Instant Reaction: Baylor vs Kansas State

A waste. The only words that come to mind after Baylor’s abysmal showing against Kansas State, losing 31-3. The Wildcats dominated the Bears in every facet of the game in what was one of the worst showings in the Dave Aranda era. The offense never found anything close to a rhythm, and any time they did find a way to move the ball, a trusty mistake was ready to derail any momentum. The defense looked slow and ill-equipped to handle the playmakers of K State, who played the majority of the game with backup QB Will Howard. Any dreams of a magical end of season run to Arlington are all but over now, with the Bears only having pride to play for the rest of the way, barring a serious miracle.

The Baylor defense just wasn’t good. Every blitz had a counter from K State for a perfect route. Every pass rush was a step too late. And, once again, Baylor struggled to get off the field on third down. Every bad tendency that we’ve seen this season, the tendencies we had hoped were becoming a thing of the past, showed up in a huge way, as the Wildcats did whatever they wanted all night long. The Kansas State stats don’t jump out at you, but they don’t need to, they scored points. Most importantly, they controlled the ball and wore the Bears out. Will Howard had 186 yards and 3 TDs through the air, Deuce Vaugh had 104 yards rushing plus 50 yards receiving and a TD, and freshman running back DJ Giddens had 40 yards and a TD on the ground.

On offense, there were no bright spots outside of maybe Josh Cameron and Monaray Baldwin, who had a combined 14 catches for 158 yards, but the production was far too little far too often. The offense gave the defense no reprieve from the K State ball control onslaught, and the offensive coaching staff never seemed to find anything that would consistently work against K State’s fundamentally sound defense. There honestly is nothing to highlight from the offensive group, nothing to take away and say “well at least we got this done”. It was just bad.

On what was a cold night in Waco, the crowd really showed up ready to roll. A student led, impromptu blackout looked amazing in the early going in McLane Stadium. The students were rowdy, the crowd was in sync, and it seemed to be the perfect night for another victory in Waco over a ranked K State squad. That was not to be. This is a team with tons of potential, the most dangerous word in sports. All that’s left to do is grow, continue to build and learn for next season where a new schedule and new opponents may make way for new opportunities. As for the 2022 season, appreciate what we have accomplished, try to forget what we left on the field, and hope for a bowl invite in Houston or Dallas so we don’t have to travel too far.