Baylor Football Blog
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
So, What Now?
Coming into the season the main goal of the team, as set by the coaching staff, was to start 3-0. We had three very winnable games to open the season and get our feet wet, and we needed to win them all. Many said we would go 1-2 or 2-1 because, despite the easiness of the teams we faced, we had to play two of them on the road and we hadn't performed on the road. My take was that if we lost to any of these teams, we shouldn't expect anything other than a 3-win season, again.
Well, we won all three. We took a good shot from each of the teams we played and came out on top. Let me give a brief synopsis of each of the wins and what we took from them:
@SMU - Our opening game of the season was on the road. Baylor fans packed out the place, with at least half the stadium filled with Baylor fans. We struggled early, squandering opportunities to step on the Ponies throat early, and let them make a game of it. But we came back in the second half, playing nearly perfectly, and put the game away. We still made mistakes, though. We fumbled a punt and allowed them to kick a FG. Up 28-17, we played a soft defense and allowed them underneath routes to drive the field and score another TD, with 0:19 to go in the game.
From this game we took confidence in our ability to play and win on the road. We also showed an ability to not hang our heads or point fingers and give up when things went badly. We saw that we needed to work on our run defense, but that we were going to be better at forcing turnovers.
Samford - This was another game that we started slow, failed to dominate the way that we should and then pulled away in the second quarter. We scored 17 points after the second string went in, 7 of which came on a punt return for a touchdown. Parks playing very well against Samford struck up a bit of a QB controversy and we improved our rush defense a lot, allowing only 55 yards rushing to Samford, though our pass defense struggled with the three step drops and the rollouts.
@Army - Struggled again. Two interceptions and a fumble kept this game from being the blowout it should have been. Still, the defense played very well, not giving up a touchdown until the third stringers were in the game and the game was basically over. The team broke another bad streak of losing outside the state of Texas, and finished the job of winning the non-conference slate.
Overall I think we didn't play as intensely as we should have. Some say it's understandable considering our opponents, but I believe that we need to develop that killer instinct to put games away when we can, and not allow our mistakes to let our opponents back in the game. I wish our younger players would have gotten more snaps against Army, especially the younger receivers and Terrance Parks, but we are undefeated and that's as good a record as we could get.
This week the team will have some time to rest, to prepare mentally for the A&M game and for the coaches to put together a plan of attack. The game has been circled by the Aggie players since last year, and it won't be easy, but I believe that it is possible, if the team plays to its potential.
Much like last year, this years Aggie game will be on the shoulders of Shawn Bell. Last year he took on the pressure and played a very good game and won it for us. He'll need to do the same this year if we are to have a chance. He'll have more tools and a stiffer defense, but the team will have to travel this time. Hopefully, the success they've had on the road so far will help them on this next trip. ¶ 9/20/2005 0 Comments
Coming into the season the main goal of the team, as set by the coaching staff, was to start 3-0. We had three very winnable games to open the season and get our feet wet, and we needed to win them all. Many said we would go 1-2 or 2-1 because, despite the easiness of the teams we faced, we had to play two of them on the road and we hadn't performed on the road. My take was that if we lost to any of these teams, we shouldn't expect anything other than a 3-win season, again.
Well, we won all three. We took a good shot from each of the teams we played and came out on top. Let me give a brief synopsis of each of the wins and what we took from them:
@SMU - Our opening game of the season was on the road. Baylor fans packed out the place, with at least half the stadium filled with Baylor fans. We struggled early, squandering opportunities to step on the Ponies throat early, and let them make a game of it. But we came back in the second half, playing nearly perfectly, and put the game away. We still made mistakes, though. We fumbled a punt and allowed them to kick a FG. Up 28-17, we played a soft defense and allowed them underneath routes to drive the field and score another TD, with 0:19 to go in the game.
From this game we took confidence in our ability to play and win on the road. We also showed an ability to not hang our heads or point fingers and give up when things went badly. We saw that we needed to work on our run defense, but that we were going to be better at forcing turnovers.
Samford - This was another game that we started slow, failed to dominate the way that we should and then pulled away in the second quarter. We scored 17 points after the second string went in, 7 of which came on a punt return for a touchdown. Parks playing very well against Samford struck up a bit of a QB controversy and we improved our rush defense a lot, allowing only 55 yards rushing to Samford, though our pass defense struggled with the three step drops and the rollouts.
@Army - Struggled again. Two interceptions and a fumble kept this game from being the blowout it should have been. Still, the defense played very well, not giving up a touchdown until the third stringers were in the game and the game was basically over. The team broke another bad streak of losing outside the state of Texas, and finished the job of winning the non-conference slate.
Overall I think we didn't play as intensely as we should have. Some say it's understandable considering our opponents, but I believe that we need to develop that killer instinct to put games away when we can, and not allow our mistakes to let our opponents back in the game. I wish our younger players would have gotten more snaps against Army, especially the younger receivers and Terrance Parks, but we are undefeated and that's as good a record as we could get.
This week the team will have some time to rest, to prepare mentally for the A&M game and for the coaches to put together a plan of attack. The game has been circled by the Aggie players since last year, and it won't be easy, but I believe that it is possible, if the team plays to its potential.
Much like last year, this years Aggie game will be on the shoulders of Shawn Bell. Last year he took on the pressure and played a very good game and won it for us. He'll need to do the same this year if we are to have a chance. He'll have more tools and a stiffer defense, but the team will have to travel this time. Hopefully, the success they've had on the road so far will help them on this next trip. ¶ 9/20/2005 0 Comments
