Four Instant Takeaways from Baylor Cruising past Louisiana Tech
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The Bears rolled past the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 36-19 in a mid-afternoon affair in McLane Stadium.
Baylor (2-1) hosted LA Tech (1-2) for their second home game of the year in front of a crowd clad in gold on a hot Texas Saturday. Here are four takeaways from the 17-point victory:
Nate Bennett is the perfect backup quarterback
Bennett had his second career start and stepped up yet again in place of Lagway. His vision and decision-making improved while still showing off a great arm.
Time after time, he hit the open man down field. Not enough can be said about a guy with a true 'next man up' mentality, getting the job done when his number is called.
Bennett threw an impressive 21-24, earning 253 yards and four total touchdowns without throwing an interception.
While fans are excited to hopefully have Lagway back next week against Colorado, they shouldn't forget the pair of games that Bennett stepped up and led the team to a win.
Baylor's secondary continues to impress
Despite playing in 95-degree heat and allowing the Bulldogs to have some lengthy drives in the first half, the Baylor secondary didn't tire.
The Bulldogs had the ball down 13 to start the third, but a midfield 4th and 1 hold helped the offense blow the game open.
Baylor's first-down pass coverage was amazing early on with great performances from LeVar Thornton and Bo Onu.
What happened to the sack-happy defensive line?
Baylor had nine sacks across their first two games but was only able to bring down LA Tech QB Trey Kukuk one time in the backfield.
The Bears' only sack in the first half was called back due to a face mask from linebacker Kyland Reed, leaving them with just one strip sack that happened late in the third quarter.
The line struggled to contain Kukuk all afternoon, allowing him to go for 75 yards on 11 attempts. If there was pressure from the rush on Kukuk, it didn't seem to affect him.
Baylor tight ends are a non-factor right now
The tight end unit as a whole had one reception this afternoon. The blocking wasn't anything to write home about either.
If the Bears are looking to field a more complete offense, it probably needs to start with improving the tight end situation.
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Bennett is an undergrad student at Baylor University, studying journalism on the sports track. He is from the DFW area and grew up playing and watching sports, which inspired him to pursue sports writing.
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