Defense Shines with Four Takeaways in Green & Gold Scrimmage

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Baylor worked all spring on trying to develop an offensive identity with first-year offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes.
            And while there were certainly some hits and misses, that's what was on display in Saturday's Green & Gold Game at McLane Stadium. Sophomore quarterback Jacob Zeno threw a 29-yard TD pass to R.J. Sneed on the final play to finish off the Green's 18-3 win over the Gold in a two-hour scrimmage.
            "Just in the play selection, you could see it," second-year head coach Dave Aranda said. "One wide-zone run after another; the play-action passes; the max-protection, two-man routes that you could see. I think that's going to be us. The more effective we can run the ball, the more secondary players are going to be tied to the run, the more we get the one-on-ones.
            "To be the consistent, reliable offense we want comes with running the football and really setting the stage for the play-action passes. We can see that. I think the details, we can hone in on better."
            While Zeno. Gerry Bohanon and redshirt freshman Blake Shapen had their moments in the passing game, and Trestan Ebner and Abram Smith had success running the ball, this was a scrimmage dominated for the most part by the defense.
            The Green team's first two series ended in interceptions by freshman linebacker Tyrone M. Brown and junior cornerback Al Walcott. Noah Rauschenberg booted a 41-yard field goal after the first turnover, but LSU transfer Siaki "Apu" Ika sacked Shapen in the end zone for a safety on the next play after Walcott's pick.
            "As an offense, if you go against a defense that struggles at times, you may look really good, but you don't' know how good you are," said senior tight end Christoph Henle, who hauled in seven catches while splitting time between the Green and Gold squads. "That defense was really good last year, but they've improved tremendously this offseason and spring. Going against such a good defense – iron sharpens iron – has made our offense better."
            Junior cornerback Byron Hanspard came up with the third interception of the day on a live tip-ball drill when a pass to Javon Gipson went through the freshman receiver's hands and was deflected by senior safety Christian Morgan.
            In the only sustained series of the first half, Bohanon engineered a 13-play, 85-yard scoring drive that ended with Ebner bouncing it outside and scoring from the 1-yard line, getting a helping hand from a perimeter block by sophomore receiver Jaylen Ellis.
            Smith, switched from linebacker to running back last week, said the offensive line has shown a "little more physicality . . . the holes are right where you need them."
            Picking up where he left off, Bohanon led the Gold offense on the first series of the second half and completed a fourth-down pass to Jared Atkinson. But, the Green defense came up with a big play, with cornerback Kalon "Boogie" Barnes stripping the ball and Morgan recovering at the 26.
            Shapen connected on back-to-back passes to Henle, setting up a 33-yard field goal by Mayer that extended the lead to 12-3.
            Using a running clock in a 30-minute second half, Zeno hooked up with Ebner on a short pass that picked up 24 yards, then found Sneed down the right sideline for the 29-yard TD pass on an untimed final play.
            "I think it was probably earned needed, but I also felt like they were competing, so they earned it," Aranda said of ending the scrimmage with the TD pass. "One of the things that I love about football is nothing is given."
            With injuries depleting some of the positions, Aranda admitted that it "probably a bit much" to play a two-team scrimmage. But, they were able to fight through it by rotating players on the different squads, including Ika and Chidi Ogbonnaya at nose tackle.
            "I really appreciate their effort and fighting through it," Aranda said. "You could see guys changing jerseys on the side. I appreciate that. I appreciate their effort to give us a spring game. I'm looking forward to what's next."
            After the 15^th and final day of spring football, Baylor will go straight into its summer conditioning program. The Bears kick off the 2021 season Sept. 4 and will host seven home games, including BYU, Texas and Oklahoma.
            For ticket information, go to the 2021 Baylor Football Tickets link.

Defense Shines with Four Takeaways in Green & Gold Scrimmage

Players Mentioned

Jared Atkinson

Gerry Bohanon

Tyrone Brown

Trestan Ebner

Jaylen Ellis

Javon Gipson

Christoph Henle

Christian Morgan

Chidi Ogbonnaya

Noah Rauschenberg

Blake Shapen

Abram Smith

R.J. Sneed

Al Walcott

Jacob Zeno

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