Five Keys to Saturday's Game
10/20/2023 10:01:00 PM | Football
Bears need to start fast and give QB some help
BAYLOR at CINCINNATI
- START FAST: That's been an issue all year long for the Bears, who have been outscored 49-23 in the first quarter and 111-55 in the opening half. The slow starts put you in desperation mode and puts even more pressure on both sides, but especially the offense. In the ideal scenario, Baylor would score first and put Cincinnati in more of a catch-up mode. "That's the edge that we feel internally, that's the confidence that we've got," said seventh-year senior Bryson Jackson. "Now, we just need to go out there and show it. And we need our leaders to step up and feed that energy throughout the group on Saturday. When we go out there, just play relentless. We've got to go out there and play for each other, play together and just pound the rock from the start."
- GIVE BLAKE SOME HELP: Fourth-year junior quarterback Blake Shapen has been impressive in his two games since returning from a knee injury, completing 43-of-72 for 617 yards and two touchdowns and running for another. But the Bears have to find ways to help him. "As much as the struggles are frustrating and debilitating at times, there can be such growth that can come out of it," Baylor coach Dave Aranda said. "It's a matter of how you look at it and how you use it. And I think Blake has done an amazing job that way, and I think he's way strong mentally. I think he will continue to show that and be a leader for us. With that, I think the run game has to improve to help him. We have to throw to open it up, to get the angles and the numbers in the run game we want. Finding ways to run it without running it is something we're looking hard at."
- STAY ON SCHEDULE: The Baylor offense's struggles in the red zone (10 touchdowns in 28 chances), third down (36-of-94 conversion rate) and fourth down (10-of-22) aren't isolated to just one thing. But one thing that would help is making enough yards on first down and staying ahead of the chains. Instead of a steady diet of runs on first down, "throw it and be creative to get those four yards to stay on track and stay on schedule," Aranda said, "just so that it's not always run-run-pass, but a bubble screen here and an access throw there. I think that's something that we're paying attention to and involved in right now."
- KEEP HIM IN THE POCKET: It's not that former Florida and Arizona State quarterback Emory Jones can't throw it. He's completed 61% of his passes, throwing for 1,322 yards and 11 touchdowns, but he's also been intercepted eight times and seems to get flustered at times when he has to stay in the pocket. He's at his best when he gets outside the pocket and either throws on the run or takes off, ranking second on the team with 352 yards rushing. "He's a guy that can take shots and make plays deep," Jackson said. "If we can just stick to our coverage and execute, then we can shut all that down. I'm confident in this team and this team's ability to go execute on Saturday against him."
- LEARN AND ADJUST: It's easy to scout teams like Texas and TCU that you've played against more than 100 times in the history of the programs. And more often than not, the bulk of the players have either played against or with players on the other side. This is the first-ever meeting between Baylor and Cincinnati, one of the league's four newcomers, and the Bearcats only have three players on their roster from Texas. While you go in with a specific game plan, the key will be who makes the better adjustments and makes in-game changes that will impact the game.
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