's big play potential. But, of course, Oklahoma State's, too.
Slije Ohma — Women's Golf is amidst a break in the action until traveling to Stanford later this month. But, they kicked off last week with a 5th place finish at the Schooner Fall Classic in Sooner territory. The trip's highlight came from freshman Slije Ohma who shot a 67 in the opening round of her career, followed by a 65 in the final round, tying the school record and finishing in the top ten.
Elsewhere in Fall Sports:
- Men's and Women's Basketball each opened practices with significantly retooled rosters but plenty of optimism surrounding new and returning faces.
- Soccer had a respectable, confidence-building showing in a 1-0 loss to Texas. They'll host both Kansas and Kansas State later this week.
- No. 13 Volleyball didn't continue the school's winning ways at Hilton Coliseum, falling to Iowa State 3-1. But, they rebounded in Lawrence to close the week with a 3-2 win over Kansas. Ryan McGuyre's squad will host OU on Wednesday.
- Men's Golf begins the week in fourth place, heading into round two of the Trinity Forest Invitational in Dallas.
- Men's Tennis currently has a large portion of the roster competing at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa.
The Bad
Closing (and Opening) the Half — Hello darkness, my old friend. Another week saw the defense allow a score right before halftime, like BYU and Iowa State. Trailing only 9-3, Spencer Sanders capped a 10-play drive with a keeper just 27 seconds before the break. Then, the Bears turned around, allowing the opening kick return TD, and were down 23-3, just like that. The fight back that followed was incredible, but that was a total failure bracketing the halftime break and directly contributing to the final result.
Rushing Yards — The Bears only ran for 112 yards on 30 carries, with one score. The offense had greater success airing it out, but the difference in attempts wasn't substantial. Plenty wondered aloud why the Bears didn't run it more, but I'll default to Jeff Grimes while also giving credit to the Cowboys' defense. Still, not the best or most encouraging showing from a confidence standpoint.
Equestrian — The program dropped its two opening contests last week in SEC country. The Bears fell to No. 10 South Carolina in Columbia, 11-8, and the following day came up short against Georgia in Athens, 10-8.
The Ugly
Special Teams — Ronnie Wheat took over for Matt Powledge as both safeties and special teams coach this offseason after the latter left for promotion on Dan Lanning's new Oregon staff. On Saturday, Wheat's unit got toasted on all sides, a leading culprit in the outcome. This phase can tip good teams into being great or good teams into being below average to bad. Special teams have been a significant point of emphasis in recent years, but something has to change after Saturday's contest. Dave Aranda called out special teams specifically in the postgame as an area that needs improvement, and Mike Gundy also discussed its importance in the win. Oklahoma State deserves credit for great punting and kicking, plus returns, but some of that, coverage, in particular, falls at the feet of the Bears' units.
Catch the Ball — I won't harp on the details, but we all know how costly this area was in the flow of the game and the result, whether drops or a deflection. I saw some people on social media wonder aloud about the Bears not hitting the transfer portal at WR in the offseason. I recently passed along that exact question to Smoaky for a recent Dave Aranda interview, and he gave an excellent answer for those unaware. In discussions about that topic this offseason, and in the staff's eyes, they had talent at WR that was in hibernation. A few players had been written off due to injuries or changes, like Gavin Holmes. And they decided their focus would be on rehabbing the confidence and bringing the best out of their untapped potential in-house, rather than reaching into the portal for the same types of players without the familiarity. So, that's the answer, for better or worse.
The Safety — Back on special teams, this unfortunate play directly resulted from the Cowboys' punting unit pinning down Baylor's offense. Aranda explained the thought process behind the toss call to Richard Reese, which resulted in the Pokes' pivotal safety. It had worked the week before, and the failed blocking execution blew the play up. Still, that was questionable at best, given the circumstances, and the call felt baffling. The defense responded like champs on the ensuing drive to limit the damage.
Lack of Energy — I understand you're dealing with young people, but to suffer from a lack of energy throughout the first half is baffling. That was a great crowd, plus a formidable, top ten opponent, in a critical home game, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. What more do you want or need to get fired up and ready to play? I understand there are youth issues, but let's not act like there aren't many experienced vets on this roster. This team doesn't seem to hold a charge well.
0-3 — Mike Gundy is now 3-0 in the regular season against Aranda.
