Baylor Defeats SMU 28-23



Well, no one left the game awe-struck, but Baylor fans left happy with a win. Any road win or opening day win is a win that a Baylor fan will take. No one currently on the Baylor Football team has ever been on a 1-0 team. As sad as that is, thankfully it's something that is in the past.

I figured I would break things down as I saw it from the 12th row on the 40-yard line.


QUARTERBACK

Shawn Bell had a half that can't even be called forgettable. It was just plain bad. I think he wishes everyone would forget it, but it's not likely. The first half was a nightmare. Two interceptions and many missed opportunities. It wasn't all his fault, but he didn't do anything spectactular to make up for his miscues. He finished the game much better, going 14-20 in the second half for 145 yards. Though he didn't score, hopefully the second half Bell is the guy we'll see from now on. It was the first game for Bell this year, so we'll cut him some slack. After all, we got the win, right? Overall, Bell earns a C-. He made some bad mistakes, but he didn't cost us the game. With a first half that looked like his second half, he would have had a B+.

RUNNING BACK

Paul Mosley and Brandon Whitaker are the MVPs of the game. Mosley did his job of wearing down the defense, punishing defenders for every tackle they tried to make. He ended up with the 3 TDs that Baylor scored and was a big reason Whitaker had as much success as he did. But Whitaker looked good. Real good. He's grown up since 2003 when he played as a true freshman. No fumbles, long runs, power, he had it all. These two are going to make a great 1-2 punch this year. Overall, they get an A+.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Man, it could have been a lot better. SMUs defense didn't really allow for long throws, with running their base defense and keeping the safeties back, but the receivers forgot to bring their hands with them. A couple friends of mine sitting with me joked that they needed to send someone to Oshman's to get some gloves... There were some good moments, including Jason Smith's 31 yard catch, and they made some very clutch grabs on 3rd down, but there needs to be a lot of improvement before they are ready to take on Big XII defenses. Overall, they get a C- for the game.

OFFENSIVE LINE

Here're the important stats: 215 yards rushing; 40 passes attempted and only 1 sack; only 2 penalties in the second half on the line, after starting with 4 or 5 in the first half.

They wored down the defense over the course of the game, they provided Bell with time to look around and they opened some holes. There is definitely room for improvement, but SMU did quite a bit of blitzing through the game, and we were able to deal with that for the most part. Overall, a B+ for the game.

DEFENSIVE LINE

Probably the best effort by a Baylor defensive line in three or four years. Batting down passes, getting sacks and tackles for loss, and putting pressure on the QB. There was still a problem getting containment, and Montez Murphy showed a tendency to overrun plays and kinda take himself out of position on some draw plays, but overall the kind of effort that can be built on for the future. Overall, they get a B for the game.

LINEBACKERS

Not a mind-blowing performance, but they did their job. The starting linebackers ended with a combined 13 tackles, a number that while ok, does need to improve. Allred got to the QB once for a sack, and they combined for 2 TFL, but they need to improve their production some. Overall they get a B-, but I think they will improve quite a bit over the next two games.

SECONDARY

Well, we dropped an INT that could have iced the game, and fueled another long drive to end it, but Widemon couldn't hold onto it as he ran out of bounds. SMU went on to score. But the game was controlled very well until they were put back into the prevent defense at the end of the 4th quarter, up 28-17. They held the SMU QBs to 36% completion and just 106 yards. If they could have added the interception to their resume or if they could have kept that last TD from being scored, they would have gotten an A for the night. As it was, they end up with a B+.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Oh the highs and lows of special teams. Blocked punt, blocked field goal, forced fumble, 41.4 yard punt average... All good things.

But kick coverage and punt returns were downright awful. There were no Baylor kick or punt returns that changed the game, and there were some really bad ones; i.e. the -8 yard punt return and the muffed punt that resulted in SMU tacking a FG on, instead of allowing us to go on another long scoring drive. That single act made the game much closer than necessary. If Baylor gets that ball, they score. We had the momentum, the defense was tired, and SMUs offense had given them all of 3 snaps to rest. We score on that drive and it's 28 - 14, then 35 - 14 and the game is completely under our control. As it was, we have to work really hard to maintain the lead and the score looks much too close.

Overall, I give the special teams a B. Throw out that one muffed punt and they get an A, but that muffed punt made a game that should have been moving toward blowout status into a game that had to be played to the end.



On the whole, the team performed at about a B-. There were many missed opportunities, but the team kept playing and kept working and fighting. Improvement must be made over the next three weeks before facing A&M. Shoot, improvement must be made before facing Army, but the talent is there and with a little more experience this is a team that can play some good football.  ¶ 9/05/2005 0 Comments