NCAAF Game Preview - West Virginia at Baylor
Thu Oct 31, 2019 8:00 PM EDT

Wof
14
Clem
59
F
UGA
24
Fla
17
F
Oreg
56
USC
24
F
Utah
33
Wash
28
F
Miss
14
Aub
20
F
WVU
14
Bayl
17
F
Mich
38
MD
7
F
SMU
48
Mem
54
F
VaTec
20
ND
21
F
Cin
46
ECU
43
F
GaSo
24
App
21
F
Boise
52
SJSU
42
F
K St
38
Kans
10
F
NCSt
10
Wake
44
F
Navy
56
UConn
10
F
Buff
43
E Mi
14
F
NIU
10
C Mi
48
F
Hou
29
UCF
44
F
UTSA
14
TxAM
45
F
BC
58
Syr
27
F
Neb
27
Purd
31
F
Lib
63
UMass
21
F
OD
17
FLInt
24
F
Akr
6
BGSU
35
F
Troy
35
CoCar
36
F
JacSt
17
UT-M
22
F
ArkSt
48
ULMon
41
F
UNLV
17
ColSt
37
F
Army
13
AF
17
F
Marsh
20
Rice
7
F
TCU
27
OkSt
34
F
UTEP
26
NorTx
52
F
Rut
10
Ill
38
F
MiaFL
27
FlaSt
10
F
MidTN
20
UNCC
34
F
Tuls
26
Tul
38
F
FlAtl
35
W Ky
24
F
MissSt
54
Ark
24
F
Pitt
20
GATec
10
F
OreSt
56
Ariz
38
F
TxSt
3
ULLaf
31
F
UAB
7
Tenn
30
F
NW
3
Ind
34
F
Vand
7
SCar
24
F
UVA
38
UNC
31
F
Colo
14
UCLA
31
F
BYU
42
UtSt
14
F
NM
10
NEV
21
F
Fres
41
Hawaii
38
F
Kent
33
Toled
35
F
Ball
31
WestMI
35
F
West Virginia-Baylor Preview
Thu Oct 31, 2019 12:57 PM

No. 12 Baylor is atop the Big 12 standings and will be rested and ready when it hosts struggling West Virginia on Thursday night in Waco, Texas.

The Bears (7-0, 4-0 Big 12) are the toast of the Big 12 just two seasons after finishing 1-11 overall. Both Baylor and West Virginia (3-4, 1-3) head into Thursday's dustup off a bye week in which the teams focused on completely different goals.

For Baylor, it's been about keeping its collective shoulder to the grindstone and playing like its record is 0-7 rather than 7-0.

"I want them to block out the noise and have the same hunger and fire that they had two years ago," Baylor coach Matt Rhule said. "I want them to know now they are no more special and better than they were then. You have to consistently be who you are."

The Bears went 7-6 last season and beat Vanderbilt in the Texas Bowl to set the stage for 2019's stellar play. It helps that Baylor has one of the nation's most explosive offenses, led by junior quarterback Charlie Brewer.

Brewer, who is averaging 266.6 passing yards per game, produced a 312-yard, one-touchdown performance in a 45-27 win at Oklahoma State on Oct. 19. He completed 13 of 17 passes in that game en route to his fourth 300-yard day of the season.

Baylor ranks 12th nationally in scoring at 38.9 points per game.

After the win in Stillwater, the Bears almost immediately turned their attention to West Virginia, perhaps because the Mountaineers manhandled Baylor last season, cruising to a 58-14 victory in Morgantown, but that was when Dana Holgorsen was the West Virginia head coach and Will Grier was the quarterback.

"West Virginia beat us so badly last year, and it's such a vivid memory," Rhule said. "They do a great job of keeping you off balance, and they are getting more and more confident as they get deeper into their new system."

West Virginia heads to Waco after a 52-14 defeat at Oklahoma, the Mountaineers' third consecutive conference loss. They have scored 14 points in each of their past two games.

First-year Mountaineers coach Neal Brown used the bye week to "push the reset button" on West Virginia's season. Brown said the goal in the run-up to Thursday's game and beyond is to see improvement.

"We've got a five-game season left," Brown said. "The key and our main focus is about making marked improvement as we go through the rest of this. We feel like we've been getting better."

Austin Kendall will remain as the Mountaineers' starting quarterback despite a ragged performance against Oklahoma on Oct. 19. Kendall is a graduate transfer who backed up the past two Heisman Trophy winners -- Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray -- when he was with the Sooners.

Kendall has completed 141 of 222 passes for 1,429 yards, with 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

"Austin's our starter," Brown said during the bye week.

"He played well in the first half (against Oklahoma). First half, he handled the noise around that game pretty well. The second half, he did not perform as well as he needs to, and he understands that. He's probably as healthy as he's been this entire season."

Baylor and West Virginia have played seven times in a series that began in 2012. The Mountaineers lead 5-2 and have captured three in a row.

--Field Level Media

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