Sports Take: Special teams unit wins championships — but not conference games

By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer

100%.

It’s a red-tinged emoji that appears under way too many Facebook posts. It is, I’ve been told, a grade one can earn on an exam — though I’ve never seen any evidence of that fact. And it’s also the chance ESPN gave Baylor to beat Colorado during the fourth quarter of Saturday night’s Big 12 opener. Instead, the Bears fell back to 2-2 on the season and 2-9 against conference opponents since 2022.

There was a time when everything was going right for the Bears. A special teams unit that’s ranked No. 1 in the country continued its dominance. Fifth-year senior wide receiver Jamaal Bell stole the show, slicing 100 yards upfield for a touchdown. Redshirt junior wide receiver Josh Cameron chipped in a candidate for punt return of the year, avoiding four would-be tacklers on a 54-yard return. And of course, Palmer Williams continued his Ray Guy Award campaign, averaging an ultra-consistent 49.3 yards per punt with a long of 55.

Those special teams plays set the Bears up with fantastic field positions on both sides of the ball. It’s how they jumped out to a 24-10 lead despite a piddling 30% offensive success rate. It covered up for a running back room that averaged just 2.7 yards per carry against what had been the No. 81 rushing defense in the nation.

But even the most exceptional of special teams units couldn’t stop the Bears’ offense and defense alike from falling apart.

After a sensational start, redshirt junior quarterback Sawyer Robertson faced a prolonged dry spell. From 14:29 in the second quarter — when Robertson hit senior wide receiver Monaray Baldwin for a highlight-reel touchdown catch — until the end of the third quarter, Robertson completed three of 12 passes for six yards.

Robertson led one last scoring drive to open the fourth quarter, but the damage was done. Robertson completed six of seven passes for 93 yards and a score on his first three drives; afterwards, he went five for 14 with 55 yards and a touchdown. That score – a perfectly-placed dime to senior wide receiver Hal Presley, who went one-handed for style points – marked the Bears’ only points in the second half or overtime.

Baylor’s offensive struggles can’t all be placed on Robertson’s shoulders. The injury-replacement-turned-potential-QB1 rushed nine times for 82 yards and a touchdown, often injecting life into an otherwise stagnant unit.

It was the running back quartet, which rushed 31 times for 83 yards and a fumble, which often left the Bears in disadvantageous positions and forced Robertson to pull rabbits out of hats. Eventually, though, they ran out of hats – and it’s a heck of a lot harder to pull a rabbit out of thin air in Colorado, where the heightened elevation means the air is literally thinner.

As Baylor’s offense continued grinding along, its defense struggled to contain a star-studded Colorado offense headed by junior quarterback Shedeur Sanders. The Buffaloes outgained the Bears in all four quarters, despite averaging just 0.2 more yards per play, thanks to an uncharacteristically successful rushing attack. Somehow, the Buffaloes’ 91 yards rushing marked their second-highest figure of the season, more than Nos. 2 and 3 combined.

Before the game’s final minute, Dave Aranda’s defense played an impeccable game. Their multifaceted pass rush made Colorado’s offensive line look like papier-maché: ripped to shreds and repeatedly bashed, piñata style. The Bears finished with eight sacks, their most since the 2021 Sugar Bowl, and 12 tackles for loss, leaving Sanders to improvise on every drop back. At one point, Baylor rang up four sacks in five plays.

But if any quarterback in the country can thrive without a single successful block in front of them, it’s Shedeur Sanders. He bobbed and weaved, dodged and dropped and believed his way to 341 yards and three total touchdowns. For every successful sack, the potential top-10 pick shook off three arm tackles.

Forcing anyone to relive the final 10 seconds of regulation play should be punishable by the United Nations. Four sacks in five plays across the final two drives weren’t enough to overcome two late penalties, giving Sanders and the Buffaloes prime real estate with a minute remaining. A busted coverage nearly turned into a touchdown; Will Sheppard really — and literally — dropped the ball on that one.

But with two seconds left, an ill-fated pass rush and, again, mangled coverages in the secondary gave Sanders an opportunity to heave up a prayer to LaJohntay Wester. The Scriptures say faith is the assurance of things not yet seen, but Sanders threw that ball with the sight of a cleric. We’re heading to overtime, baby.

An almost impossibly easy Buffaloes scoring drive to open the extra frame put all the onus on the floundering Baylor offense, which managed just 116 yards in the entire second half. And on first-and-goal from the 1-yard line, everything unraveled. Two-way superstar Travis Hunter, who also caught seven passes for 130 yards, popped senior running back Dominic Richardson on the goal line. The ball skidded through the end zone and into the outstretched arms of a Colorado defender, concluding one of the most gut-wrenching Baylor losses in recent memory.

In one sense, it’s good to have gut-wrenching losses again — it means the team is good enough to stomach. That’s a big step up from the bowels of 2023, where an overtime loss to Houston at McLane Stadium felt more depressing than frustrating. Why get mad when there’s no hope of improvement? The spark has returned, and after what the product on the field looked like last year, that’s a genuinely big step.

That isn’t to say, though, that anyone should feel good about the next several weeks. Baylor’s offensive line looked outmatched at times against a Colorado defensive line that allowed 449 yards to North Dakota State.

Next week, the Bears will host a No. 22 BYU squad that just held then-No. 13 Kansas State’s vaunted rushing attack under 10 points in a 38-9 shellacking. Then it’s off to No. 18 Iowa State to play the 3-0 Cyclones, who have allowed just 29 points all season.

Special teams dominance is a fantastic thing to hang one’s hat on. Nothing is as exciting as a random kick return touchdown to jolt the game back into motion. But the rest of the team has to put its money where the kicker’s mouth is. Sophomore punter Palmer Williams’ right leg can only hold opponents at bay for so long. When the rubber meets the road, somebody has to step up. And if they don’t — well, at least there’ll be a Ray Guy Award to show for it.