Baylor Game Observations

Is Baylor better than Ohio State? I can easily say no.

Then why did UB fare so much better versus OSU? Well UB's strengths happened to align with Ohio State's weaknesses, while UB's weaknesses aligned with Baylor's strengths.

UB does not seem to adjust to their opponent, or to even their own personnel. We want to be a team that dictates what will happen on the field, so we refuse to react to what actually happens on the field.

1) Joe Licata - Is not a zone read QB anymore than Alex Zordich is a 5 wide run-and-shoot QB.

2) Alex Zordich - Came into the game after a scoring drive to spark the running game. This was the worst coaching move ever for a few reasons.

2a) UB had just scored on the previous drive, and had offensive momentum

2b) Baylor has notoriously bad pass defense, Geno Smith threw for 656 yards last year and 8 TDs against Baylor last year. Stedman Bailey caught 13 balls for 303 yards and 5 TDs in that game. We could have had success passing the ball.

2c) Baylor does not change their set, they try to dictate what happens on defense and even if they fail, they trust their offense to score more than the opponent.

2d) By putting in Z, UB decided to adjust away from their strength. It didn't work, not only the momentum killing premature snap, but the end of UB's successful offensive output for the day.

2e) I question if slowing down the game via the run game, even if successful, would have done anything positive. How tired could the defense have been, in the first quarter, they were only on the field for 4 minutes.

3) Alex Neutz was open on every play. They played him one-on-one with no safety help, and the corner was not in the same league as Neutz.

3a) 54 yard reception (Interference penalty declined) - Drew Pass Interference penalty - 49 yard reception - 14 yard TD catch - 10 yard catch - Interception thrown targeting Neutz - 62 yard catch

Neutz was targeted 7 times in the 1st half, and each time it resulted in a big play, even the INT was at worst a good punt.

The only question I have is why was he targeted only 7 times? Baylor made no effort to shift the defense over to Neutz, and fortunately for him, UB focused more on spreading the attack around than focusing their deadliest weapon on Baylor's weakest defense.

4) Defensively, Baylor took the 3-3 stack and drove right through the middle of it, just as Ohio State did. UB seemed to again focus our defensive attack on the outside, which worked for us as Ohio State dropped back into a more traditional passing game, Baylor's QB never held the ball long enough for UB's pass rush to matter.

4b) I've seen Oregon and Baylor play live and the hardest part about playing those teams is their ability to isolate and exploit a weak link. UB's strength is their pass rush, their weakness seems to be tackling. By getting the ball out quickly to good athletes, UB was exposed.

4c) The defensive scheme did not help. In a glorified 3-3-5 set up, playing a cover 3 zone creates a few matchup problems. I would have preferred to see UB utilize a Dime package with Mack on the line as a DE, Redden and Sherry as extra DBs and Skinner at MLB. I did not see the logic in forcing linebackers to cover super fast receivers in 112 degree heat, while leaving our surplus of speedy DBs from Florida on the bench.

All in all, we won't really know what this team is about for another few weeks, but it is time for a change. Texas lost to BYU and they now have a new defensive coordinator. UB allowed 96 points in 6 quarters, it is time for a new defensive coordinator. With a tune up game, and a bye week, it would be the perfect time to instal a working defense and have it ready in time for MAC play.