Three Takeaways: September 5 – Baylor University Athletics

Sophomore Trio Emerges as Go-To Receivers

football
9/5/2022 3:51:00 PM

Baylor Bear Insider Jerry Hill gives his three takeaways from Monday’s weekly press conference with head coach Dave Aranda talking about the 10th-ranked Bears’ 69-10 season-opening rout of UAlbany and Saturday’s matchup against No. 25 BYU (1-0) that kicks off at 9:15 pm CDT at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah, and will be broadcast nationally by ESPN:

1. TOP RECEIVERS EMERGE: In much different roles than last year, sophomore receivers Monaray Baldwin, Hal Presley and Seth Jones stepped out of the shadows of players like Tyquan Thornton, RJ Sneed and Drew Estrada. They combined to make nine catches for 165 yards and two touchdowns. “Monaray’s role is bigger now, so for him to take hold of that right away and run with it is cool to see,” Aranda said of Baldwin, who had 130 yards on six touches. “Hal, in the position that he’s playing now is a big one . . . for him to make his own mark early is cool. I thought Seth did a lot of little things that he’s really worked hard on in camp. He’s emerging, and “It’s good to see. And then to have Jaylen (Ellis)_ catch that ball at the end is pretty neat. He’s always fighting something, some kind of ankle or knee injury. To get him running like that is good for the future.” “
2. SLIDE, BLAKE, SLIDE: Sophomore quarterback Blake Shapen took a few more shots than he probably should have, including one in particular that drew a personal foul penalty on UAlbany linebacker AJ Mistler. But, the one that he could have avoided was at the end of a 16-yard run late in the first half, when he took on linebacker Dylan Kelly and cornerback Isaac Duffy rather than sliding. “There’s times when we all want him to slide,” Aranda said. “Every Tuesday, we have the drill of the day, and the position coach will start with that drill. Here’s the drill and here’s how it shows up in the game. It’s important to do that because it ties individual work to games. . . . The drill of the day, I think a week ago, we had quarterbacks sliding. So, we probably need another one.” (As a reminder, Shapen was also a highly recruited shortstop in high school, so he definitely knows how to slide.)
3. THE BYU PIPELINE: It works both ways, but Baylor should have a good read on BYU’s offense with input from offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes and offensive line coach Eric Mateos, who worked together in Provo. “There’s a good feedback from them, just on the experience of playing at night there and what that’s like,” Aranda said. “Obviously, they know the coaches there and there’s a good awareness of personalities. I have not worked with (BYU head coach Kalani Sitake), but I’m close to Kalani.” Aranda also knows linebackers coach Kevin Clune and worked at Southern Utah for a couple months under BYU assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Ed Lamb. Additionally, Baylor junior nose tackle Siaki Ika is a native of Salt Lake City who was initially committed to BYU. “We have to do a good job as coaches to not make it bigger than what it needs to be,” Aranda said. “That’s probably going to be the concern for him is to narrow the focus and control what you can control. But, the motivation is there.”