The Baylor program benefited greatly from the timely bye week to maintain their sanity. The Bears have displayed indications of being a strong football team in the beginning of the season, but they still struggle with slow starts and closing out games under head coach Dave Aranda.
Following a week of contemplation and recuperation, Baylor (2-4, 0-3) will travel to Lubbock this week to take on a Texas Tech squad that has won six consecutive home games at Jones AT&T Stadium. Joey McGuire, head coach of Texas Tech (5-1, 3-0), appeared on 365 Sports earlier this week and talked about the importance of not underestimating the Bears, despite their difficulties this season.
“Baylor is a quality team in football.” If they hadn’t had a poor start against BYU, they could easily be 4-2 now, and they began well against Iowa State,” stated McGuire. “They performed well for four quarters against Colorado, but one possession proved costly against, in my opinion, the top quarterback in the nation, Shedeur Sanders.” We need to make sure we are well-prepared for them because eventually, they will have a strong performance throughout the entire game.
One major obstacle Tech is facing as they get ready to play Baylor this season is the Bears’ new offensive strategy. Baylor’s current offensive scheme closely resembles the Red Raiders’ system, as opposed to the failed ‘RVO’ approach led by Jeff Grimes.
Jake Spavital comes from the same coaching lineage as Zach Kittley, Kliff Kingsbury, and Dana Holgerson. McGuire said they each possess a bit of that Mike Leach air raid style. I believe Sawyer Robertson has performed admirably in managing that offense this year. Their receivers can make plays and cause issues in open areas, just like other offenses that have caused difficulties for us this season.
Despite the Texas Tech defense being the team’s weak point, they have managed to score 68 points from turnovers this season, the highest number since 2017. McGuire is aware that his defense will have to elevate their performance once more this week in order to defeat Baylor.
“We, like Baylor, were able to recover during the off week, which will be beneficial, but we must perform effectively on defense this Saturday,” McGuire stated. Consistently, one of our strengths has been generating turnovers and capitalizing on them, so we need to continue doing that against the Bears.
The staff crossover is the main issue when these two programs meet recently, as most of the current Texas Tech staff came from Baylor. Having been some time now, McGuire finds it easier, although he still gets somewhat emotional.
If I didn’t acknowledge the emotions involved in this matchup, I would not be truthful. I really adore that location. McGuire commented that it was beneficial for both him and his family. Garrett McGuire will always have a special connection to Baylor University because he is a Baylor Bear. I’m currently a student at Texas Tech thanks to my experience at Baylor. Some older individuals such as Matt Jones and Garmon Randolph still remain on the team, with whom I worked as their position coach, and Steve Linton was a teammate of ours in the previous season.
Lubbock will be buzzing with excitement on Saturday, as the Red Raiders’ homecoming game is completely sold out. It will mark the 83rd encounter of the two teams, with Baylor currently ahead in the series 41-40-1. The game will begin at 3 p.m. and will be shown on ESPN2. Make sure to watch the 365 Sports pregame show on YouTube or KWTX from 9-10:30 a.m.
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