Duke Football: Scouting the next opponent, the Baylor Bears
Before Duke Football puts their 2-0 record to the test on Saturday, it’s time to get to know the next opponent, the Baylor Bears.
It’ll be another road game for Duke Football on Saturday afternoon as the Blue Devils travel to take on the Baylor Bears.
Like the Blue Devils, the Bears are also 2-0 but the two victories they have are against much inferior opponents.
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In Week 1, the Baylor Bears defeated the FCS Abilene Christian Wildcats 55-27, and one thought immediately comes to mind, isn’t 27 points a lot to give up to an FCS opponent?
Well, yes, yes it is, but that isn’t out of the ordinary for Baylor out of the Big 12 conference, which is known for scoring a lot of points and giving up a lot of points.
However, against Abilene Christian, Baylor Head Coach Matt Rhule used two quarterbacks. He started the starting quarterback from last season, Charlie Brewer, who completed eight of his 15 passes for 138 yards and an interception.
Brewer also rushed for fifteen yards on one carry.
The new man on the block in Waco, Texas is NC State graduate transfer Jalan McClendon who performed much better than Brewer, completing ten of his thirteen passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns.
However, the Bears were lethal on the ground with two players rushing for over 100 yards.
John Lovett carried the rock 12 times for 115 yards and three touchdowns while JaMychal Hasty rushed 10 times for 102 yards and two touchdowns.
The Bears then went on to face the University of Texas at San Antonio and defeated the Roadrunners 37-20.
Brewer once again got the start at quarterback and he performed much better in Week 2. The sophomore completed 23 of his 34 passes for 328 yards and three touchdowns, while McClendon only completed three of six passes for 39 yards.
The Bears weren’t as effective on the ground with Lovett taking the ball nine times for 47 yards and Hasty rushing ten times for seven yards and a touchdown.
Denzel Mims and Jalen Hurd are the top receivers for the Bears with Mims hauling in 11 passes for 213 yards and a touchdown while Hurd has caught 12 balls for 194 yards and two touchdowns.
The Blue Devils will have their work cut out for them trying to stop this lethal Baylor offense without possibly the best cornerback in the ACC in Mark Gilbert.