Baylor Good, Bad, & Ugly
K-State is on a roll. 4-0 with the next three all winnable. (Missouri, @ TexasTech, @ KU) The way things are looking now I’m hoping for at least 6-1 at the end of this stretch. Baylor came thinking RG3 was going to help them to get over their 0-8 road conference opener record but they were happily denied. As they said on Espn’s College Football Final, you don’t just walk into Bill Snyder Family Stadium in the Little Apple and walk away with a win. Continue reading to see the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good
Winning Again… No matter how the game felt, what the final statistics end up being, or whether a team got beat or lost in the mind of Kendall Wright (yeah you figure that one out), the only thing that matters is who has the most points at the end of the game. In this case it was Kansas State once again. 4 games into the season and in 3 of those K-State has shown they know how to get a victory one way or another. The season is looking up right now although there’s still a long way to go.
Defeating RG3… While K-State still has tougher games to play against better teams, I’m pretty sure they’ve faced the best individual athlete on their schedule. Robert Griffin III was everything he’d been hyped to be and more. I was amazed at how he did most of his damage with his arm in the pocket. I expected a lot more of the Griffin of past years who killed you with his legs and extended plays. In the end it didn’t matter. Taking down one of the best players in college football is a huge accomplishment and confidence boost to keep building on.
#4… He was quiet all game long but stepped up and made some noise at the end. Arthur Brown finished with 5 solo tackles, 3 assisted tackles, 1 HUGE sack, and 1 HUGE interception. He may not be the vocal leader of the defensive unit, but there’s no question about who’s in charge. If you haven’t seen the video of ABrown’s on Baylor’s final possession you need to. The speed, football smarts, and athleticism are on full display.
Rush Defense… I put the rush defense in the good category with an asterisk because Baylor clearly didn’t need to run to be successful. However, when they tried to get things going they couldn’t. K-State controlled the lanes and limited any rushing offense that might have been. That played a big part in the victory and kept the Bears one-dimensional.
The Bad
Pass Defense… 346 yards and 5 touchdowns in the air. Baylor averaged just over a first down every time Griffin threw the ball. That’s horrible. If the time of possession hadn’t been so lopsided, it could have been way worse. This makes 2 games in a row that the K-State secondary has been exposed and if not for amazing end of the game stands, it would be 2 straight losses. Last year the defense had a habit of making unknown running backs household names and if the secondary doesn’t get things figured out, this might be the year of the QB who plays against the Wildcats.
Confident Collin… I’m a Collin Klein fan for sure. He plays tough, he usually makes solid decisions, and I’m pretty sure he can survive anything. But he needs to remember what his skill sets are. The confidence gained from starting 3-0 showed in some of the decisions he made on Saturday and that’s not what K-State fans should want. Being a running quarterback has worked fine up until now so there’s no need to change that. Too many times Klein was allowed to drop back and the results were holding onto the ball way too long, several batted passes, and sacks. Klein attempted 28 passes which is about 10-5 too many. Come back to your senses Collin and remember that your legs are your meal ticket. Just repeat, “my arm is my enemy.”
S. Snyder Special Teams… Going into this game I was worried about the special teams and even though Cantele went nuts (4-4, long of 42 yards), I’m still not sold. The opening kick-off was taken back to midfield, the rest of the kick-offs were ugly and short including the one that went out of bounds, and it seems like every time the other team is taking a kick-off there’s a big chance of it going oh so badly. Sean Snyder might have been an All-American punter, but he’s not making all that good of a special teams coach yet.
The Ugly
Getting Burnt… Please fix this. Play with 2 over the top. Play hail mary defense. Play with 2 defensive linemen. Whatever it takes, no more watching receiver after receiver getting 5 yards behind the secondary for completions of 40 plus yards. C’mon Cosh!
Bob Davies & The Officials… No it’s not a new singing group. Bob Davies couldn’t remember which team was ahead on the scoreboard, what team he was watching (the unpardonable sin of calling K-State KU), and showed why he is no longer a head coach with his analysis. The officials had a tough day overall with some calls but almost made the flub of the year missing Baylor’s backward pass that should have resulted in a 3rd and 20ish instead of a 3rd and 1 after a penalty called on K-State. The ruling had something to do with the passer being hit which caused him to throw the ball backwards which means the play just doesn’t count. That makes absolutely no sense what so ever in any football universe and the replays showed that Baylor’s player wasn’t even touched prior to releasing the ball. Had K-State lost this game this mistake would be getting some major play in the media for sure. I’m praying now that Bob Davies is not the announcer for this Saturday and that this officiating crew heads back to the Jr. High games they belong in.