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Baylor-Kansas: First Half Thoughts; Second Half Game Thread

Sic ‘Em!

NCAA Football: Duke at Baylor Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Baylor leads Kansas 23-0 at halftime. Charlie Brewer has been awesome, and Jalen Hurd has been used all over the field.

Let’s start with the good.

Good:

Charlie Brewer played the entire first half. He started 6-of-6 for 82 yards and two touchdowns.

Ty Thornton also did a nice job coming open over the middle of the field and catching a 39 yard touchdown:

Brewer’s scrambled well, including a nice gain against an all-out blitz, and a 16 yard run on 3rd and 10. He had 58 rushing yards and 9.7 yards per carry in the first half.

He finished the half 11-of-14 for 151 yards and three touchdowns through the air.

This seems to be Brewer’s job. He played the entire first half. Jalan McClendon played very well against ACU, but Brewer’s mobility is so vital for this team. He was dropping dimes to everyone. Perhaps most impressively was a mobile throw to Josh Fleeks for a first down.

Fleeks added a nice catch and overpowered two defenders for a first down before halftime. Then he caught his own touchdown:

Credit the defense for making big plays. James Lynch destroyed Kansas’ offensive lineman for a big sack. That forced Kansas to attempt a long field goal, which the Jayhawks missed.

Derrek Thomas has been excellent in coverage. Baylor has put a ton of guys in the box to key in on Pooka Williams. He’s held up well.

Phil Snow has called some very nice plays. While I’ve been critical of Baylor not having a ton of down linemen, he dropped nine into coverage on 3rd and short for Kansas. The Jayhawks completed a short pass and ended up punting. Matt Rhule was very excited with Snow’s play calling early in the second quarter.

Baylor’s worked some nice offensive play calling after the first drive. A double wide receiver run by Platt picked up a first down. Hurd’s been all over the field.

Connor Martin made a 45 yard field goal. He’s back!

Baylor’s rushing defense has been excellent. Williams had been Pro Football Focus’ top rated running back. He had six carries for nine yards in the first half.

J.T. Woods’ sack. He missed a pick-six to start the game, but he blew past Kansas and wrapped up Miles Kendrick.

Bad:

There’s not too much. Harrison Hand tried to jump a route for an interception. That led to a big gain by the Jayhawks. Hand is Baylor’s second best cornerback, and he’s still just a sophomore. This wasn’t that big of a deal. Plus he made a nice tackle when KU switched QBs.

I didn’t like Baylor punting on 4th and 2 near midfield on the 1st drive. Peter Pope and some other folks I respect disagreed with me. Baylor also pinned KU deep.

The Bears haven’t done a great job running on short yardage spots. Jalen Hurd had a nice gain on 3rd and 1. But this is also not that big of a deal this week. It’s more of a future concern.

The officials overturning the targeting call against Thornton. It’s unfathomable that wasn’t targeting.

Baylor’s still struggling with some penalties. The Bears had too many holds and a bad roughing the passer penalty.

Platt fumbled a punt return with 32 seconds left. Kansas nearly recovered, which would have given them the ball at the Baylor 15. Thank God Baylor grabbed the ball.