Baylor Line Report

I want to go ahead and apologize for this coming out much later than it usually does. After every game I try and gather my thoughts to put them into these posts, and its still hard for me to put into words my my feelings from my game. I also had a major test and a paper due earlier this week and then came home to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Its been busy, but I got it out nonetheless.

Starting off, I posted in last week's BLR why I thought Baylor had a very good chance at pulling the upset at the Case. I like to think I'm somewhat realistic with my expectations of the Bears. I didn't really think that they were going to beat OU, and I had an uneasy feeling about Iowa State, but against Kansas State I felt what I can only describe as a quiet confidence. The only other time I felt that was when the Mavs took on the Heat in the NBA Finals two years ago and won. I also said in last week's post that the Kansas State game had the potential to be the kind of success that could make you forget about, or at least lessen the significance the failures in the past. That has held true, because Phil Bennett has now earned himself (in our eyes) at least one more year if not more after how his defense played. Not to mention players like Joe Williams, who I'll talk about later, who I thought was an absolute bust.

There are only so many ways I can sum up that game. It was awesome. It was electric. It was very much emotional. The very first series the Bears started off strong with a long throw and catch to Tevin Reese, and they never took their foot off the pedal for the rest of the game. Forget the offense for a minute though, the defense played the best game I've ever seen from a Baylor defense...ever. What sums this up more than anything? Joe Williams was honored with being named the All-American player of the week. Yes, that Joe Williams. The guy we've all come accustomed to seeing behind opposing receivers played his heart out last Saturday and was very impressive. The whole secondary actually played very well. The linebackers played exceptional, and the defensive line played great as well. The whole unit finally played as, well, a unit. They looked like, for the first time in a while, they were playing for something. Whether it was. To beat number one, perform well in front of a national audience, or just for pride they played with something else last week. Something that has been missing from them for most of the season. Whatever that something is, I hope they bring it for the rest of the season.

This probably goes without saying, but the crowd was the best I've ever seen or heard it at this game. Everyone was very into the game and constantly yelling, screaming, cheering, just flat out being loud. It's always nice when most everyone interviewed from the team after the game references the crowd as a huge factor in their success. I'm also going to give the crowd credit for helping to frustrate Colin Klein during his pre-snap reads. He looked confused throughout the night and it seemed as though he had to call an audible almost every snap. An audible that his teammates couldn't hear because of the noise coming from all around them. I normally am a bit critical of the fans on the home side of the stadium, because they seem to just sit around and only throw in the occasional yell on big plays. On Saturday that entire side of the stadium, the entire stadium actually, remained on its feet the entire game and was very loud. Not only was the crowd loud though, they were into everything. The coolest part, aside from gameplay, was when "Jump Around" played through the speakers everyone was jumping around and going crazy. The line, the home side, and the players were all jumping around and having the time of their lives.

For the rest of this I'm going to list some plays that I think summed up the night. I'm sure I'll forget a few, but these are the top plays, in no particular order, that were just awesome.

1. THE GOAL LINE STAND

I shouldn't even have to put words under this to prove how big it was for the Bears defense to stop the quarterback on four straight plays that has often been compared to Tim Tebow. Most times when a team gets on the goal line against the Bears I basically just want to concede the touchdown, because its inevitable, but this time, for whatever reason, I thought we had a chance (a slim one) at stopping the Wildcats, and we did.

2. THE ENTIRE OFFENSE PUSHING LACHE SEASTRUNK FOR EXTRA YARDS

I can't exactly remember the quarter or time remaining when this happened, but ti was awesome. Seastrunk seemed to be stopped for what was a two-yard gain, but he kept his feet moving and soon the entire offense came to his aid and pushed their back an extra 5-7 yards to punish the will of the Wildcats and their defense.

3. THE JOE WILLIAMS INTERCEPTION

The guy played awesome. Hands down. Just awesome.

4. THE SACKS. ALL OF THEM.

The Bears brought pressure, a lot of pressure. Bryce Hager was all over Colin Klein all night along with the rest of the Baylor front seven. They harassed Klein all night and destroyed his Hesiman hopes.

5. GLASCO MARTIN

No specific play. Just Dash being Dash. He brought the thunder and proved to be unstoppable. We have him for more than just this year? That's fantastic!

6. THE SAM HOLL INTERCEPTION

This is strictly on here for Mark. Oh, and that was a great play by Holl.

7. THE LACHE SEASTRUNK 80 YARD TOUCHDOWN RUN

This is what sealed the deal for the Bears. I was jumping up and down about three rows when this happened. It was phenomenal. Once he got through the line he was not being caught. It was the icing on the cake, the cherry on top, the nail in the coffin, the dagger. It was awesome.

There were more plays that were great throughout the game, but these are the ones that stuck out in my mind five days later. That game was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Rushing the field was incredible. The PA announcer tried to urge us to stay off the field, but by that point most of us were already on the field. Storming the field was straight elation and bliss. It was an incredible experience. I wanted to take down the goal posts, but the cops there had other thoughts. I may have made close to ten laps around the field after the game. It's a rare occasion for a fan to "sports cry" but I was on the cusp of doing that during my laps. I was just so happy. The Baylor Bears had just defeated the number one team in the nation and I got to witness the entire thing. I always wanted to storm the field at a game and I finally got the opportunity to do so. People were running up to me and saying that I called the victory and somehow played a part in the Bears winning. I don't know if that's true, but if by any circumstance I inspired people to believe in my school than that's awesome. Indescribable really. The whole experience was indescribable. Honestly I don't even think I realize how big that game was. All I know is that it put Waco on the map. How's it described? Sports Illustrated summed it up by saying Waco, TX: The place where ranked teams come to lose. I love the sound of that.