Baylor Bears vs. Air Force Notebook: 5 Takeaways from the Armed Forces Bowl
Stumbling into the team's bowl game amid three-straight losses heading into Thursday night's matchup against the Air Force Falcons, Baylor head coach Dave Aranda and the Bears football team were determined to end the season on a high note.
Instead, the Bears ended the year at 6-7 and have lost four games in a row, with Baylor's football brass searching for more answers as questions abound.
Air Force thoroughly defeated Baylor in the 20th annual Armed Forces Bowl, as the Falcons cruised to a 30-15 victory over the Bears to finish their season with 10 wins.
Let's take a quick look at a handful of takeaways from Baylor's disappointing conclusion to this year's college football season.
Baylor was 0-for-11 on third downs.
Air Force, meanwhile, was 8-for-16 in third-down efficiency.
No one can expect to win ball games when going O-fer on third downs.
Baylor did manage to go 3-for-6 on fourth downs, but that wasn't nearly enough as the Bears were doubled up in the 2022 Armed Forces Bowl.
Baylor was 11-for-23 on passing for 188 yards.
The Falcons, on the other hand, went 4-for-7 for 103 passing yards.
For those not wanting to do the math at home, Air Force averaged 14.7 yards per catch (compared to 8.2 for Baylor) while tossing for a 57.1-percent accuracy mark (the Bears, meanwhile, ended the night at 47.8-percent).
Baylor garnered just 42 total rushing yards.
The Bears' defense also allowed 276 rushing yards to the Falcons, with Air Force fullback Brad Roberts leading the charge with 116 yards on 37 carries with two touchdowns.
Air Force quarterback Haaziq Daniels added another 81 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown.
Baylor can't expect to win football games when allowing that kind of performance by an opposing team's quarterback and running back.
Baylor’s time of possession was half that of Air Force
Heading into Thursday night's showdown between the Bears and Falcons, everyone knew Air Force was a beast when it came to time of possession and executing the running game to near-perfection.
Air Force did just that on a freezing cold night in Fort Worth, exposing Baylor on all fronts and handing the Bears their fourth loss in a row.
Baylor’s Blake Shapen ended the night with a 22.5 quarterback rating.
Daniels, meanwhile, concluded the night with a 94.7 rating for the Falcons.
Tossing for 103 yards and a touchdown, Daniels didn't have to do a lot of passing as Air Force kept a majority of the team's offense on the ground.
However, when turning to the air game, Daniels played much, much better than Shapen.
Once again, unfortunately, Shapen looked shaky.
Yes, it was well below freezing on that football field, but every single player, coach and fan was feeling those frigid temps.
No excuse for the kind of performance we've become accustomed to seeing from Shapen.
Overall, Shapen did toss for 188 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
But a 22.6 quarterback rating will never win games.
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Denton Ramsey has been a journalist for over 20 years with a decade of experience as a sports writer and editor for a plethora of newspapers throughout Texas and Alabama. Growing up in Houston and attending Baylor University, Ramsey is a die-hard sports fan with a true passion for writing. He may be reached via email at denton.itb@gmail.com