By Blake Vines | Reporter
Baylor (5-4, 3-3 Big 12) came out of Week 11 with a refreshing bye week (and a win) in the rearview mirror. Now, they’re set to take on No. 13 Utah (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) at home.
After the week off, players and coaches feel that they have regained an edge.
“We know we have to be locked in and we have to play really well in order to win this game,” redshirt senior quarterback Sawyer Robertson said. “I would say there was a lot more focus, edge and practice over the bye week because, like you said, we didn’t come out like we wanted to after last bye week.”
Utah’s notable games include a 45-14 win over then-No. 17 Cincinnati and a 24-21 loss to then-No. 15 BYU. The Utes aren’t a team to take lightly.
“The combination of those few things — physical, fast, athletic — all that stuff, that makes for a pretty good defense,” Robertson said. “So the challenge is there, but we’re going to attack it.”
Utah ranks No. 8 nationally in both scoring offense and scoring defense, led by a running game that averages 6 yards per carry. With Baylor’s rushing defense struggling, the Bears will focus on making stops on the ground.
“They have a good O-Line,” redshirt freshman cornerback Reggie Bush II said. “Based on things they’ve seen in the past, they’ll try to replicate the things that other teams have taken advantage of against us. But, as we’ve been doing, we’ve been trying to correct mistakes, keep working and just prove that we’re a good defense.”
The last three games of the regular season are critical for Baylor. Every facet of the game is focused on and practiced from week to week. One of those focuses lately has been Robertson’s scrambling ability.
Currently, Robertson’s ability to run the ball out of the pocket has been almost non-existent, totaling a career-low 13 yards rushing on 39 carries this season. In the game against UCF, though, he showed glimpses of his rushing game on deep slant and vertical routes.
“The five or four yards that he gets can make it an easier third or fourth down, and that showed up in this last game,” head coach Dave Aranda said. “The team we’re about to play plays a ton of man coverage, and generally, guys are going to be close together and stuck on one another. So to elongate and to create more time, the scrambling to throw or the scrambling to run if guys’ backs are turned is always a thing.”
The Bears will battle it out against No. 13 Utah at 6 p.m. Saturday at McLane Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
