Defensive line playing with new chip on shoulder against UTSA

An offseason of adjustments from well-respected DC Phil Snow who whipped Temple into shape in no time gave the impression Baylor’s defensive line would be a force to reckon with on game day.

But like much of the team against Liberty, the trench work fell flat. You already know that. You watched the same game where an FCS foe allowed just two QB hits and had just one sack. Though that’s part of the problem, putting that FCS tag on a team- even for fans and writers, it’s a dangerous trap that the team evidently fell into as well.

“Honestly, yes, we [took Liberty lightly],” defensive tackle Bravvion Roy said Tuesday. “That’s something we can’t ever do again. We never want that outcome and feeling again.”

SicEm365

Senior Brian Nance (5) and sophomore Bravvion Roy (99).

Ira Lewis said he felt Liberty took advantage of that mindset. That low-key mentality crept into practice leading up to the first game of the Matt Rhule era. Roy said that was the “biggest part, practice.”

This week has taken on a new atmosphere Roy said he’s never seen in his life. Everyone’s ready to take revenge on UTSA, following invigorated leadership from seniors like Brian Nance- a mood Ira Lewis attested to as well.

As learned last Saturday, talk is more than cheap. Mood and feeling is a starting point but recognition and execution need to follow, especially in light of absences in the secondary.

“The only way you can stop the modern passing game is by getting people in the face of the quarterback,” Rhule said Tuesday. “I think we blitzed over 50 percent of the time but we couldn’t get through on the blitz as well. That’s obviously been a point of emphasis this week.”

Even with a 50 percent blitz rate, the lack of production is partially explained by the sheer number of missed assignments. Roy said the defense as a whole missed over 40 alignments through all levels of the defense.

PREMIUM: Diagnosing what went wrong on defense for Baylor on Saturday

“It’s the little things we need to fix,” Lewis said. “We’ve all been playing football for a long time, so if we just get back to the basics and do what we need to do, we’ll be that much better.”

Last week saw the secondary play with virtually all fresh faces and now the defensive line is in store for its own facelift. KJ Smith will miss the game, taking out one of the biggest muscles in the lineup.

Rhule said it will be Roy, Lewis and Michael Johnson that get a majority of snaps with Tyrone Hunt and Greg Roberts rotating. True freshman James Lynch has also been brought into the varsity lineup this week for extra backup.