In 2013 the Baylor Bears football program finished 11-2 and thus completing their most successful season since they joined the Big 12 in 1996. A no. 13 ranking in the AP Poll and a trip to the Fiesta Bowl was more than even the great Robert Griffin III could achieve in 2011. But how will the team from Waco, Texas fare in 2014?
Despite losing the Fiesta Bowl to UCF 52-42 – I suspect a hangover from losing their unbeaten record late in the season is partly to blame – the Bears surprised everybody by not missing a beat from previous seasons.
That single loss came to AT&T Cotton Bowl losers Oklahoma State. A game which Baylor really should have won but the Cowboys on their best day and a case of fumbleitis shattered any hopes of a trip to Pasadena and the National Championship.
Regardless of the final outcome, Art Briles’ players had some spectacular seasons as individuals as well as a team. Together they ranked first in the FBS in points per game (52.4) and top-fifteen in passing and rushing yards per game while the defense was 36th in points conceded per game (23.5). Bryce Petty finished with 4,200 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and three interceptions. Lache Seastrunk rushed for 1,177 yards and 11 touchdowns while Antwan Goodley caught 71 catches for 1,339 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Firstly, Of the three players mentioned above, only Seastrunk is leaving for the NFL after he declared early following his highly successful junior season. While the 5’10” tailback is extremely talented it is possible the Bears have an even greater talent already on the roster. As a freshman Shock Linwood tallied 881 yards and eight touchdowns at 6.9 yards a carry. It is also likely that fellow sophomore Devin Chafin will see an increase in his workload from last season after he carried the ball 51 times for 295 yards in 2013. Linwood and Chafin will complement each other beautifully with contrasting games.
Petty will be a senior in 2014 and, with his first full season as a starter being so successful, I do not see why he can’t have a season to rival that of Griffin’s in 2011. With just 14 pass attempts before his junior year his passing figures are mind blowing and he will only get better. Factor in also that of the five wide receivers who caught of 500 yards worth of passes in 2013, only one – Tevin Reese caught 38 passes for 867 yards and eight touchdowns this past season – is leaving for the NFL. 2014 will see seniors Antwan Goodley, Levi Norwood and Clay Fuller return along with sophomore Corey Coleman who all combined for 185 receptions, 3,111 yards and 26 touchdowns. To put that into context: 83% of receptions, 78% of receiving yards and 76% of touchdowns from the big five receiving options in 2013 are returning for the 2014 campaign. That is an incredibly small amount of turnover for such a well-oiled team.
The two big names to leave for the draft along with Seastrunk are offensive guard Cyril Richardson who is projected to go in the second round and safety Ahmad Dixon who is also a second round prospect, although a strong Senior Bowl has seen him rise up a number of draft boards. In case you were wondering, the aforementioned Reese is a sixth/seventh round prospect.
As well as Dixon, Baylor will lose linebacker Eddie Lackey who totalled 108 tackles as a senior. However, the drop off is minimalized by Bryce Hager stepping into the lead role. As a junior Hager ended the season with 71 tackles. Senior defensive lineman Chris McAllister led the team with six sacks but three sophomores in the shape of Jamal Palmer, Beau Blackshear and Shawn Oakman all had two sacks or more, meaning the Bears have a good pool of talent to find the next man up.
At defensive back three seniors will be on their way taking with them eight interceptions. Three freshmen did record a pick for the Big 12 side but this is the biggest grey area going forward. Baylor’s system requires their defensive backs to make a lot of tackles so they will be losing a lot of aggression and experience on the backend that cannot be drilled into players – they have to step up.
Nevertheless, Briles’ offence is built to out-score opponents and in their lone regular season loss they only managed 13 points – a number which most defenses would struggle to compete with. With the number of players leaving kept to a minimum it is almost certain Baylor will be challenging the for a play-off spot next season with their explosive offense ruling the roost once against as Petty goes on the Heisman hunt.