Special Teams Gave Baylor a Big Boost in Conference-Opening Win over Colorado
WACO, Texas – For the first time since 2022, Baylor football walked off the field on Saturday, 1-0 in league play.
It wasn’t without its faults, both on offense and some on defense, but one area where Baylor was overwhelmingly better than Colorado was special teams.
Throughout the day, the Bears led in every facet from on-field position to pinpoint-accurate punts, a massive lane to run through in the punt return game, and a strong kicking performance to keep momentum afloat.
For an offense that was struggling to find its footing, that played a big role.
Punter Palmer Williams (Sr.) finished with a career-high seven punt attempts and averaged 50.4 yards per punt, including four punts that landed inside the 20.
“I think anytime he can show off that leg, I mean, frankly, that's something that he can do for you, and to kind of be pinpoint and to be on target like he was today, I think he's really worked hard for that, and that's a selfless attitude to do that sometimes because you're taking some miles per hour off your fastball, and so I’m proud of him in that way,” Baylor head coach Dave Aranda said post-game.
Thirteen of Colorado’s 15 offensive drives started from its own 25 or worse, with four of them being inside its own 10. The defense did its job when Colorado was asked to do more; of the seven drives the Buffaloes started inside their own 20, they scored only once.
“Whenever you're going out as a defense, and they're inside the five, it’s great,” Baylor defensive lineman Kyler Jordan (5Sr.) said. “I don't know how many times it was, but it was unbelievable. Palmer did an incredible job.”
While Jayden McGowan (5Sr.) came to Baylor with a pedigree in special teams, his role had been more in kick return. On Saturday, he showed he could do both, accumulating more punt return yardage in this game (130) than he had in his entire career coming in (90).
“McGowan’s film from Vanderbilt showed a lot of what we had glimpses of today, just like there's a fearlessness, which is needed,” Aranda said. “A couple of those were when we were trying to block the kick, and so there wasn't really much in terms of holdup or blocking for him.”
He averaged 19 yards per return on the seven returns, with a long of 38 yards in the first quarter. Despite having four returns of 17 yards or longer, Baylor scored just three points on those drives.
“He catches it and has to make them miss, and so he was able to make a lot of plays just off of guts and acceleration and all of it," Aranda said. “He said to me that he's going to break, ‘I'm going to break one,’ and he wanted to go more and more and more, so it's that whole attitude.”
Possibly the biggest question mark on special teams entering the season was the kicker, a spot assumed to be filled by Rhett Armstrong (So.).
Since his first miss against Auburn, Armstrong has been nails, drilling eight of his last nine kicks and was a strength on Saturday as he went three for three and made some history in a critical spot.
He tied the McLane Stadium record with his 54-yard field goal kick to extend the Bears' lead to 23-13 with four minutes, 28 seconds left in the game. He shares the record with Connor Hawkins, who drilled one against Houston in last year’s regular-season finale.
“For him to kind of have a challenge, accept it, and conquer it, it's way cool,” Aranda said.
Armstrong’s confidence in his leg could turn what already appears to be a strength into a filled-out group that can be one of the best in the conference.
“Rhett is one of those guys where it's like, if you say something and lay it out to him, he's going to go through the exact things you say, and be 100% involved in it, intentional in all of it,” Aranda said.
The performance proved that Baylor’s special teams can not only be a strength, but may also play a role in giving the Bears more chances in games where the offense stumbles or the defense doesn’t have its strongest day.
