BAYLOR FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            At the top of the Baylor defense's goals every week is getting three takeaways.
            For the second time in their first five games, the Bears (4-1, 2-1) got three takeaways in Saturday's 24-14 loss at Oklahoma State, with JT Woods, Raleigh Texada and Dillon Doyle coming up with interceptions. Baylor is tied for 10^th nationally with seven interceptions and ranks in the top 25 in takeaways with nine.
            "Last week, it was just about catching the ones they threw to you," said senior safety Jalen Pitre. "We just try to get the ball back to the offense. They're great on that side of the ball, and we know what they can do with the ball in their hands."
            DON'T LET ONE TURN INTO TWO
            After struggling to run the ball last week, finishing with 107 yards on 29 carries for a 3.7-yard average, senior offensive tackle Connor Galvin said "it all started with us not being on the same page."
            "And that just trickled down the whole game," Galvin said. "Didn't start well, didn't end well, and it just all spread from that spot."
            The key, Galvin said, is not letting "this one loss affect our whole season."
            "We still have eight more weeks to go," he said. "We can't let a Week 5 loss affect Week 6. We addressed it, we watched the film, we fixed all the issues and now we're on to West Virginia."
            SECURE THE EDGES
            Baylor has struggled at times this year facing mobile quarterbacks, with Iowa State's Brock Purdy constantly avoiding sacks and then Oklahoma State's Spencer Sanders rushing for 76 yards on 12 attempts last week.
            While West Virginia's Jarret Doege is more of a pocket passer, Pitre said the key is a "level rush."
            "Seeing what the tackles and guards are giving you, making sure you're not going too far upfield and making sure both edges are secure and both middle lanes are secure as well," he said. "Not giving him the option of getting out of there and forcing bad throws and ending up with interceptions."
            'DREW ESTRADA IS A BEAST'
            Dartmouth grad transfer Drew Estrada's breakout game, with six catches for 88 yards, might have been a surprise to everyone else. But, Pitre said he sees that every day in practice.
            "Drew Estrada is a beast, and you'll continue to see that the rest of the year," Pitre said of Estrada, who had one catch in each of his previous two games with the Bears.
"He's going to do everything he has to do to make the catches. What you guys saw on Saturday, he's been doing that in practice. It's just good to see him go out there and get catches in the game, because sometimes guys don't get that option."
On the flip side, leading receiver R.J. Sneed had a streak of 27 consecutive games with a catch snapped on Saturday. He was targeted twice, with one of them being a pass interference call on OSU in the end zone.
              HOME FOR 3 IN A ROW
After being on the road three times in the first five weeks of the season, Baylor will host three-straight home games at McLane Stadium over the next four weeks, with a bye on Oct. 23.
Saturday's game against West Virginia (2-3, 0-2) kicks off at 11 a.m. and will be televised by FS1. Next week's Homecoming game against 10^th-ranked BYU (5-0) has been set for a 2:30 p.m. game and will be on either ESPN or ESPN2.

BAYLOR FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK

Players Mentioned

Dillon Doyle

Drew Estrada

Connor Galvin

Jalen Pitre

R.J. Sneed

Raleigh Texada

JT Woods

Footer