Walking up to the stadium, I heard students repeat the phrase “Baylor by 100”, and while that would have been cool, Baylor fell short. Videos have been circulating of fans leaving the stadium early, an empty student section, and the silence of a long walk back across the bridge to our scorching hot cars after yet another disappointing finish. We could complain about a lot of things, but I don’t want to do that. Here are my immediate reactions about our high-scoring affair with the Cougars.

Offense

First off, Sawyer Robertson is an absolute DAWG. The man threw for 350 yards under more pressure than a single BYU student in their senior year. Avoiding the rush? Check. Throw on the run? Check. Deep ball placement? Check. He has not only cemented himself as the starter, but as the best QB in the conference (including Shedeur Sanders). The run game, while hard to watch, shined with Bryson Washington at the helm. He had 8 carries for 94 yards and THREE touchdowns, including a 34 yard burst to fire up McLane in the 3rd Quarter. This offense looks incredibly dangerous with those two, but the receivers being dominant is the most encouraging aspect of today’s game. Ashtyn Hawkins had 71 yards and a touchdown and Monaray Baldwin finally broke out, totaling 221 yards with 4 touchdowns on 7 catches. These numbers might seem concerning, but the offense looked smoother than it has all year. Better days will be ahead.

Defense

Defensively, I could not be more proud of the effort the boys put out there today. After a really rough start, we adjusted and were firing on all cyllinders. Corey Gorden Jr. picked up a few interceptions and took one all the way to the house for a 60 yard TD. The Bears absolutely murdered Retzlaff, sacking him 10 times and even brought out the Draco celebration after ending his bloodline on a pinch n’ go blitz. Retzlaff was held to 175 yards on 21 attempts, throwing 4 interceptions and no touchdowns. LJ Martin only ran for 17 yards on 12 carries, and was kicked more repeatedly than dorm beds at BYU, truly a masterclass. The Bears D-line was absolutely electric, in a game where Ma’ae took the bulk of the work with Randolph and Linton as DNPs. This team is here, it’s hot, and it. is. good. Even with these results, I expect this Baylor defense to continually improve throughout this year.

Takeaways

Wow. That was a Doozy; what a game even though we were all disappointed. I can’t believe we had our 2nd sellout and 1st ever game where NO visiting fans were in attendance! The fans, the students, and the coaches all did great! To the students who said “bears by 100”, I am so sorry… I hope 95-6 will do. We will surely do better against ISU next week.

SKAL, are you ok?

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha no. No I am not. Not only was I insane enough to watch the full game, prepare to rush the field, and gaslight myself to think I wouldn’t be disappointed again, I have now decided to numb the pain of this game by writing an analysis article over a fictional game. Oh well. We move on. Or do we… AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.