Countdown No. 6: Previewing Baylor

The season is almost here! That's right, we're less than a month away from West Virginia Football taking the field for what is expected to be an exciting 2023 season. The Mountaineers will kick things off at Penn State on September 2nd. As we approach that date, EerSports will do what we always do - count down the days until kickoff, with each day covering a specific topic, stat, or prediction for the upcoming season. Today, we're doing a quick preview of Baylor.

What Happened Last Year

The Bears were considered the Class of the Big 12 coming into the season, holding a lofty ranking, sitting inside the top ten nationally heading into Week Two. There, the Bears suffered a tough loss at BYU. After two wins over two bad teams, Baylor lost two more games to fall back to .500. They would then run out three straight wins - Kansas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma - before coming right back down to earth with three straight losses. A beaten and battered .500 team was then pummeled by Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl to end the season.

Key Losses

The biggest losses come along the trenches for Baylor. From the depth chart projection I'm looking at, the Bears lost four of their five starting offensive linemen from last season. On the other side of the ball, they also lost prized nose tackle Siaki Ika to the NFL (third round pick to the Browns). They're down their starting tight end and a couple starting linebackers, too, but did a nice job either replacing them via transfer (more on that in a minute) or developing backups that saw time last year and will take over the starting role. As far as returning talent goes, Baylor is in as good a shape as any team in the league. 

ProFootballFocus Scouts Really Love This Returner

Running back Richard Reese is tops here and it's not particularly close. He earned an 85.1 overall grade from ProFootballFocus, and the next highest returner was quarterback Blake Shapen at 76.8. Reese split duties in the backfield last season, taking only 309 snaps. However, the staff made the most of his time out there, giving him 211 touches during that time. With those 211 touches, he accumulated 1,051 yards from scrimmage and found the end zone fourteen times.  

Most Notable New Transfers

It's someone that WVU fans should be familiar with as West Virginia attempted to add him to their own class as well. That's Utah State linebacker transfer Byron Vaughns. The 6-foot-4, 238-pounder was a force last season, accumulating 56 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. He's expected to step right in and fill one of the vacated linebacker spots for the Bears. 

Key Stat (that's bad for WVU)

+1,892

Baylor is a team that did a nice job retaining its talent from last season. No program goes through the transfer offseason unscathed, so the Bears certainly lost a couple guys, but they did better than most. Not only that, but they added better than most as well, including six additions that were transfers at previous FBS stops. The end result? Baylor ends up with +1,892 snaps experience via the transfer portal - one of the best in the Big 12 and the country. 

Key Stat (that's good for WVU)

88 and 95

Those are Baylor's rankings nationally in sacks and tackles for loss, respectively. The Bears simply did not get into the backfield in run defense or pressuring the quarterback. Then, in the offseason, the team lost their best defensive lineman (Ika) and two starting linebackers from last year's team. That does not bode well for them turning that statistic around.