Weekend in Review: Baylor can't close and WVU continues to improve.

My apologies for the tardiness of this week’s column. My seven year old MacBook Pro might have met its end and it has taken me a day to get my bearings. 

Texas Tech 24, Baylor 23

Baylor has not won in Lubbock in 30 years. That stat is bad in and of itself even if you take out the decade they played in AT&T or the Cotton Bowl. But it’s made even worse this season when they fell to an absolutely hapless Texas Tech team.

We can talk about the same issues Baylor has over and over again. But the last two weeks have shown a new problem: this team can’t close. Which is exactly the opposite of what the 11-3 Bears did in 2019. They were Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glenross. This season they are Jack Lemmon. No matter what they try, they can’t find the path to a win. It’s far beyond adjusting expectations at this point. 2020 has ravaged this Baylor team.

But what they have shown is that they are not far behind. This team has the ability to win these games. I am just not sure if they have it in them to put it all together. 

As for Tech, I remained unimpressed. They fought hard and won the game, but this should not change anyone’s perception of what’s going on. Matt Wells didn’t change his stars with this one. But they did get what Baylor needed, the W. 

West Virginia 24, TCU 7

Neil Brown’s Mountaineers continue to grow. They play great defense, the offense does what it needs to do, and they don’t beat themselves. They are a team to watch over the next couple of years.

Brown is a steady Eddie type of coach, not unlike Matt Campbell in that regard. If he can get the recruits there, then they can contend. He was a good choice after Dana Holgersen (a coach who is a bit wild) left. 

TCU is a very average team and I am not sure what their excuse for that is. Gary Patterson is well established and they should be more consistent. But they aren’t. Max Duggan is a poor man’s Sam Ehlinger—that is not a compliment—and the Horned Frogs have no offense.

Given GP’s coaching acumen this team should be far better than it is. This means they aren’t delivering on talent or not getting the right talent into the program. For a team that was on the cusp of the CFP a few years ago, that should have paid off for them. But it hasn’t. 

Final Thoughts:

• Baylor needs to come together in the right moments and learn how to close. 
• Tech is still aimless despite the win.
• WVU is getting better. Consistency is key in program growth. 
• Sounds like Tom Herman is hearing the noise at Texas. This should surprise no one. 
• Coaches around the country are getting fired, not something I thought we would see this year. It’s a strange, if not bad look, when a school has to pay $15 million buyouts but tells $50,000 dollar a year employees they have to furlough or find a new job.