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From the Other Side: Talking Baylor with Shehan Jeyarajah

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This Saturday, Oklahoma State welcomes the Bears of Baylor to Stillwater for a homecoming matchup!

Joining me this week to help preview this new-look (and winless) Baylor team is Shehan Jeyarajah who covers the Big 12 for Big 12 DieHards. He’s a Baylor graduate who previously covered the Bears for the school paper and the Dallas Morning News.

We discuss the differences between Baylor’s two quarterbacks, why Baylor’s run game could be a lot better this week, and why the Oklahoma State run game could feast on Baylor.

If you’re interested, the full audio interview is available to listen to at the bottom of this post. There were a few audio glitches through the interview, but they’re short. Also, I apologize for my shortcomings as an interviewer.


Phillip Slavin: We’ll start with the offense. Despite the head coaching change, Baylor is still putting up yards and points. How has the offense looked since the quarterback switch from Anu Solomon to Zach Smith?

Shehan Jeyarajah: “I think the thing that Smith really gives them that Solomon did not was he’s a much more explosive passer. He’s got a big arm. I think he’s gotten the chance to show that against Oklahoma, he showed that a little against Kansas State. Baylor’s really feasted on the big passing plays this season. They have tons and tons of 60 and 70 yard touchdowns. I think Denzel Mims on his own has four 60-yard plays and I think all of them are for touchdowns. So Smith is a much more an explosive passer. The one thing he doesn’t bring is that Solomon was able to run the ball with a little more consistency, and Baylor’s offensive line has been pretty inconsistent this year, which has probably been their biggest issue. Not having that running threat from the quarterback has hurt them a little bit in the run game. But, Smith is able to locate his receivers better, he has a much bigger arm, and he’s able to make some of those explosive plays that Solomon isn’t able to make.”

PS: Smith has started three games to Solomon’s two. While Smith has more touchdown passes with eight, he also has more interceptions with 5. Would you say Smith is more of a liability than Solomon was?

Zach Smith [USATSI]

SJ: “I will say one of the interceptions was on a Hail Mary at the end of a game, but he definitely does turn the ball over more. Solomon was more of a game manager. Coach Rhule did say that one of the reasons they didn’t start Zach Smith to start the season is because I believe he had thrown an interception in every game he played in last season, and they felt like holding onto the ball was more of a premium this season. The fact is that you have to respect the whole field when Zach Smith is on the field, where you didn’t with Solomon. So he’s definitely more likely to turn the ball over. He’s been a little bit better about that the past couple of weeks, but it’s still a concern with Smith versus when Solomon was starting.”

PS: Looking at the wide receivers, I would say Denzel Mims is the go-to guy. What makes him so special?

[USATSI]

SJ: “Mims was an unknown when he committed in 2015 out of Daingerfield in East Texas. He was a track star in high school, I think won the 200 meter in the 3-A level in Texas. He’s a fast kid, really explosive. He’s also surprisingly big. The biggest change I’ve seen this year is his body control. His hands have really improved. And even just since the first two games of the year, since Smith has come in, Mims has been really impressive. Against Oklahoma he posted 192 yards and three touchdowns including a couple of absolutely spectacular catches. At this point he has seven receiving touchdowns which is second in the nation. Mims has definitely been the go-to-guy. Baylor lost its one upperclassmen receiver Chris Platt to a torn ACL so more has been put on Mims. I think he’s as talented as, I won’t say any receiver in the Big 12, but he’s definitely in that next-tier.”

PS: You mentioned that Solomon not starting has hurt the run game. What would you say is the problem with Baylor’s run game?

SJ: “It’s the offensive line. They’ve been really really inconsistent on the offensive line. They’ve been shifting several of their players. They’ve had three guys who have started consistently; that’s Mo Porter at left tackle who’s been pretty good, Blake Blackmar at left guard who’s been decent, and Patrick Lawrence at right tackle who’s been okay. The other two positions they’ve been moving guys around. They started a true freshman a couple of games at center. The guy who is starting at center right now is a converted tight end, so he’s a guy who hadn’t been snapping the ball with any regularity before the season. Right now they’re starting a true freshman at right guard so they really just don’t have five they feel comfortable with, and it’s really shown. Also, the first couple of weeks they were without Terrance Williams, who was one of the few 1,000-yard returning rushers in the Big 12. Not having him and losing JaMychal Hasty who was their other returning scholarship running back, both missed the first three games of the year. Now they have both back this week so we’ll see if that helps at all, but it’s just been a offensive line issue. They just haven’t been able to get much of a push going.”

PS: Turning to the defense, the emphasis for most teams is trying to slow down the Cowboy passing attack. Who in Baylor’s secondary should fans know about heading into the game?

SJ: “I think both of the cornerbacks are actually pretty good. Grayland Arnold is a true sophomore and actually Harrison Hand is a true freshman.

Harrrison Hand [USATSI]

I don’t think any of them are good enough to shut down a player of James Washington’s caliber, but so far they’ve been pretty good keeping up. Arnold is a little bit smaller, he’s about 5-9. Harrison Hand is about 6-0, so he’s a bigger cornerback, both of them are very fast and are improving with their ball skills. I would say both should play pretty decently. The issue has been more at safety. Baylor is going to be missing their starting safety.. their starting two safeties have never started at safety before. For Oklahoma State, they’re going to be able to take advantage of those two guys all game long.”

PS: Baylor has given up almost twice as many yards on the ground as it has gained. Is that an issue with the safties as well or is that a defensive line issue?

SJ: “It’s definitely a safties issue. Don’t get me wrong, the defensive line has had its own issues, especially with injuries, but a huge amount of those yards have come on big plays. Against Duke, all three touchdowns were 34 yards or more and they were all runs. It was missed tackles, specifically by the safeties. The linebackers have played at a pretty high level this year. But the safties have really struggled to tackle in space, they’ve taken some really bad angles and they’re really struggling to adjust to this new defense. It’s really been the big play that Baylor has been susceptible to especially in the run game. They’ve been pretty decent in the short run game, but once they (the runner) get to the second level, they’ve really struggled to bring guys down.”

PS: Through five games, what is Baylor doing well at this point? What has been the biggest improvement from week one to now?

SJ: “I think they’re doing a better job offensively of getting their quarterback into a rhythm. Against K-State they actually had a great game plan, they were running a lot of outs trying to get the receivers in space a little bit more, which in my opinion is really smart. They’re also trying to mitigate not having the offensive line by getting the short passing game going. Defensively, other than missed tackles and giving up big plays, I actually think they’ve been very good. As good as we’ve seen in a couple of years. It’s just that big plays have been the issue, giving up big run plays, and occasionally a big pass play. I think the linebackers are playing pretty well. For how young they are the cornerbacks are playing exceptionally well. They’ve done a much better job of getting pressure with the defensive line than they did early. So for how young this team is I think they’re playing really well, again despite the 0-5 record. I think that, where Baylor is right now, I think they beat Liberty, I think they beat UTSA. If they come into the season with this team I think they’re at least 2-3 right now.

PS: Final question, if Baylor were to win on Saturday, what did they do to make that happen?

SJ: “I think you point at two things. I think that they hit big plays on offense. I think that Denzel Mims is probably the guy that you look at, and maybe they have a breakaway run. They’re able to run the ball more effectively with JaMychal Hasty and with Terrence Williams. Again, running the ball has been their Achilles’s heel this season so if they’re able to get JaMychal Hasty back healthy, and they’re able to put up 200 yards of rushing against Oklahoma State, I think that bodes well for them, especially in the context of playing an excellent team. And then defensively I think it’s about limiting the big rush plays. Oklahoma State is going to have some big pass plays, they’re just so good that you have to pencil a couple of them in. But as long as Baylor can keep the run game under control and keep their defense off the field and rested to go against Oklahoma State, I think that bodes well. But, it’s hard to see them doing that through four quarters against this talented a team.”

We also talk about Matt Rhule’s complicated defense, what makes receiver Denzel Mims so special, where Shehan thinks Baylor will get their first win this season, and what he thinks of the job Matt Rhule is doing so far.

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