Baylor eager to continue growth after poor ’17 run
Baylor is just excited to be here.
The Bears are just two years removed from the sexual assault scandal that ultimately led to coach Matt Rhule’s hiring in 2016. Baylor won a single game last year and this season, the Bears (6-6) went down to the wire, mustering a second half comeback over Texas Tech to become bowl eligible in their season finale.
Thanks to that effort, they’ll play Vanderbilt in the 2018 Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl on Dec. 27 at NRG Stadium.
“Last year was a hard year, but at the end of the day, I could see all the signs of maturity and growth, even as we were going through a one-win season.,” Rhule said. “I made the proclamation in the spring that we would go to a bowl game and so I kind of had to back up what I said and I had to count on the players to do that.
“It was really cool for me to see how unbelievably excited our players were especially our older players about this amazing opportunity.”
Just as much as the scandal, those older players likely remember the last time Baylor went bowling in 2016. In fact, that Cactus Bowl was the last of seven straight before missing out in Rhule’s first season a year ago.
“I really believe in our players,” Rhule said. “After seeing the way they handled adversity last year, I really wanted to see them manage success this season.”
The Texas Bowl will be Baylor’s first bowl game in Texas since the 2014 Cotton Bowl. It’s an ideal arrangement for Rhule just three hours away in Waco.
“Having a chance to stay in Texas, and to play our first bowl game at Baylor as head coach within the state is an absolute home run,” he said. “The anticipation from high school coaches, high school assistant coaches, Baylor people in the high schools and recruits; the anticipation of Baylor coming down and spending a week in Houston was palpable.”
Vanderbilt (6-6) enters the game having won three of its last four, part of a desperate push for bowl eligibility after losing three consecutive games to ranked SEC opponents through October. The Commodores also look to earn their first win over Baylor (having lost their previous two meetings in the early 1950s).
“This team found itself with its back against the wall knowing there was really no margin for error, it’s win or go home,” coach Derek Mason said. “I thought what this team did on the back stretch is what it was capable of.”
Vanderbilt had been to eight previous bowl games all-time with the 2018 Texas Bowl making six in the last 10 years. It’ll be its second under Mason after a 2016 Independence Bowl loss.
Their last bowl win came a year before Mason arrived, in a win over the University of Houston in the 2014 BBVA Compass Bowl. Mason is just the second coach in program history to send Vanderbilt to two bowls in a three-year span.
“Our football team is definitely excited,” Mason said, before heading off to a celebratory pep rally. “We feel like we finished the season strong.”
Both coaches are hoping the game is a boon in recruiting. But for now, their players are excited about the upcoming experience.
“Having a chance now to come to the bowl, having a chance to play a great team like Vanderbilt, this really makes it all worth it,” Rhule said.