Bears Have Found Their RB1 After Richard Reese's Electrifying Performance
It has been over 800 yards since King Arthur famously pulled the sword from the stone after so many had tried and failed. For the second straight year, coach Dave Aranda, offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, and the Baylor Bears have pulled the elusive sword from their running back room.
The sword's name is Richard Reese, and we could see him slicing up Big 12 defenses for years to come.
Reese powered through the Texas State Bobcats Saturday to the tune of 156 yards rushing on 19 carries and 3 touchdowns in Baylor's 42-7 victory.
With starting running back Taye McWilliams unavailable, it was obvious it would be Reese's opportunity to break out.
"We knew he was going to have to play a big role today and he definitely stepped up," Bears wide receiver Gavin Holmes said. "It was really cool to see.”
A year to the day of his three-score performance, Reese also had a three-touchdown game. Instead of scoring three times against the Texas State Bobcats, he did it to the Rockdale Tigers in 2021, as Bellville High won 67-7
Ever since the true freshman stepped on campus, his stock has been rising. Through fall camp, it became clear he would have a spot in the running back rotation. Some writers might have even said he should be the starter after a two-touchdown game against Albany in Week 1.
“Since fall camp, he has been giving that," coach Dave Aranda said. "He was able to pop a few big ones, which really helps with confidence."
Not quite the scoring runs of 55, 33 and 14 yards against Rockdale last September 17, Reese ripped off a 52-yarder to seal the game in the third quarter and added red zone runs of 14 and 5 yards.
With so much eligibility and potential, it is tough not to give the Dave Aranda smirk that has gained popularity through a gif when you think about Reese's future in green and gold.
Aranda can hardly hide the smirk, too.
"Im excited for him," Aranda said. "You love to just see the purity in [his running] and excited to see what we can become with him.”
We have no timetable for McWilliams' return and Qualan Jones only had one rushing attempt against Texas State.
I talked about how Aranda and Grimes pulled the sword out of the running back room for the second year in a row. It might be hard to remember now, but Abram Smith was a converted linebacker with very little collegiate running back experience before the 2021 season.
Smith took away all doubt about his backfield abilities when he broke out against Texas State...with 3 touchdowns.
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Covering Baylor for Inside The Bears and the Locked on Baylor podcast. You can follow me for more Baylor content at @realcamstuart on Twitter. Originally from Rockland, Massachusetts and a Baylor alum, so I might mix the occasional bias and/or Boston sports tweet in there every once in a while.