MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — There may not be a program in the Big 12 that went through more change than Baylor did this season. On top of dealing with what every other team had to with COVID-19, the Bears needed to replace their head coach after Matt Rhule left for the Carolina Panthers, and they needed to replace 13 starters on offense and defense.
The only team that needed to replace more was Kansas with 14, and Baylor took care of business in its season-opener last week, crushing the Jayhawks 47-14 in Waco. Games against Louisiana Tech and Houston were canceled due to COVID cases at Louisana Tech and contact-tracing at Baylor.
The Bears return veteran quarterback Charlie Brewer , as well as three on the offensive line, so there is experience in the trenches and where it matters most. But enter Dave Aranda as head coach, coming off a national championship as LSU’s defensive coordinator last year, as well as two former head coaches at the coordinator positions, and the Bears cam overcome their overall inexperience with premier coaching.
Baylor will face WVU at noon Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium, aired on ABC.
“When you put on Baylor’s tape, they are a tough, physical team that runs very well,” WVU coach Neal Brown said. “You can tell they have a really good culture there that Matt Rhule built and coach Aranda and his staff continue to maintain.
“I think they want to run the football. Coach (Larry) Fedora always ran the football and played with tempo. They’ll throw it, too, but with the talent they have at running back, people try to get their best players the ball. And those running backs are special.”
WVU defensive front coach Jordan Lesley said the tempo the Bears play is what makes them difficult to defend. Fedora, a former head coach at Southern Miss and North Carolina, controls the tempo well, and with an experienced quarterback in Brewer, keeps opposing defenses off balance.
“He is a chain mover,” WVU defensive backs coach Jahmile Addae said. “He doesn’t necessarily wow you with anything specifically, but he is really sound at just about everything.”
Brown believes something else that makes Brewer dangerous is his ability to make plays with his legs. While Baylor doesn’t call many designed runs for Brewer, he can roll out of the pocket when plays break down and catch defenses off guard.
In the backfield, John Lovett will be the first to tote the rock. He had 78 yards in the Kansas win before being relieved and is a between-the-tackles back. Craig Williams and Trestan Ebner are the big play threats for the Bears. Ebner made a huge impact on special teams against the Jayhawks, returning two kickoffs for touchdowns.
Familiar face
oe Wickline will mJake his return to WVU, this time as Baylor’s offensive line coach. Wickline coached the Mountaineers offensive line from 2016-18 under Dana Holgorsen and was not retained when Brown was hired.
Wickline’s son, Kelby, also played for WVU from 2017-19, starting 15 games for the Mountaineers.
Cowan ruled out
WVU linebacker VanDarius Cowan was ruled out for today’s game against Baylor, according to Brown. Cowan was injured on a play where he sacked Oklahoma State quarterback Shane Illingworth last week.
Cowan transferred to WVU from Alabama in 2018, but after serving an NCAA required suspension through the first four games of 2019, he played just two games before tearing his ACL and missing the rest of the year.
In Cowan’s place and bandit, redshirt-freshman Jared Bartlett will likely be the first man up. He has six tackles, a sack and a forced fumble so far in 2020.
Otherwise, Brown mentioned the Mountaineers are relatively healthy through two games on the injury front.
Tweet @SeanManning_1
