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Baylor Bears vs. Liberty Flames Game Thread

The Baylor Bears take on the Liberty Flames tonight at McLane Stadium in the opening game of the Matt Rhule Era at Baylor. The game will be broadcast on FS2.

By Mark C. Moore
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Not a whole lot worthy of note going on in the Big 12 today aside from Texas losing to Maryland. OU is obliterating UTEP, Texas Tech is doing the same to Eastern Washington, and the rest haven't started play yet. This thread will be our home for Baylor's opener tonight against Liberty at McLane Stadium, a game in which the Bears should have quite the advantage.

This morning, I made a few predictions and gave a few thoughts on things I will be looking for. From that thread:

My Official Predictions—

  • Anu Solomon, our starting QB, will throw for about 240-250 yards and 2-3 TDs, including one to a tight end. I bet he runs for 40-50 yards, too.
  • Baylor as a whole puts up about 250 yards on the ground, led by J’Mycal Hasty. The game finishes with a ball-control Baylor offense pounding the rock with John Lovett, Dru Dixon, and Wyatt Schrepfer late.
  • Blake Lynch plays both ways at some point. I bet we see him come off the edge on defense on a third down somewhere in the game.
  • Taylor Young leads the defense in tackles because he’s Taylor Young and that’s what he does.
  • Brian Nance gets a sack from the RUSH position. It is known.

Baylor wins 52-13.

What I’ll be Looking For—

  • Offensive Line -- The OL is such a big question mark that it has to be #1 on the list, particularly in the first half when Mo Porter will be out due to suspension. Our run-blocking scheme is different from what we did under Briles, so there could be a few misfires early on before the group settles in.
  • Anu Solomon -- Not hard to imagine that a first-time starter (for us, I mean) will be under the microscope, right? Solomon got this job because of experience, poise, and mobility. All of them should be on display, although hopefully not because Liberty is making his life difficult.
  • The Secondary -- Harrison Hand and Jairon McVea lead a youth movement in Baylor’s secondary early this season with Grayland Arnold (himself just a sophomore) and Taion Sells out.
  • Defensive Rotations -- Coach Snow said earlier this week that he plays to play about 25 different guys on defense in this game to try to limit reps to about 50 per player. I would expect to see a ton of movement across the defensive line, particularly, considering it’s one of our deeper spots. Could see a few different LBs play in this game, too.

It's been a LOOOOOOONNNNNGGGG offseason since Baylor hired Matt Rhule and then won the Cactus Bowl. Basically eight full months. But the season is here now, so let's enjoy it!

A few pre-game tweets:

#SicEm, Bears!

Oh, and I'm pretty happy to have new photos for the editor.

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