An Early Look Ahead at Baylor
STILLWATER -- The Oklahoma State Cowboys are getting their breath of fresh air this week as they're in an open week ahead of playing undefeated Baylor for Homecoming next week.
With the week off for everyone, except for the team that's still practicing, it gives us a chance to look ahead at a Baylor team that's unbeaten up to this point in the season.
Also with the off week, we only got to speak to Mike Gundy and he gave the media an early rundown of what the Bears look like up to this point.
"They are a good football team," coach Gundy said. They've become a pure three-down defense. The are good football players. They are doing a lot of things differently coverage-wise from last year. Offensively, they got some skills on the perimeter, but their quarterback is playing really well. He's in his third year and now he's figuring it out. He's a good football player. He was always mobile, ran around and made some plays. He's pretty accurate and pretty tough to deal with. You can tell he is experienced and he gets it. They are playing good football."
Baylor enters this weekend's match up against Texas Tech 5-0 on the season and ranked No. 22 in the country. They're averaging 38.8 points per game while averaging 465.6 yards per game. 204.4 yards on the ground and 261.2 yards through the air.
The Bears are led by junior quarterback Charlie Brewer. Through the first five games of the season, Brewer has thrown for 1,202 yards and 11 touchdowns on 65.5 percent passing. He has an efficiency rating of 162.2 and is averaging 240.4 yards per game through the air.
On the ground, Brewer has rushed for 125 yards and two touchdowns on 34 attempts.
Their leading rusher is junior John Lovett. Through five games, lovett has rushed for 316 yards and three touchdowns on 41 attempts. But including Lovett and Brewer, the Bears have five rushers who have totaled over 100 yards on the season. So they love to share the wealth.
It's also not a surprise that their leading receiver is Denzel Mims. Mims has hauled in 438 yards and five touchdowns on 29 receptions. The No. 2 receiver is Tyquan Thornton who has 328 yards and three touchdowns on 20 receptions.
On the defensive side of the ball, Baylor is led by senior linebacker Clay Johnston. Through five game, he's racked up 48 total tackles, 27 of which have been solo stops. He's recorded 2.5 sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss, four pass break ups and passes defended, as well as one quarterback hurry.
Another guy to watch is defensive lineman Blake Lynch. He was named the Bednarik Award Player of the Week following his performance against Kansas State. He recorded a career-best 3.0 sacks, a new Baylor conference game record. Overall, he finished with five tackles, 3.0 sacks, 4.0 tackles for a loss and one forced fumble.
Baylor will host Texas Tech this weekend for Homecoming. Kick is set for 3 p.m. and will be televised on FS1 for anyone who wants to follow along.
