THEY'VE COME A LONG WAY

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            After another frustrating spring scrimmage for the Baylor offense, Sheri Grimes expressed to her husband, offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, that the Bears "have a long way to go."
            "And then she says, 'Are you sure we ought to actually do this addition on the house?''' Jeff Grimes said. "She's been around a lot of football, so she saw and recognized that we had a ways to go."
            Like the rest of us, Sheri Grimes has watched the complete transformation of a Baylor offense that increased its rushing production by 138% from last season and ranks 17^th nationally with 214.7 rushing yards per game going into Saturday's Sugar Bowl matchup against Ole Miss.
            "I think it was our second scrimmage of fall camp, we had a really good day and . . . probably for the first time, we had a scrimmage where we did what we had hoped we would do against our defense," Grimes said. "And there was a difference after that. The guys kind of felt like, 'OK, we can do this. This thing is really going to work.'''
            One of the keys to success for the Baylor offense was moving Abram Smith from linebacker to running back the last week of spring football. He is second in the Big 12 and eighth nationally with 1,429 yards rushing, needing just 119 yards to break Terrance Ganaway's single-season school record.
            When Grimes complained about the offense not having a "physical presence in the backfield," Baylor Associate AD for Football Relations David Wetzel suggested that he take a look at the 5-foot-11, 221-pound Smith, a former all-state back at Abilene High who had rushed for a school-record 4,995 yards.
            Without mentioning any names, Grimes asked defensive coordinator Ron Roberts if he had anyone on defense that could help out the struggling running game. His answer: Abram Smith.
            "In a lot of ways, I think he's been kind of the heart and soul of our offense," Grimes said. "I don't think we would do much without his leadership, without his toughness, without his style of play."
            Center Jacob Gall, a grad transfer from Buffalo, said Smith brings a linebacker mentality to the running back position.
            "Abram just wants to hit people," Gall said. "I think he hits people harder than everybody else on the team. I guess from the linebacker standpoint, those guys want to do that, too. He still has a little bit of that in him. He wants to hit people and hit them hard."
            Smith, who's already tied one school record with eight 100-yard games this season, calls it a "bully-ball mentality."
            "We like to hit first, not be hit," he said. "Just keep the chains moving, make people miss, run through people's faces. That's what our mentality is, and you can get it from both (myself and Trestan Ebner). It doesn't matter who's back there, we have that bully-ball mentality."
            Probably the biggest piece of the puzzle was developing an offensive line that ranks among the country's best, allowing just 18 sacks all year. Offensive tackle Connor Galvin was named the Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year, while Gall and Vanderbilt transfer Grant Miller gave Grimes and first-year offensive line coach Eric Mateos a pair of veterans to plug in.
            "I would say it's been a complete buy-in to the philosophy, to the scheme," Grimes said. "I think our scheme is one that allows players to play fast, to play with confidence. Because they've been willing to buy into that at all positions, it's really allowed them to begin to have the kind of success that they've had this year."
            Gall said the wide-zone offense works best when everyone is "confident and not hesitating."
            "As soon as you hesitate, that's when you lose your step," he said. "When you're confident, you're not going to be hesitating, you'll be playing as fast as you can."
            Ole Miss co-defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin said what stands out about Baylor's offense is the Bears' ability to consistently run the ball.
            "They're sound at what they do. They know what they want to do, and they're consistent about it," Durkin said. "We've got to make sure that we come ready to play physical and stop the run game, as well as limit those shots down the field that are big game-changers when you get the big chunk plays."
            Just as big a question mark coming into the season was the quarterback position, where the Bears lost a four-year starter in Charlie Brewer. But, that question's been answered by both Gerry Bohanon and redshirt freshman Blake Shapen.
            Bohanon started the first 11 games and threw for 2,192 yards and 17 touchdowns while adding 303 yards and nine TDs on the ground. When Bohanon suffered a pulled right hamstring in the first half of a 20-10 win at Kansas State, Shapen came on in relief, leading the Bears to a 21-16 win over Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship and earning game MVP honors.
            "I think it shows to our offense that whatever quarterback is in the game, we're going to be able to get the job done," tight end Ben Sims said. "We've got Gerry back now, and I think we're going to be firing on all cylinders."
            While Shapen is recovering from a shoulder surgery, Bohanon is close to 100% and will get the start in Saturday's game.
            "It took him a little while to kind of knock the rust off," Grimes said of Bohanon, "but I anticipate that he'll be at full speed for the game. And I anticipate him playing well."
            During fall camp, when there was a three-way quarterback battle, Grimes remembers Bohanon being in the film room at 6 in the morning when he got there and 11 at night when he left the building.
            "Not in a way that anyone would notice, just in the quarterback room with the door shut, watching film," Grimes said. "I remember telling him, 'Man, you've got to go home and get some sleep. This is a long fall camp.' And he told me, 'Coach, I can sleep when I've won this position. I've got work to do."
            Even coming off a COVID-affected 2-7 season in head coach Dave Aranda's first year at Baylor, Grimes said the team talked about winning a championship "from day one."
            "Just the vibe and the culture we were developing, we knew we were going to be a good team," Bohanon said. "Everything we talked about – we're going to play physical, we're going to play dominant, we're going to play fast – it was instilled. And the guys were hungry coming off a 2-7 season last year. We knew that wasn't our standard, and we knew what we had to do to improve. During the offseason, we knew we had the opportunity to win it. And we won it."
            Baylor and Ole Miss are both scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on Wednesday. Saturday's game is scheduled for a 7:45 p.m. kickoff at Caesars Superdome and will be televised nationally by ESPN, with Joe Tessitore, Greg McElroy and Katie

THEY'VE COME A LONG WAY

Players Mentioned

Gerry Bohanon

Charlie Brewer

Trestan Ebner

Jacob Gall

Connor Galvin

Grant Miller

Blake Shapen

Ben Sims

Abram Smith

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