Game Day Thread: Baylor (9-1) vs. Texas (6-4)

The Baylor Bears (9-1) play their final home game of the 2019 season at McLane Stadium as they welcome the Texas Longhorns (6-4) on Saturday afternoon. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT and will be aired live on FS1.

Baylor vs. Texas Articles

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Matt Rhule Quote of the Week...

“They are a special, special group. They have come so far. When I first got here, that group of seniors Brian Nance, Taylor Young, Taion Sells, that was their senior year, so they were going to do what we asked. That next group, the Iras [Ira Lewis], the Gregs [Greg Roberts] and all those guys, they really came on because they wanted to get to bowl eligibility. It was this group that was always sorta in between. They weren’t the older guys, so they were still getting treated as young guys and then it was always, ‘Well, Coach Rhule prefers the guys he recruited.’ So, I have worked hard, our coaches have worked hard and they’ve worked hard to make sure we all came together. And I think you can tell based on the results of this season that we have come together. And coming together, that is not an easy thing. It’s not saying what people want to hear because you are a sophomore. Sophomores are not supposed to have a lot of success.

Baylor Key Players

Offensive guard #52 Sam Tecklenburg and Center #63 Jake Fruhmorgen — The two seniors up front for the Bears have been through some highs and lows without a doubt. They both play a position that has been riddled with lack of depth and talent for the past three years. But this year things have without a doubt gotten better and these two have been a part of that. Over the past two seasons Texas has mauled the Bears up front to the tune of six sacks, 20 tackles for loss, and 12 quarterback hurries. Time to put those woes behind them and push forward.

Wide Receiver #5 Denzel Mims — He has an opportunity to take advantage of a weak Texas secondary in his last game at McLane Stadium. He will take advantage of this opportunity against the Big 12’s 9th-ranked pass defense. On the year he sitting at 50 receptions, 767 yards, and 10 touchdowns. There is still a very good chance for him to hit the 1,000 yard mark for the second time in his career.

Defensive end #9 James Lockhart and Defensive linemen #99 Bravvion Roy — The Longhorns have given up 20 sacks in conference play (9 of those against OU). In losses this season Texas is averaging right at 3 yards per carry, well Baylor is only giving up 3.6 yards per carry. These two have played a big role in that and should get a chance to dominate up front once again. If they can take away the run and make Texas one dimensional, the Longhorns will struggle in a big way.

Cornerback #11 Jameson Houston and Safety #3 Chris Miller — Perhaps no duo on the team has taken a bigger step up than these two in the Bears secondary. Both got torched last year as the Bears defense gave up explosive play after explosive play. But this year they have consistently been keeping the ball in front of them and forcing teams to make long drives.

Texas Key Players

Quarterback #11 Sam Ehlingher — Most of his numbers are slightly up from a year ago outside of a couple categories. Last year he had 16 rushing touchdowns but that has come back down to earth and he also only threw five interceptions last season this year he has eight. Other than those stats he has been the same or better but really it has just been the offense taking a step back efficiency wise that has hurt those numbers. In the three conference losses this year he is completing just 56% of his passes, averaging 268 yards passing, has five touchdown passes, four interceptions, and two rushing touchdowns. So if he stays true to this numbers then the Bears should really be able to have success defensively.

Wide receiver #6 Devin Duvernay — Duvernay has excelled in the slot and his ability to get open across the middle of the field has been very impressive. On the season he has 87 receptions for 1,017 yards and eight touchdowns. He is going to be a problem for the Bears if they do not focus on him. Baylor has been pretty good defending outside receivers but tight ends and slot guys across the middle of the field have been a problem.

Safety #7 Caden Sterns — His presence back should help the second worst pass defense in the Big 12. He may not be having a great year but Charlie Brewer is still going to pay extra attention to this guy in the Texas secondary, especially since he picked off Brewer last season.