Baylor Needs To Win Line Of Scrimmage To Upset Texas
The No. 3 Texas Longhorns are trying to avoid being a "punching bag" in their one final go around in the Big 12.
Texas' first conference game kicks off this weekend on the road against the Baylor Bears, and head coach Dave Aranda revealed what they need to do to take down the conference front-runners.
"For us to win, I think there has to be the line of scrimmage on both sides being really kind of separate from the skill on both sides," Aranda said. "Whether that's front seven or that's tight ends and O-line and running backs doing their thing so that causes the defense to have to adjust and, if offensively we're doing that, defense's bringing people in. If defensively we're doing that, then we can bring people out."
© Scott Wachter, USA TODAY
Aranda said the Bears' defensive line, five of its seven sacks and eight tackles for loss, needs to play with "physicality" and "violence" in order for the linebackers and secondary personnel to focus on Texas' deep weapons.
If the Bears can rush four with success, there's no need for Aranda and defensive coordinator Matt Powledge to stack the box. Instead, they could defend the run with six players in the box and still have five players in the secondary to account for the weapons in Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, Ja'Tavion Sanders and Jordan Whittington.
Winning the trenches isn't going to be easy against a Longhorns defense that is first in the country in defensive success rate, according to CFB Graphs. Aranda said this time around the Bears will need to take a "bigger step" against a "heavier lift."
Texas' offensive line is 14th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in pass blocking, according to Pro Football Focus.
"They're big up front. They're physical," Aranda said. "They're built for kind of what we're talking about because their insides and outsides are very separate."
Aranda then said the Longhorns have versatility in their play-calling due to the skillsets of their players.
"If you're in a tight front, they'll pull the two guards," Aranda said. "If there's a tight end nub and they'll have three receivers this way. They'll pull to the nub side and over here, they'll run some type of screen, some type of RPO. It can't get any clearer than that. You're divided. Run people in [the box]; skill people out there.
"For us to get to where we need to, you'd like to be able to say, 'Hey, here's these people in the box. Here's these people out of it, and then we can count on doing our jobs in a separate manner,' and so we'll see. That's the goal, and we've done it before here. We're aiming to do it again."
Aranda seems to know the personnel groupings and skillset Texas uses to attack the Bears' defense, but will Baylor be able to stop it? The two square off at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas, Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on ABC.
