Jordan Smith | Sports Writer
Week one of college football is in the books. The Baylor Bears took care of business in their season opener last week by demolishing the Northwestern State Demons 55-7, starting the season off on a good note.
With a win under their belts, the Bears will go against Southern Methodist University, a team that is coming off of a season-opening win against the University of North Texas, 34-21. The Bears and Mustangs have been playing each other since Oct. 7, 1916, when the Bears ran over the Mustangs, 61-0.
The overall series record of this century-old matchup is at an almost even record of 38-36-7, with Baylor winning the majority of the games in the series.
Head coach Jim Grobe said he is impressed by the way Mustang head coach Chad Morris implements in his game plan.
Mustang head coach Chad Morris implements in his game plan.
“Well I think one of the things, you know that Chad Morris is doing a good job of, we had success of doing this at Wake Forest, is bringing in a lot of young kids, and he is being patient with them. He’s redshirting a bunch of these kids, and then they are getting a lot of experience,” Grobe said.
Baylor has beaten SMU the past 12 times they have gone against one another, outscoring the Mustangs 516-138 during this span. The last time the Green and Gold lost was on Oct. 11, 1986, 27-21.
From the other sideline’s perspective, Morris talked about Baylor’s football team, their successes and their attitude and demeanor towards how they play football.
“Obviously they’ve had great success in what they do. I mean, everyone is going to run the power and inside zone, and they do that. They do a tremendous job. Their guys have an unbelievable confidence in their system,” Morris said. “There’s always an outlet. So if you sneak the extra hat down into the box, they are gonna find you and they’re going to attack you. If you play off coverage, they are going to hit you underneath. Even if you play off coverage, they’re still gonna try to run by you. They’ve got elite speed out on the edge and they’re gonna do what they do, doesn’t matter who they play.”
Grobe said he is aware of the challenge the Mustangs’ elusiveness can cause for teams.
“I think, offensively, Chad’s doing the same things he did at Clemson, and when I was at Wake, I had to go against that stuff, so I know how hard it is for Phil Bennett and the defensive guys to get ready,” Grobe said.
The Mustangs are looking to turn things around after a horrible 2015 campaign where they went 2-10 for the season. They played Baylor last season and saw a defeat handed to them by a final of 56-21.This season, the Bears hope for the same result.
“What I think we are seeing and what you would expect is that the longer Chad is there, the more experience these guys get and the better they’ll play. So, I’m expecting a real challenge Saturday,” Grobe said. “I know they challenged us last year, especially early. I would not expect anything different.”
Kick off is set for 2:30 p.m. Saturday at McLane Stadium.
