Baylor 56, SMU 21: What We Learned

Baylor opened its season with a 56-21 win over SMU on Friday night. What did we learn from the game? TexasFootball.com brings you three takeaways from the game.The SMU hype train has left the station. Rewind one year. The Mustangs get run off the field with hardly a whimper in a 45-0 loss to Baylor. On Friday, they went into halftime down just 28-21, and with plenty of eyebrows raised around the state. More than a few people certainly must have been wondering if the Chad Morris rebuild was already on its way to Pony Express 2.0. lr52COs0w2 OK, perspective is needed, and it starts with remembering that SMU went 1-11 last year. Morris may be the miracle worker as he’s touted to be, and frankly, 56-21 is as close as SMU can probably get to a miracle after a brutal 2014. We also don’t really know if that Baylor defense has improved, or if the SMU offense really has made a significant Morris leap. Those sorts of distinctions come with a few more games. That said, the energy at Gerald J. Ford Stadium was something to behold after a campaign that felt like witnessing a wake. The program got its jolt, and the team backed up the excitement with a 35 point loss that certainly didn’t feel remotely that bad. There’s a long way to go, but the signs are all positive, starting with quarterback Matt Davis throwing for 166 yards and rushing for another 115. Preseason votes of confidence for Seth Russell looked sound. Look, a year ago, we were all talking about Kenny Hill being the next coming for Texas A&M after a stellar debut against South Carolina. We all know how that ended. First impressions are not future projections, but with that out of the way: Goodness, did Seth Russell ever the look the part of the cyborg QB in the Baylor offensive machine. Sure, he only completed 15 passes on 30 attempts, but the 376 yards and five touchdowns certainly fall in line with anything his two notable predecessors put up. He nearly had the icing on the cake with a long scamper for a touchdown, but it was called back and Art Briles pulled him from the field. And since we’re talking about that machine, Jarrett Stidham wasted no time securing his spot on the depth chart, stepping directly onto the field after Russell was pulled, and announcing his presence with authority with a 42-yard bomb on his first pass attempt as a Bear. ilo8IJEykPBaylor speed kills. There’s a long road ahead for SMU to catch up with the Baylors of the world. The first few miles of the road are a slow slog down the shoulder. The Bears, meanwhile, are flying down the fast lane, and their game-breaking speed certainly showed up as they pulled away in the second half of this game. The gap between the two teams was never more evident than when Xavier Jones, Jay Lee, Kd Cannon, Chris Platt, and Corey Coleman were blowing by SMU defenders, and that speed is one of the defining attributes that helps Baylor stack up against the better teams in the country, providing hope yet again that they’ll reach the College Football Playoff. f8Sg7kcSSB