Takeaways from Baylor's heartbreaking loss to Arizona State
The Baylor Bears hosted the Arizona State Sun Devils to open Big 12 play. With both teams expected to be contenders for the Big 12 crown, tonight's game was incredibly important for both squads. Starting 1-0 means you control your own destiny for the rest of the season, but starting 0-1 means you have to play catch up all year.
Many expected this game to be a shootout, but it turned into a defensive slugfest. Neither offense could build much momentum for much of the night, and both defenses made some big plays, but in the end, it was the Sun Devils who came out on top.
Here were my takeaways from tonight's game.
Great first half for the Bears' defense
The biggest question heading into this game was, how would Baylor's defense, which was allowing over 40 points per game to Power Four opponents, hold up against Sam Leavitt and the Sun Devils' offense? In the first half, they did a great job.
Baylor's defense held Leavitt to just 58 passing yards on 14 attempts in the first half. The Sun Devils did give them some problems on the ground at times, rushing for 99 yards, but overall, they performed much better than I and many others expected early on and kept the Bears in this game despite a slow start offensively.
Defense made back-to-back crucial stops
We've talked extensively about how well Baylor's defense played tonight, but I want to highlight a couple big stops they made late in the game to keep the Bears alive.
Late in the third quarter, the Sun Devils were driving and had the ball on Baylor's 16-yard line, leading by three points. It looked like ASU was going to take a 10-point lead, or at best kick a field goal and go up six. However, they decided to go for it on 4th-and-1 and got absolutely stuffed at the line of scrimmage, giving the ball back to Baylor's offense.
The Bears were unable to do anything and Robertson threw his first interception of the game, giving ASU the ball back on the Bears' 37-yard line. On the first play of the next drive, Leavitt took off and picked up 27 yards to put the Sun Devils back in the red zone, but once again, the Bears defense made a huge stop and forced a field goal.
It easily could've been 27-10 early in the fourth quarter, but a couple of big plays from the Bears' defense kept it a one-score game, and the offense finally got rolling and paid them back by taking a 17-16 lead just minutes later.
We haven't seen Baylor's defense come up with big stops like this all year. I know the end result wasn't what they wanted, but they deserve credit for keeping this game close.
Sam Leavitt bided his time and came through when ASU needed him
I want to preface this by saying Baylor's defense played great tonight. They did more than any Baylor fan could've asked for. They shut down Jodyn Tyson and the Sun Devils' passing attack (for most of the game), they did a pretty good job against ASU's running backs and made quite a few big stops, but it was only a matter of time before Leavitt made them pay.
Leavitt ran the ball 15 times for 62 yards (including sacks), but there were multiple times he picked up key first downs or extended plays before making a throw downfield. His legs kept Arizona State in the game for much of the night, but after 50 minutes of shutting Leavitt down through the air, he finally made the Bears pay.
Once Baylor took a late 17-16 lead, Leavitt led the Sun Devils on a seven-play, 84-yard drive which was highlighted by a 61-yard pass on a busted coverage and a beautiful touchdown to Jordyn Tyson. When you face a quarterback like Leavitt, it's only a matter of time before he hurts you with his arm. Baylor's defense played great tonight, but Leavitt stayed patient all night, and when he finally had the chance to make a big play, he delivered.
After a slow start, Sawyer Robertson delivered
For the first three quarters of this game, Sawyer Robertson and Baylor's offense couldn't get much of anything going. They scored 10 points and looked stuck in the mud, but when the Bears needed him most, Robertson delivered.
In the fourth quarter, Robertson led back-to-back touchdown drives to tie the game at 24 with under two minutes left. On those two drives, Robertson logged 101 passing yards, which included a 23-yard third down conversion to Louis Brown IV, which came right after a disastrous sack on second down.
It was a gutsy performance from Robertson late in the fourth, but it's what we've come to expect from him. Unfortunately, he didn't get one last chance to drive down the field to try and tie/win this game.
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Luke is a writer for the Baylor Bears On SI. He's an LSU graduate and previously covered the Tigers for two years. He also covers the New Orleans Saints and Formula 1. Luke's passion for sports and storytelling led him to become a sports writer.