2018 Baylor Bears football team

The 2018 Baylor Bears football team represented Baylor University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bears played their home games at the McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas. They competed as a member of the Big 12 Conference and were led by second-year head coach Matt Rhule. The team improved on its 1–11 record from last season, as they would finish 7–6, 4–5 in Big 12 play to finish in a tie for fifth place. They were invited to the Texas Bowl, where they defeated Vanderbilt.

2018 Baylor Bears football
Texas Bowl champion
Texas Bowl, W 45–38 vs. Vanderbilt
ConferenceBig 12 Conference
Record7–6 (4–5 Big 12)
Head coach
Co-offensive coordinatorGlenn Thomas (2nd season)
Co-offensive coordinatorJeff Nixon (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorPhil Snow (2nd season)
Home stadiumMcLane Stadium
(Capacity: 45,140)
2018 Big 12 Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
No. 4 Oklahoma y$^  8 –1   12 –2  
No. 9 Texas y  7 –2   10 –4  
Iowa State  6 –3   8 –5  
No. 20 West Virginia  6 –3   8 –4  
TCU  4 –5   7 –6  
Baylor  4 –5   7 –6  
Oklahoma State  3 –6   7 –6  
Kansas State  3 –6   5 –7  
Texas Tech  3 –6   5 –7  
Kansas  1 –8   3 –9  
Championship: Oklahoma 39, Texas 27
  • ^ – College Football Playoff participant
  • $ – Conference champion
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award Player Position Year
Rimington Trophy[1] Sam Tecklenburg C JR
Fred Biletnikoff Award[2] Denzel Mims WR JR
Bronko Nagurski Trophy[3] Ira Lewis DT SR
Outland Trophy[4] Ira Lewis DT SR
Lou Groza Award[5] Connor Martin K JR
Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award[6] Denzel Mims WR JR

Big 12 media poll

The Big 12 media poll was released July 12, 2018, with the Bears predicted to finish in ninth place.[7]

Media poll
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1Oklahoma509 (46)
2West Virginia432 (2)
3TCU390 (1)
4Texas370 (1)
5Oklahoma State300
6Kansas State283 (2)
7Iowa State250
8Texas Tech149
9Baylor125
10Kansas52

Schedule

Baylor announced its football schedule Oct. 26, 2017.[8] The Bears played 12 games with six home games (two non-conference games and four Big 12 games), five away games (one non-conference game and four Big 12 games) and a neutral-site Big 12 game.

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 17:00 p.m.Abilene Christian*
FSNW 55–2745,330
September 86:00 p.m.at UTSA*
FacebookW 37–2042,071
September 152:30 p.m.Duke*
  • McLane Stadium
  • Waco, TX
FS1L 27–4040,442
September 222:30 p.m.Kansas
  • McLane Stadium
  • Waco, TX
FS1W 26–736,725
September 292:30 p.m.at No. 6 Oklahoma
ABCL 33–6686,642
October 62:30 p.m.Kansas State
  • McLane Stadium
  • Waco, TX
FS1W 37–3436,888
October 132:30 p.m.at No. 9 Texas
ESPNL 17–2393,882
October 256:00 p.m.at No. 13 West Virginia
FS1L 14–5853,117
November 311:00 a.m.Oklahoma Statedagger
  • McLane Stadium
  • Waco, TX
FS1W 35–3143,492
November 102:30 p.m.at No. 23 Iowa State
FS1L 14–2853,860
November 1711:00 a.m.TCU
FS1L 9–1645,140
November 2411:00 a.m.vs. Texas Tech
FS1W 35–2427,308
December 278:00 p.m.vs. Vanderbilt*
ESPNW 45–3851,104
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time
Schedule Source:[9]

Game summaries

Abilene Christian
1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 7 13 7 0 27
Bears 17 21 10 7 55
See also: 2018 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team

At UTSA
1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 10 10 7 10 37
Roadrunners 3 10 0 7 20
See also: 2018 UTSA Roadrunners football team

Duke
1 2 3 4 Total
Blue Devils 7 16 7 10 40
Bears 0 0 13 14 27
See also: 2018 Duke Blue Devils football team

Kansas
1 2 3 4 Total
Jayhawks 0 0 7 0 7
Bears 7 16 3 0 26
See also: 2018 Kansas Jayhawks football team

At Oklahoma
1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 6 3 14 10 33
No. 6 Sooners 14 14 21 17 66
See also: 2018 Oklahoma Sooners football team

Kansas State
1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 7 7 0 20 34
Bears 3 9 8 17 37
See also: 2018 Kansas State Wildcats football team

Baylor held a slight edge in the pregame analysis. Coming into the game Baylor was considered better than they were at this same time last year and has won 3 games (Kansas, Texas-San Antonio, and Abilene Christian), the Bears have also lost 2 (Duke, Oklahoma). In Baylor's previous game against Oklahoma, they achieved 493 yards of offense in their loss—something expected to be a challenge for Kansas State on defense.[10]

The game started with Kansas State holding the lead at the end of the first and second quarters. Baylor pulled ahead in the third quarter but missed several field goals. Baylor's Charlie Brewer threw for 296 yards and Kansas State's Alex Barnes rushed for 250 yards[11] (he ran for 129 yards and four touchdowns in the 2016 matchup also at Baylor).[12]

Kansas State had its share of mistakes: K-State missed a field goal and an extra point and were also ineffective on kickoff returns. Kansas State also gave up a fumble on the kickoff return after a controversial play review to start the third quarter and Baylor scored a touchdown two plays later.[13] Wildcat turnovers and penalties led to three touchdowns for Baylor.[14] They also had problems with a punt return they recovered and an extra point was blocked.[12]

Baylor's Connor Martin had a rough day as the kicker, missing three field goals and an extra point, yet among all that he ended up kicking the game-winning field goal from 29 yards with 8 seconds left in the game. The final score was a Baylor victory, 37-34.[12]

At Texas
1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 7 3 7 0 17
No. 9 Longhorns 3 20 0 0 23
See also: 2018 Texas Longhorns football team

At West Virginia
1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 0 0 14 0 14
No. 13 Mountaineers 10 31 10 7 58
See also: 2018 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

Oklahoma State
1 2 3 4 Total
Cowboys 7 3 14 7 31
Bears 0 14 7 14 35
See also: 2018 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team

At Iowa State
1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 0 0 7 7 14
No. 23 Cyclones 7 10 11 0 28
See also: 2018 Iowa State Cyclones football team

TCU
1 2 3 4 Total
Horned Frogs 3 6 7 0 16
Bears 6 0 3 0 9
See also: 2018 TCU Horned Frogs football team and Baylor–TCU football rivalry

vs Texas Tech
1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 7 7 14 7 35
Red Raiders 10 7 0 7 24
See also: 2018 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team and Baylor–Texas Tech football rivalry

vs Vanderbilt–Texas Bowl
1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 10 7 14 14 45
Commodores 14 7 7 10 38
See also: 2018 Vanderbilt Commodores football team and 2018 Texas Bowl

Players drafted into the NFL
See also: 2019 NFL Draft
Round Pick Player Position NFL Club
367Jalen HurdWRSan Francisco 49ers

References
  1. "Rimington Trophy Press Release". May 30, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  2. "2018 Biletnikoff Award Watch List". July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  3. "2018 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  4. "22018 OUTLAND TROPHY WATCH LIST UNVEILED". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  5. "Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Announces 2018 Preseason Watch List". July 25, 2018. Archived from the original on August 17, 2009. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  6. "2018 Nominations The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award" (PDF). August 16, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  7. "Sooners Picked to Repeat in Big 12 Preseason Football Poll".
  8. "Baylor Unveils Football Schedule". Wacotrib.com. October 26, 2017. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  9. "2018 Baylor Bears Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  10. Robinett, Kellis (September 30, 2018). "Grades from Kansas State's 19-14 loss to Texas and a look ahead to Baylor". MSN Sports. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  11. "Kansas State vs. Baylor (box score)". ESPN.com. October 6, 2018. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  12. "Baylor beats K-State on Martin's FG with 8 seconds left". Fox Sports. October 6, 2018. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  13. Robinett, Kellis (October 6, 2018). "Mistakes cost Kansas State Wildcats in 37-34 loss to Baylor Bears". Wichita Eagle. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  14. Green, Arne (October 6, 2018). "Kansas State football loses heartbreaker to Baylor 37-34". Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
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