The annual spring Baylor game was this weekend, and there was plenty to take away from the performance Matt Rhule put on. Before the game even started, Rhule got ahold of a microphone and preached to the crowd about his team. I'm not sure if it was just a slip-up, but he may have even promised a bowl game.
After nearly an hour-long rain delay that had me huddled in the merchandise store, football on the Brazos was BACK!
Right out of the gate, the most noticeable player on the field was Baylor Wide Receiver Pooh Stricklin. Stricklin was ruled out of the game as a precaution and wasn't wearing pads on the sidelines. All the injured players on the sidelines stood together and took in the game... except Pooh.
Pooh spent the entire game jogging laps around the sidelines. These weren't training laps though. No, these were “drag your feet as slow as possible so it looks like you're moving” laps.
Why he was shuffling around the stadium is still a mystery. Is Pooh secretly a shark that will die if he stops moving? Did Matt give him a Fitbit and tell him to get 10,000 steps? We may never know…
On a more serious note though, there was plenty to dissect. Every quarterback on Baylor's current roster got at least a couple snaps and we were finally able to witness the highly praised Gerry Bohanon. In my opinion, however, he was disappointing.
He handed the ball off to Tristan Ebner well, but other than that, there wasn't anything to take note of. His most memorable play was the final play of the game where he had a chance to win the game, but got sacked...
Charlie Brewer had very limited time due to a small shoulder injury, but he looked OK. He connected with Marques Jones for a 64-yard touchdown early in the game thanks to a missed tackle by Jameson Houston.
Picking the play of the game was made easy. Preston Heard, the sophomore QB, threw a brilliant ball to R.J. Sneed in the front corner of the end zone for a touchdown as time expired to send the game to overtime.
The two other notable position groups were the offensive and defensive lines. Both offensive units were getting swam on by the defensive linemen. These guys hardly ever gave their quarterback protection and often left their running backs out to dry. I’m not sure if this was because the defensive line was that good, or that the offensive line was that bad...
Now all this being said, it's worth noting that this was only the spring game. Only one quarter (and two overtime possessions) were played and not everyone was 100%. Baylor's top four wide receivers, Denzel Mims, Chris Platt, Jalen Hurd, and Pooh Stricklin, were all held out due to injury concerns. There's plenty of time left this summer for Baylor to improve to the standard needed for Rhule to come through on his bowl game promise.
