Happy Friday, everyone!

It’s Halloween weekend and the Frogs get to spend it Waco, Texas, a place that has been good, bad and ugly for the Frogs over the years. Since McLane Stadium opened in 2014, strange, and sometimes great, things have happened. Who can forget the crazy 61-58 game in which the Frogs were in control, then the game turned on a dime and Baylor came back in won on a late field goal at the gun? (Are you old enough to remember when they fired a track pistol to signal the end of halves?) 2016 saw the Frogs on the ropes as they stepped into McLennan County with a 4-4 record. A steady dose of a run-oriented game plan, featuring running back Kyle Hicks, launched the Frogs to a 62-22 throttling of BU. In 2018, it was the Jalen Reagor show on the way to a 16-7 win in which the Frogs defense controlled Baylor.

This year, at the end of October, we’re only five games into the season. The Frogs’ first game against Iowa State was September 26, barely a month ago.  Seems like longer ago than that, doesn’t it?

The TCU-Baylor game is a rivalry: The only two private schools in the Big 12 took over the conference just six short years ago. Courtesy of TCU Athletics | Photo by Ellman Photography

Baylor comes into this weekend with a 1-2 record. The Bears have had a staggered start to the season with Covid-19 issues affecting their schedule and a conference game against Oklahoma State (originally scheduled for October 17th) being postponed. They have a new head coach in Dave Aranda, a defensive-minded leader who was the defensive coordinator last year at LSU. He is Baylor’s fourth head coach in six years — take that in.

Baylor’s defense returned just two starters from last year. The Bears are learning a new scheme that features three down linemen and a “Jack” end, which is a defensive end/linebacker hybrid. That position is played by #99 William Bradley-King, arguably the best player in defense for Baylor. He’s a transfer from Arkansas State and he’ll be a threat that the TCU offensive line will have to be conscious of all day long. #2 Terrel Bernard leads the linebackers and he is coming off a 19 tackle performance at Texas. Bernard leads the Big 12 in tackles and that’s no surprise since he had 112 take-downs last year. In the secondary, #3 Raleigh Texada is the only other returning starter. He’s a solid cover man and you’ll be able to tell which TCU wideout the Baylor staff is most concerned with because Texada will be on him.

On offense, Baylor is still trying to find its identity. Sound familiar?

The Bears offensive line troubles from last year have survived the pandemic to remain a part of the story in 2020. The Bears have struggled to run the football and this week it was reported that two Baylor backs decided not to play any more this year. The report turned out to be premature and top backs #27 John Lovett (not the comedian from Saturday Night Live) and #41 Trestan Ebner will be available. Both are good backs, but due to execution problems, the two have combined for just 146 yards rushing and two touchdowns in three games.

BU quarterback Charlie Brewer is finally in his senior year. Seems like he was at Baylor when I played for TCU. He’s had an injury-plagued career, mainly because he is so driven to win. Brewer has taken shots year after year, but has overcome neck injuries and numerous concussions. He is tough and he has been a headache for TCU with the plays that he makes with his legs. Baylor will roll out Brewer to protect him and to let him flex his abilities with run-pass option plays that will target two good wideouts: #0 R.J. Sneed and #9 Tyquan Thornton.

This game is a rivalry. The only two private schools in the Big 12 took over the conference just six short years ago. Coach Art Briles is long-gone and the heat on this series has cooled to medium-well, but it’s still full of spice and intrigue.

The winner on Saturday will have big positive energy to build on moving forward. The question is, which team can pop the clutch on its offense without killing the engine?

Did You Know?

• Saturday’s game versus Baylor is the 116th in the series – the most-played series for both schools.
• Only one game in the series was not played in Waco or Fort Worth. In 1926, Baylor and TCU squared-off in Dallas. Why? That’s your homework assignment for the weekend.
• One of the best places to eat in Waco back in the day was Leslie’s Chicken Shack. It’s gone now, but the food was great and you always had to take an extra dozen rolls with you.
• The Brazos River, on which McLane Stadium sits, stretches 840 miles across Texas and empties into the Gulf of Mexico. The Brazos was originally named The Maligne by French explorer La Salle in the 1600’s. It was an important waterway before the Civil War, and efforts to improve it for navigation continued until the early twentieth century.

The weather in Waco should be perfect at kickoff: Sunny and 71 degrees is the forecast.

Our expedition will secure provisions and meet you riverside at 1:30 p.m. CT tomorrow in Waco on the Horned Frogs Sports Network.  Join us then for what should be another interesting chapter in this historic series.

Until then,

Kick ‘Em High!