Baylor (2-3, 1-1) should be as confident as ever on Saturday night against Texas Tech (2-3, 1-1). The Red Raiders haven’t lived up to the preseason hype with losses to Wyoming, Oregon, and West Virginia, and the Bears are coming off the biggest comeback in program history.
One of the main reasons Baylor was able to score 29 unanswered points last week against UCF was because of Blake Shapen being back as QB1. Shapen has taken a lot of unwarranted criticism during his time at Baylor, including the students cheering for Sawyer Robertson against Texas State prior to Shapen’s injury.
As fate would have it, the fans got what they wanted and naturally, it wasn’t what they were expecting. Now that there is clear evidence that Shapen is that dude for the Bears, he received his flowers from Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire.
Earlier this week McGuire joined 365 Sports to preview Saturday’s matchup. Here’s what McGuire had to say about Shapen.
“Well, Garrett (McGuire) was his host, and he’ll tell you he never lost a guy he hosted. I know Blake really well and I’m a huge fan,” said McGuire. “He is the heart and soul of their team, not to take away from anybody. They don’t win that game last week without Blake Shapen, he provided a will to win that game.”
“I told my staff the other day that Baylor would have beaten Utah if Blake was available,” continued McGuire. “He just brings a different element when throwing the football. The winning part is the most important for him and when you have a trigger guy like that, then you have a chance to be really good on offense.”
Anytime these two squads get together for the foreseeable future, there will always be the elephant in the room about Dave Aranda getting the head coaching job over McGuire. Despite not getting his opportunity in Waco, McGuire got the perfect opportunity in Lubbock.
McGuire did what any new head coach would do and took some of his closest counterparts on Baylor’s staff with him to Texas Tech. He also added Juice Johnson to his staff last season.
“This game is definitely emotional. I loved my time at Baylor and I loved the people at Baylor and I’m not where I’m at without Baylor University,” said McGuire. “Going back to Waco for the first time is going to be great. I have so many great memories in that stadium, so it’s going to be emotional. I was ecstatic last week when they pulled off that win and both of our teams are kinda going through it.”
While the memories are fond, in real time Texas Tech has become a thorn in the side of Baylor. The Red Raiders immediately began a recruiting war with the Bears and have since done a good job of trolling Baylor on social media. They also jumped ahead of Baylor — and most programs — in the NIL game as they look to establish themselves as one of the top programs in the new Big 12.
“Everybody is trying to put themselves in position to be atop the new Big 12 and establish a foothold in recruiting the state of Texas,” said McGuire. “With a background in the Metroplex and its proximity to Waco, you’re recruiting a lot of the same guys. We’ve gone heavier into Houston the last two years, but again Baylor is right up the road.”
The Red Raiders spiced Saturday night up a little more on social media, as they will be wearing their all-black uniforms into Waco after the Baylor fans have been in their feelings about not having black threads and once again their blackout attempt ended in disaster against Texas.
While Texas Tech has done a better job off the field against Baylor, the Bears have quietly handled their business on the field against the Red Raiders. Baylor crashed Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes party in Lubbock last season 45-17 and hope to get their first win of the season at McLane Stadium against the Red Raiders on Saturday night.
Kickoff between the Bears and Red Raiders is set for 7:00 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN 2. As always, get the latest on Baylor Football from SicEm365.com and tune into our pregame show on the 365 Sports YouTube Channel or KWTX on local television in Central Texas!
