Gameday Thread: Baylor (6-6) takes on Vanderbilt (6-6) in the Texas Bowl

BAYLOR (6-6) at VANDERBILT (6-6)

NRG Stadium| 8:00 p.m CT | ESPN

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Storylines of the Week

Baylor is back......in a bowl.

The Bears went 1-11 a year ago and now are 6-6 this season. The tremendous improvement is no surprise given Coach Matt Rhule’s track record at Temple. Temple climbed from 2-10 to 6-6 to 10-4 to 10-3 during his four season there. Baylor is currently on a similar pace but will have the chance to improve on the secon year output by reaching win No. 7. An additional win would give the bears an incredible six win improvement.

Making a bowl is quite an accomplishment but this is the minimum expectation for the program and Coach Rhule has state the same thing. The Bears not only expect to reach a bowl but they expect to win this game and keep the process moving right along. 

Score touchdowns in the redzone

Baylor is averaging 441.7 yard per game which is good enough for 36^th in the nation but is only scoring 28.3 points per game which is good for 70th nationally. The most obvious reason why there is a large gap between the two rankings is because of the 75 percent scoring rate in the redzone. That is only better than eight teams in the country, including their Texas Bowl opponent Vanderbilt. The Bears are going to move the ball in this football game against a mediocre defense but they have to get points when they have chances. Vanderbilt ranks 67^th in redzone defense so there is an opportunity there to fix the redzone woes of the regular season.

Quote of the Week

“The biggest key is, we just practiced six days straight. They saw the schedule and there were a lot of worried looks on their faces. I told them if we want to have fun at the bowl, we’ve got to prepare now. We did four straight days of Vanderbilt, as if we were playing them today, just like game week. We did that so now when we get down there, they know the game plan, they’ve been prepared, now we’ll go back through starting on Sunday. That allows them to have fun. When we go, we go. When we step on the practice field, I don’t care if you just got done visiting kids in the hospital, or just ate Christmas dinner, or just got in from being out, you’ve got to go. That’s what we’re looking for from our guys. The feeling around our program has steadily improved and during bowl practice it really has come to life. I think the guys are really enjoying being around each other. They all went and they bowled together and laughed and had fun. I think they’re going to enjoy the festivities around the bowl, but at the same time they know that we’re going down there to try to win a football game. They know that we’re facing an SEC team, a good football team that beat Tennessee the way they did to get to this game. They’ve worked really hard so far, and that allows them to have a little more fun while we’re down there, but we’ve still got to work while we’re down there.” — Matt Rhule

Statistic of the Week

Baylor has only given up 3.79 yards per carry over the last three games which is a huge improvement over what they had given up the first nine games of the year. This improvement gave Baylor a great shot to win each of the three but they were only able to come away with one. This group is going to have to step up in a big way in the Texas Bowl as they face a 1,000-yard rusher. Ke’Shawn Vaughn has been dynamic the last four games of the year in which he has had 506 yards and six touchdowns while averaging a whopping 7.1 yards per carry. If Baylor wants to win this game they will have to find a way to continue improving in the run game and contain Vaughn.

Players to Watch

Denzel Mims

As the No. 2 receiver in 2018, the junior receiver has had a really good follow up season to his 1,000-yard season he had in 2017 as the primary target. Mims now has the opportunity to be “the guy” in this football game with Jalen Hurd out. Mims has to show up if Baylor wants a chance to win their fourth bowl game this decade. Vanderbilt has the 70^th ranked pass defense in the country so expect Mims to have plenty of shots to make big plays.

Ira Lewis

The senior has had a decent season but has not had dominant streaks in every game like many people were expecting. This game he has another opportunity to show how impactful he can be. Vanderbilt is going to want to run the ball effectively up the middle and Ira has to be disruptive on those plays while also being a factor on pass plays. A complete game by him could be just what the doctor ordered for the Bears.

Clay Johnston

Johnston is going to be a senior leader next year and now is the chance for him to take a huge step in his new leadership role. He is probably the most important player on the defense for Baylor. He will be asked to shut down Vandy’s rushing attack while also making sure the defense is in position for the West Coast attack they will see. I expect Johnston to be all over the field in this bowl game making plays and piling up tackles.