Bobcats open Classic with win
Matt Rhule doesn’t want his Baylor team dwelling on last season.
“I think sometimes when we focus on the past, we end up being victims of that,” Rhule said. “Last year is over; we have to go play.”
But he does want the Bears to learn lessons from a 1-11 year.
The first task is to win the winnable games. Build momentum through September, then hope something clicks in October and November. Maybe there’s magic. Maybe there are as many heartbreaking moments as happy ones.
Maybe Baylor reverses its on-field misfortunes. Maybe the Bears win more than they lose. It all starts with a first game.
Baylor meets lig h tly regarded Abilene Christian tonight at McLane Stadium. Surely, Rhule will be able to tle bit of a boost, a little bit of confidence,” A&M quarterback Kellen Mond said.
“To create that kind of explosive play, it gave a lot of juice to the offense, and the team as well,” Williams said.
Talk about an understatement.
Fisher leaned heavily on Williams and a power running game. The Aggies ran from the I, the offset I, the pistol and the shotgun. They even sprinkled in some option. The fullback was a vital blocker. The tight end was involved in a big way.
Next up for the Aggies: No. 2-ranked Clemson.
Williams, in just more than two quarters of play, rushed for 240 yards on 20 carries. It was the second-best rushing game in Aggies history behind only Bob Smith’s 297 posted against SMU in 1950.
As a team, A&M rushed for 503 yards. The last time the Aggies enjoyed a 500plus kind of rushing production was in 1990, also against SMU, way back when the I was a preferred formation.
And the A&M offense rolled to 758 yards, its second-best effort ever, behind only the 774 gained against Louisi- ana-Lafayette in 1990. The Aggies ran the ball 61 times out of their 96 plays.
Now, all these impressive stats come with a caveat. Northwestern State is a sub- par FCS program that was 4-7 enjoy his first win in Waco. Baylor fans haven’t been able to celebrate a home victory since a homecom- ing afternoon against Kansas on Oct. 15, 2016.
Last year’s home opener was against Liberty, the FCS school coached by Turner Gill, the former star Nebraska quarterback who never was able to beat Baylor when he led programs at Kansas and Buffalo. But the Flames upset a year ago. The Demons haven’t had a winning record in a decade and changed coaches in the offseason. They were playing in front of the larg- est crowd — in person and on television — in their program history.
But Fisher gave the 95,855 fans at Kyle Field a glimpse of how he’ll probably approach the rest of the season. He’s going to run the ball. He’ll call passing plays for the tight decides the Bears 48-45.
FCS wins over their more formidable FBS opponents happen, but they are rare. Liberty’s victory was one of nine FCS wins over an FBS program last season. There has been one upset so far this season, with California-Davis, led by former Colorado coach Dan Hawkins, knock- ing off San Jose State.
The shock of losing to Lib- erty probably played a part end. A&M receivers will be as adept at catching as they are at blocking downfield.
No matter the quality of the opponent, it was a nice debut for Fisher.
Mond, who was named the starter at quarterback on the eve of the game, per- formed well, completing 17 of his 25 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns. Nick Starkel, the second-teamer, replaced Mond in the third whether to launch an investigation. Smith was fired in the wake of allegations of domestic violence toward in a 17-10 home defeat to UTSA. Then the Bears lost to Duke on the road. They were competitive in their Big 12 home opener against Oklahoma and nearly upset West Virginia.
But being competitive is no longer an acceptable bench- mark.
“Coach has been preach- ing, ‘What’s next?’ ” receiver Marques Jones said this week. “So, no, last year’s opener isn’t on our minds.
“Last year, we were just learning about the process,” he said. “Now we’ve had a whole year. It would be a real confidence booster to go out and see the fruits of our labor.”
Baylor’s offense should be better than a year ago.
The receiving group, led by Denzel Mims, is one of the deepest in the Big 12. Mims averaged 90.6 receiving yards a game last fall, tops among returning wideouts in the Big 12.
The most intriguing player quarter. He completed five of his eight pass attempts for 63 yards and a touchdown.
The defense also kept the Demons in check. North- western State didn’t score until early in the fourth quar- ter, when quarterback Clay Holgorsen hit Jazz Ferguson for a 71-yard touchdown. An Aggies defensive back slipped on the play, allowing a clean path to the end zone.
The A&M defense allowed his ex-wife. Meyer was suspended for three games after an investigation of how he handled allegations about could be Jalen Hurd, the former star tailback at Tennessee. Hurd rushed for 2,638 yards in his two-plus seasons with the Volunteers, which was sixth-highest in school history. But Hurd quit the team midway through the 2016 season. He decided to switch positions to receiver and transfer to Baylor. He redshirted last season.
The Bears now have an experienced quarterback and offensive line. Their defense is more seasoned. It’s time to figure out whether they’re good enough to win more than one game.
Rhule said he’s probably telling his team the same message Nick Saban is preaching at Alabama. Get off to a fast start. Don’t over- look opponents. Believe in the system and the work the team did through the spring and preseason camp. only 230 yards, 21 of which came on the ground. The Demons totaled only 13 first downs, six of which were the result of an A&M penalty.
“Very proud of our team,” Fisher gushed. “Thought they played great . ... We just took control of the game, took control of the line of scrimmage.” Smith.
Notes: Herman said Cam- eron Dicker, a freshman from Lake Travis, has won the starting job as place kicker ahead of senior Joshua Rowland, who held the job last year . ... Herman said he expects junior linebacker Jeffrey McCulloch, who has been working through a pec- toral injury, to play against Maryland today. McCulloch is listed as the backup to Anthony Wheeler at middle linebacker. Wheeler is suspended for the first half of the game after getting ejected for targeting during last season’s Texas Bowl . ... Herman said he plans to use every freshman in at least four games. An amendment to the NCAA rule this season allows play- ers to appear in as many as four games without losinga season of eligibility.
The Texas State volleyball team (1-3) gave the newly renovated Strahan Arena a victorious debut when it beat UT-San Antonio (3-1) on Thursday night, three sets to one, to start off the 2018 Creeds & Crests Classic in San Marcos.
The Bobcats took the first set 25-17 before dropping the second 25-20. Texas State then finished off the Roadrunners by winning the next two sets 25-21 and 25-23.
Four Bobcats reached double-digit kills — senior Madison Daigle had a career-high 16, junior Cheyenne Huskey added 15, senior Amy Pflughaupt pitched in 11 and freshman Janell Fitzgerald had 10. Huskey also had 11 digs, while Daigle added six blocks, four assists and four digs.
Freshman Emily Dewalt led the Bobcats in assists with 47 and digs with 24. Junior Micah Dinwiddie also had 10 digs.
It was also the first win for the Bobcats after being swept in their first three matches last weekend in the Baylor Invitational in Waco. They lost in three straight sets last Friday to Marquette before losing to No. 16 Baylor and LSU in the same fashion last Saturday.
Incarnate Word, Abilene Christian and James Madison are the other three schools participating in this weekend’s tournament with Texas State and UTSA. The Bobcats played James Madison late Friday and have a doubleheader Saturday with Incarnate Word at noon and Abilene Christian at 6:30 pm.
Soccer drops two in Louisiana: The women’s soccer team (1-3) lost both of its matches on the road last weekend, first on Friday to McNeese State 2-1, and then Sunday to LSU 2-0.
Sophomore Renny Moore, from Westlake, scored against McNeese State, tying the game at the 16:28 mark. McNeese State’s Mariah Ruelas scored the winning goal at the 51:47.
Adrienne Richard son scored both of the Tigers’ goals in the shutout of the Bobcats.
The Bobcats are on the third game of a five-game road stint, taking on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday night and Prairie View A&M on Sunday. Texas State will play Texas in Austin next Friday before returning home the following weekend.
Cross-country begins: Cross-country season begins this weekend in Waco for the Bear Twilight Invite. Baylor, UTA, Incarnate Word, North Texas, TCU and SMU are also participating in the event, with Baylor hosting.
The Bobcats women’s team was picked to repeat as conference champions in a preseason poll released by the Sun Belt Conference this week, while the men’s team was picked to finish fourth. The women received nine out of 12 first-place votes.
Four Bobcats were named to the top returners to watch list that was also released by the Sun Belt— McKynzie King, Kendra Long, Joseph Meade and Devina Schneider.