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On paper, Saturday’s game against Texas Tech does not seem like it offers much. The Bears and Red Raiders have a combined 2 wins in conference play and are sitting at 8th & 9th place in the standings. In a normal season, a mid-November game featuring those types of records would essentially be meaningless, but it’s not that simple in 2020. I don’t want to exaggerate too much but the game this upcoming Saturday may have a profound impact on what the rest of 2020 and the 2021 season will look like.
A loss on Saturday and Baylor will be staring right at 9th place. The team in front of them (Texas Tech) will have a tie-breaker and still have the Jayhawks on the schedule. I scrolled on ESPN and as of now we are not projected to go to a bowl game; a loss to Tech may make that achievement insurmountable. Knowing that to be the case, I don’t see how we don’t see more younger players getting a chance, including at the quarterback position. It makes sense, right? If Baylor fails to make a bowl game in 2020, then going into the 2021 season (much like in 2018) the goal will likely be making a bowl game. My thoughts are that if Charlie Brewer returns in 2021 (I’m not 100% opposed yet) then the expectations must be for us to return to Arlington. And I would like the coaching staff to seriously approach the season as such. However, if the staff is just going to be satisfied with a bowl eligibility then I think it might time to move on,
That brings me to the possibility that Baylor wins on Saturday. Look, the Bears played better overall last Saturday and even though Texas Tech is favored, it’s possible we could find a way to win. A win on Saturday and suddenly things don’t seem as bleak. The hope would be that the team will gain some confidence and that it will catapult them on for the rest of the season. We would have 3 remaining games and 2 of them (K-State & OSU ) are winnable. If that happens then Baylor may be actually participating during bowl season. That’s extra practice for the younger players and more time adjusting with this new coaching staff. We saw how much a bowl game in 2018 helped launch the program the very next year.
Saturday feels like a breaking point to me. I can see the rest of the 2020 season playing out drastically different depending on the results of the game.