NEBULOUS STATISTICAL COMPARISONS OF DUBIOUS VALIDITY. When the Baylor offense is on the field, most of our attention is going to be on Jarrett Stidham, the talented true freshman QB stepping in for Seth Russell as he recovers from a neck injury. Here's the thing, though.
Baylor can run the shiiiiiiiiiit out of the ball.
Through seven games, the Bears have the second highest yardage per carry in FBS (6.92) and the seventh highest number of carries per game (nearly 49). True, some of that was thanks to Russell, who had 402 yards on 49 runs before he went out, but Baylor has three running backs who a) have at least 60 carries and b) average at least 6.5 yards per carry.
Kansas State was stopping the run reasonably well. And then the last three games happened.
Whoops!
ADVANTAGE: BAYLOR
BAYLOR, YOU'VE BEEN FACTOR'D!
MASCOT.
Bruiser's probably the right mix of ferocious and family-friendly. The teeth and mildly menacing glare hint towards the ferocious power of which this animal is capable, while the smile and cartoonish quality of the eyes soften his look.
Willie?
Willie's a nightmare made out of phobias and painful childhood memories.
ADVANTAGE: KANSAS STATE
KANSAS STATE, YOU'VE BEEN FACTOR'D!
AURA. When you think of Manhattan, Kansas, you think of one person in particular. Someone who's enjoyed a career of astonishing length and success and become a veritable institution in their chosen field. No, this person hasn't updated their fashion much over the years, and you might have trouble telling a photo of them from 1993 and one from 2015 apart. Critics say this person relies on gimmicks and cheap tactics, but they're likely jealous of the success this person's achieved.
I'm talking about Manhattan's own Elvira, of course.
ADVANTAGE: KANSAS STATE
KANSAS STATE, YOU'VE BEEN FACTOR'D!
NAMES.
KSU
Dalton Converse
Denzel Goolsby
Jayd Kirby
Charmeachealle Moore
Sam Sizelove
Baylor
Verkedric Vaughns
Beau Blackshear
Baylor Black
Lynx Hawthorne
Spencer Drango
Baylor. Has a player. Named Baylor. (And also a guy named LYNX HAWTHORNE.)
ADVANTAGE: BAYLOR
BAYLOR, YOU'VE BEEN FACTOR'D!
GRUDGES/SCORES TO SETTLE/SHEER CUSSEDNESS.
This isn't your fault, Kansas State. You haven't beaten Baylor since 2011, and you've gotten outscored by an average of 16 points in the last three matchups. You should be the one with a score to settle. But Art Briles is fighting a proxy war with the Playoff Committee, and you are Laos. There is nothing fair or reasonable about the hurting Art Briles wants to put on you, and it's not even about YOU. You are the 72 ounce steak Art Briles is going to try and eat in an hour simply so he can show that fucking Playoff Committee he could. I'm sorry. Maybe you'll go down the wrong pipe and fuck his day up.
ADVANTAGE: BAYLOR
BAYLOR, YOU'VE BEEN FACTOR'D!
FINAL TOTAL: Baylor 3, Kansas State 2. But the numbers didn't favor Bill Snyder at Vitkov Hill, and that didn't stop him from pulling out the win.