By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
           
ARLINGTON, Texas – Baylor went from 1-11 to 7-6 "just by eliminating the bad decisions on the football field, the egregious errors," third-year head coach Matt Rhule said Tuesday at Big 12 Football Media Day.
           
For this year's team to take that next step and become conference title contenders, the Bears have to become more disciplined and consistent, he said.
           
"We were a team that got blown out by Oklahoma and came back and beat Kansas State," Rhule said during a press conference held on the field at AT&T Stadium. "We got blown out at West Virginia and were then able to beat Oklahoma State. We were reactionary, and great teams are consistent every single time.
           
"What's hard to do is to get our guys consistent day-in and day-out, but I think they know that's where they have to get to."
           
That consistency has to start up front, on both sides of the line. Baylor has ranked last in the league the last two seasons in sacks allowed, giving up 39 a year ago, and were eighth in defensive sacks with 25.
           
A reshuffled offensive line has senior center Sam Tecklenburg moving to right guard and former Clemson starter Jake Fruhmorgen shifting from left tackle to center.
           
"For us to be a team that's in contention and relevant in November, we're going to have to play much better than we have on the offensive and defensive lines," Rhule said. "I think we're ready for that, and our guys understand that's the next step. We have a great quarterback, he can't be running for his life all the time. We have to make sure he's comfortable if we want to play at a high level."
           
Junior quarterback Charlie Brewer, who has started 16 of the last 17 games, goes in as the undisputed starter for the first time in his career. He threw for 3,019 yards and 19 touchdowns last season, capping it off with MVP honors in a 45-38 Texas Bowl victory over Vanderbilt.
           
"I thought at the end of the year last year, Charlie really settled into playing quarterback and not feeling like he had to do everything himself," Rhule said of Brewer, who was one of 30 quarterbacks named to the Davey O'Brien Award watch list on Tuesday. "I put Charlie in hard positions last year, making him rotate early in the year. And that wasn't easy on him. But, I thought it really helped him develop where he wasn't worried anymore about anything else other than when I get in, here is how I'm going to play.
           
"Once that light bulb went off for him, I thought he was a really good quarterback. And at the end of the year, when we were able to run the ball and protect him, I thought he was an excellent quarterback."
           
While receiver Jalen Hurd was a third-round draft pick by the San Francisco 49ers, Brewer and the Bears have a ton of weapons returning with running backs JaMycal Hasty, Trestan Ebner and John Lovett and receivers Denzel Mims, Chris Platt, Tyquan Thornton, Josh Fleeks, Marques Jones, Jared Atkinson and R.J. Sneed.
           
Mims played somewhat in the shadow of Hurd after a 1,000-yard season as a sophomore, but Rhule said the senior receiver made a commitment to be a "great all-around player, not just be a stat guy."
           
"Our program is built on pushing your best players, not letting them do whatever they want," Rhule said. "Denzel has allowed me to coach him. I've been hard on Denzel because I see a lot of potential in him."
           
Mims and fellow Big 12 Media Day participants Hasty, Tecklenburg, Jones and linebacker Clay Johnston were among the 15 rising seniors that went with Rhule to an NFL Summit last week in Philadelphia.
           
"Our program is not built on entitled super stars, it's built on tough, hard-working, industrious guys that know what it means to be a pro," Rhule said. "I think we have a bunch of guys that are going to have a chance to go play. They won't all probably get drafted, but a lot of those guys that get drafted end up making a team and playing a long time."
           
Defensively, the Bears have to give up fewer "explosive" plays and create more takeaways. They were last in the league and tied for 126^th out of 129 Division I teams last season with just 10 takeaways – three fumble recoveries and seven interceptions.
           
That unit returns plenty of experience with James Lynch and Bravvion Roy up front, the linebacking trio of Johnston, Blake Lynch and Jordan Williams and Raleigh Texada and Chris Miller in the secondary.
           
"For us to take the next step, we have to get better on defense, and that starts with not giving up so many big plays," Rhule said. "We've got to become more of an impact defense, taking the ball away, and I think it starts with our players. There's a lot of guys that have played a lot of football, and some of them were out there before they were ready. We've been together for three years now. Whether it's James Lynch or Clay Johnston or Chris Miller or James Lockhart, those guys are battle-tested, and now we have to go out and play at an elite level."
           
The Bears will begin workouts on Friday, Aug. 2, and will open the season on Aug. 31 with a game against Stephen F. Austin at 6 p.m. Aug. 31 at McLane Stadium. Baylor plays seven home games this year, including marquee matchups against defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma on Nov. 16 and Sugar Bowl champion Texas on Nov. 23.
           
For ticket information, go to baylorbears.com/bthere.