Game Day Thread: Baylor (7-0) vs. West Virginia (3-4)

The Baylor Bears (7-0) return from an off week to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers (3-4) in Thursday evening contest at McLane Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. CT and the game will be aired live nationally on ESPN.

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Baylor vs. West Virginia Articles

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Matt Rhule Quote of the Week...

“I think, I look at every week we play, someone’s going to, someone’s trying to beat us and so nothing about us being undefeated, I just think more, you know, when we were 0-7, you know, people could probably beat us with their base and I think what our kids have experienced the last couple weeks is we prepare for one defense, we prepare for something on offense, we get something different, well that’s part of it, right, that’s part of being a decent team, being a good team is you’re going to see different things and you have to adjust, what we say is you prepare all the way through the game, like you don’t know how the game’s going to go until the end of the game so we want to prepare on Friday night, we want prepare Saturday, we want to prepare Saturday during the game and, you know, I’m saying Saturday, it’s on Thursday, but that’s how my brain works, prepare all the way through the game and just keep adjusting, keep learning, keep adapting to the things that are happening and if you do that, that’s a sign of a good team.”

Baylor’s Key Players

Quarterback #12 Charlie Brewer — Last year against West Virginia, Brewer was 1-of-8 with three interceptions and negative 15 yards rushing. He had as many tackles as completions. This is the worst game of his career and one that he will be looking to make up for tomorrow night. Good news is that his last time out against Oklahoma State he had one of the best performances of his career.

Nose Tackle #99 Bravvion Roy — West Virginia is averaging 2.9 yards per carry so Roy’s eyes are about to light up every time the Mountaineers try to run the ball in-between the tackles. He will have many chances to up his tackle total and create negative plays like he has all season.

Defensive Lineman #93 James Lynch — Lynch is just one sack away from breaking the Baylor all-time record for sacks in a career, it is happening tomorrow night! The Mountaineers have only allowed 11 sacks on the season and usually hold up in pass protection fairly well but it won’t matter.

Safety #22 JT Woods — With Grayland Arnold out or at least severely limited, Woods will get the chance to step up once again. He had the most tackles of his career against Oklahoma State with six but he left a lot on the table. West Virginia quarterback Austin Kendall is going to have to air it out against Baylor for the Mountaineers to win so Woods will get his opportunities, can he take advantage of those opportunities is the question. I think he will get an interception in this one.

West Virginia Key Players

Quarterback #12 Austin Kendall — Kendall has led this offense to the worst scoring offense in the conference, the worst 3rd down conversion offense, and the worst yardage per game. This Mountaineers offense has not been good but if they are going to pull an upset Kendall is going to have to be very efficient and not turn the ball over.

Wide receiver #13 Sam James – James is a talented freshman who has 41 catches for 388 yards and two touchdowns. He has been a consistent playmaker with at least four catches in every game this season. 

Wide receiver #1 TJ Simmons – He struggled the first four games but in the last three he has 284 yards and four touchdowns. Simmons has been rolling and the Bears cornerbacks are going to have to keep an eye on him because he can turn short catches into 50 yard touchdowns.

Defensive end #56 Darius Stills – Darius is a 6’1, 292-pound nose/defensive tackle up front. The junior has 19 tackles, six tackles for loss, and three sacks. He has to be a major factor up front for the Mountaineers to stop the run game of the Bears.

Defensive end #55 Dante Still – Dante is a 6’3, 295-pound defensive end who has been a very good pass rusher this season. The sophomore has nine tackles for loss and five sacks on the year.