Good afternoon, folks. I strongly debated with myself whether or not I wanted to do this today but here we are.
The game yesterday was, like I mentioned in my takeaways, not numerically the worst loss this program has had under Joey McGuire, but man it sure felt like it. Go back to Baylor two years ago, that was a 28-point loss, you had Patrick Mahomes in the building and you fell flat. Texas last year has completely left my mind, that team was too good and Tech was outmatched in every regard.
Yesterday felt like it could have been one of those moments where you could have felt this team fully turn the corner and solidify itself as a real contender in the conference. The stakes were raised compared to those other losses, Baylor was unimpressive in their previous games and this just did not look like a game you would get boat raced in.
The offensive line, boy oh boy, if I had thought they were building any semblance of continuity after those games against Cincinnati and Arizona, that all went out the window yesterday. Completely dominated up front, Steve Linton wrecked shop with three tackles for loss and Baylor tallied six. SIX. Woof.
That’s the extent of my gripes on the offense, honestly. It’s hard to really bash on anybody else when the offensive line was as poor as it was.
Defensively, my goodness, where do we begin?
Let’s just get on with what I’m really here to argue today. The three-down fronts were a poor coaching decision, and this was something Joey reflected on post-game. I understand the decision, the idea of it, this was mentioned last night that since you’re not very good in the pass rush, the packages were skewed a lot more to favor pass coverage.
Here’s my gripe. McGuire made an interesting comment post-game that was along the lines of “not waving the white flag” and still trying to push the players even when the game was out of reach. While this comment was not directly tied to any commentary around the decision to drop into dime coverages so much, to me, that move and that idea was very “white flag” to me.
The Red Raiders do not have a very good pass rush, not very consistent at least, we’ve established this. However, when they have been good is when the staff has opted for stunts and simulated pressures that caused havoc up front, letting the downhill athleticism of the linebackers aid the four on the line.
So if this has been the only way you’ve been able to get downhill and get pressure on the QB, why go away from that entirely? Admitting your lack of confidence in the pass rush and essentially telling the other team that you’re not going to even give an attempt at doing so, that’s waving the white flag to me. Baylor’s offensive line was massive, I even heard the words “elite size” being thrown around about that group.
Now you’re throwing light boxes out there and we all saw the damage that Baylor caused in the run game.
142 yards. That was the amount the Bears had rushed in the previous two games combined. Last night? 255. Baylor, a team who has not had any semblance of consistency in the run game this season, completely had its way with Tech.
The Bears were more physical, they were quicker to the ball and quicker with the ball, it just looked like an uninspired performance from the Red Raiders and that was shocking considering this game was at home and how much was riding on this game.
I try not to be overly critical and often look at games like this through the lens of “Well, maybe the other team was just better.” But considering the trajectory this team had been on, the sheer absence of physicality and awful execution across all three phases is inexcusable. If I missed something or you'd like me to elaborate further let me know, this is what immediately came to mind on a game that I'm sure you all would like to forget very quickly.
