There’s a solid matchup Saturday afternoon when a couple of one-loss teams meet up as the BYU Cougars visit the Baylor Bears. That first defeat came last week for Brigham Young as they fell 26-17 at home to Boise State as -6 point favorites.
Baylor, meanwhile, had a nice bounce-back last Saturday with a 45-20 win over West Virginia. The Bears’ only loss came in week five, falling 24-14 at #12 Oklahoma State as +4 point underdogs.
Cougars Sloppy Last Week
BYU is coming off their worst offensive performance last week when they scored a season-low 17 points while turning the ball over four times. RB Tyler Allgaier had his second-lowest rushing output of the season – which still wasn’t a bad afternoon with 73 yards and a TD.
It would seem like this game is going to be an offensive shootout on paper, but Baylor has been very good on defense this season. BYU QB Jaren Hall threw for 300+ last week, but the Bears are 15th in the nation, giving up just 175.0 ypg through the air.
Hall has also thrown three INT’s over the past two games, and the Cougars also put four balls on the turf last week, with Boise State recovering three of those. BYU’s defense has also been good in 2021, allowing only 20.5 ppg, but there’s not a lot they can do when the offense turns the ball over like that.
Statement Game for Bears
Baylor has the 3rd most votes of any team not currently in the top 25, so a win over #19 BYU on Saturday could put them back in the rankings. Oddsmakers are on the Bears’ side, making them -6.5 favorites, a number up from the -4.5 open.
The major question for the Bears coming into Saturday’s game is if this current gauntlet Baylor is on is going to catch up with them? Baylor started this run with a 31-29 win over #14 Iowa State, lost by ten at #19 Oklahoma State, and then dominated a West Virginia team (45-20) that beat them in OT last season.
The Baylor offense was clicking last week, with Gerry Bohanon throwing for 336 yards and four TDs while the Bears also amassed 171 yards on the ground. Those rushing stats are huge, considering Baylor was held to 27 yards rushing on 33 attempts last season against West Virginia. Bohanon is also now up to 11 TDs with 0 INT on 145 attempts.
BYU at Baylor Pick
Bohanon has been great for Baylor, and the Bears’ defense looks good. 6.5 points is a lot to be giving up to the #19 team in the country, though – home or away.
BYU has the ability to run the ball at will with Allgaier, and the Cougars passing game might have unlocked something last week despite the loss to Boise State.