Starting the game with a fumble recovery to jump to a 7-0 lead gave some false hope for Baylor in a 34-20 loss to Duke which went on a 21-0 run. Zach Smith was at the helm of that first score, finding Denzel Mims for a quick strike and his next two TDs were 70+ yard connections with Chris Platt who did most of the work after the catch.
In short, a series of big plays on offense made the game a competition and at times looked like vintage Baylor. But a string of three interceptions from Smith completing just a third of his passes reminded Baylor this is still a rebuilding period that will face other Power 5 foes down the road.
Still, this first test against a strong non-conference opponent did bring hope for a brighter future with young talent making big marks. If there was any concern the defense would struggle without Taylor Young next year, Clay Johnston has put that to rest with a superstar performance in Durham.
Right from the start, Johnston’s name was made known.
Following Baylor’s touchdown off a Duke fumble, Johnston got in the mix immediately stopping Daniel Jones’ pass for just one yard. That was called back after Baylor was marked offsides, a motif that’d carry throughout the game. Baylor was called for 11 penalties, four coming on defense.
Had that first stop been counted, Johnston would have had 14 tackles to complement his 10 stops against UTSA. With Duke running 86 plays, Johnston’s tackles accounted for 15 percent of stops just as his prior performance.
Unlike his last outing, Johnston’s day was also an exercise in coverage and blitzing to keep the defense from breaking too often.
Johnston’s first tackle was in tandem with Tyrone Hunt behind the line, preventing a third down conversion (an area of improvement for Baylor as a whole allowing just 4-of-18 third down conversions). That was just one of Johnston’s team-leading three tackles for loss he was a part of, also adding his first career sack to his logline.
The third-year sophomore’s name was also called just steps shy of a couple more sacks, pressuring two Jones incompletions with two QB hits each leading to punts.
The rest of the team wasn’t a stranger with QB hurries, either as the defense combined for five sacks and six additional hits which led to Johnston being a hand shy of his first interception after dropping into the middle of the field to get a hand on what could have been another big play for Duke.
Earlier this week, Rhule said Johnston was the “most-coached” player on defense and that showed Saturday afternoon. He’s making reads like a fifth-year senior and if there’s any lack of athleticism, it doesn’t show. There may have been a couple too many big plays from Duke but that doesn’t fall on Johnston, he’s largely the reason there weren’t more home runs.
"We just have to continue to develop those kids and sometime the light is going to click for everybody like it's starting to click for the defense," Rhule said.
