By Collin Bryant | Sports Writer
Baylor football finally earned its first victory of the season against the Kansas Jayhawks (1-8) this past weekend, cruising to a 38-9 win in Lawrence, Kan.
Freshman quarterback Charlie Brewer was impressive in his first starting game for Baylor (1-8). Brewer passed for 315 yards and three touchdowns, and he completed 23 of his 29 passes. Brewer also ran for 22 yards and caught a pass for 20 yards off a trick play from sophomore wide receiver Jared Atkinson.
Baylor head coach Matt Rhule said the young quarterback exceeded his expectations.
“I thought he was really, really good,” Rhule said. “We had a good plan to keep it simple for him, but he threw the ball down the field a good bit and he had a chance at a couple other ones. So, we were aggressive. We know Charlie is a good player and he can run around and make some plays.”
With Brewer at quarterback, the offense managed 455 total yards, including 335 in the air and 120 on the ground, led by junior running back Terence Williams’ 62 yards and one touchdown.
Baylor’s defense limited Kansas to just 289 yards of total offense and three field goals, a testament to the strength of the Baylor defense who played one of their best games.
Rhule said he felt the defense’s play begin to come together throughout the week at practice.
“Well I think it started last week. You saw a lot of pieces coming together for a long time and they just never really kind of put it together,” Rhule said. “So, just really proud of our players and their resiliency.”
The Bears also made Big 12 history for the school by not allowing a touchdown on the road.
The defensive effort was led by senior linebacker Taylor Young, who made his first start at middle linebacker. Young stepped into the role of injured sophomore middle linebacker Clay Johnston who injured his foot last week and won’t be back for the rest of the season.
Young said playing middle linebacker was quite different at first but he felt he did an adequate job given his lack of experience.
“It was a huge change, because I was playing middle like a majority of the game. So, I’m telling people how to get lined up and stuff like that, controlling everybody,” Young said. “So, it was a big change for me, but I think I did alright for my first time doing it.”
Young led the team with 10 tackles against the Jayhawk offense. After his performance, Young moved into second place on Baylor’s career sacks list with 15.5.
Rhule said he hopes the team will continue to believe in themselves and will stay committed to the gameplay moving forward.
“I think the kids have worked hard anyway. I don’t know if I can ask for much more from them,” Rhule said. “To have all the injuries we had last week and have a whole bunch of guys step up, I hope they have a little more confidence and that they continue to just commit to the process of saying what’s next and trying to be the best they can be every day.”
Baylor looks to extend its winning streak when it will battle Texas Tech at 11:00 a.m., Saturday at AT&T Stadium.
