Halftime in Waco: Baylor and Liberty are Tied at 17

So far, on various boards/platforms, I’ve seen this game described as a “debacle,” “disaster,” “catastrophe,” and basically every other synonym you can imagine for “something very bad.” It hasn’t been good by any stretch, particularly on defense, but I’m not ready to go that far. The offense seemed to find its rhythm in the second quarter behind the legs of JaMycal Hasty and John Lovett, Anu Solomon looks like the dual-threat, experienced leader we were told to expect, and the offensive line appears to be gelling better and better as the game goes on.

Calling the defense a problem, however, is an understatement. Liberty’s quarterback, Stephen “Buckshot” Calvert, is basically doing whatever he wants so far. He’s 23/31 for 229 yards and 1 TD. Their biggest wideout, Antonio Gandy-Golden, has 7 catches for 127 yards and that TD. When our coaching staff has given cushion due to our young corners, Liberty has nickled and dimed us to death. When we’ve tried to to press a few times, we’ve gotten burned. It’s not good.

Still, it’s the first half of the first game of a new system on both side of the ball. Sure, you’d like to see a bigger, more talented Baylor team impose its will on a team like Liberty rather than give them confidence. That hasn’t happened so far, and it looks like we’re in for more of a dogfight than we ever imagined. All we can do is continue to work, continue to try to get going on both sides of the ball, and snag an ugly win. It’s still a win, after all.

I don’t know how to do stat boxes on the new editor yet, so just click here. I’ll figure it out.