Baylor’s winless football team has surpassed expectations established by Las Vegas three times in eight games this season.
A 28-point underdog to Oklahoma on Sept. 23, Baylor lost, 49-41 in its Big 12 opener, a major improvement from its non-conference showing.
A 14.5-point underdog to Kansas State, the Bears lost 33-20.
Baylor put a big scare into West Virginia, a 10.5-point favorite, and lost, 38-36, in a game in which the teams combined for 745 passing yards.
The Bears’ strong showing against West Virginia translated to Baylor showing up as just a 10-point underdog against Texas, which routed the Bears, 38-7, Saturday in
Waco.
It’s not difficult to pinpoint the recurring theme in Baylor’s better games: Denzel Mims has a big day.
Mims, a sophomore out of Daingerfield, Texas, is shown a lot of respect by Big 12 defenses that double-cover him and he often still finds a way to produce big numbers.
A 6-foot-3, 197-pound state-champion sprinter, put Oklahoma’s secondary on its heels with an 11-catch, 192-yard, three-touchdown day. He had 127 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions vs. Kansas State and caught seven passes for 132 yards against West Virginia.
As Mims goes, so go the Bears. Texas kept him out of the end zone and limited him to 42 yards on four receptions.
Kansas has the defensive playmakers to disrupt Baylor’s quarterbacks. Joe Dineen has made 15.5 tackles for loss, Daniel Wise 12, Dorance Armstrong 7, Josh Ehambe 5.5. If the men up front can rattle Baylor into turnovers and make the Bears’ quarterbacks hurry, that could be the key to containing Mims, which is the key to climbing out of last place in the Big 12.
