New-look Baylor offense catches UNC off guard in Russell Athletic Bowl

ORLANDO, FLA. — Baylor’s biggest weakness might have actually turned out to be its biggest strength Tuesday night, as the Bears deployed a new-look offense to take down No. 10 North Carolina in the Russell Athletic Bowl.

Missing both its first- and second-string quarterbacks, a 1,300-yard running back and a Biletnikoff Award-winning wide receiver, no one knew what Baylor would do to maintain its top-ranked offense.

Including — most importantly — the Tar Heel defense.

“We didn’t really know what to expect,” said senior linebacker Shakeel Rashad after the 49-38 loss to the Bears. “They were in a unique situation, and they had a month to prepare for us, so we knew we were going to get some stuff.

“We just tried to prepare the best we could.”

That preparation didn’t pan out, though, as offensive coordinator Kendal Briles threw a completely different type of attack at Gene Chizik and the North Carolina defense. Namely, one that implemented a heavy dose of wildcat offense, with five different quarterbacks — who more often than not weren’t actually quarterbacks — taking snaps throughout the game.

“Going into bowl season, we really didn’t prepare for any of that,” said redshirt senior linebacker Jeff Schoettmer. “We expected 13 to be the quarterback and him to run their normal offense.”

While Baylor did start No. 13, Chris Johnson, under center, the third-string quarterback only attempted 12 passes throughout the game. Instead, Baylor opted to direct snap to many of their skill players, and let them create offense with their legs.

Five different Baylor players ran the ball at least seven times, with bowl MVP Johnny Jefferson leading the way with 299 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. As a team, Baylor rushed 84 times for 645 yards — a new team record for bowl games.

“No, I didn’t believe they would run for 645 yards,” Coach Larry Fedora said sarcastically after the game. “I didn’t ever think that. We thought they would throw the ball more than they did. We didn’t think that they would run the ball like they did ... didn’t think they would have that kind of success.”

Much of that comes from the simple fact that the Tar Heels simply didn’t know what was coming.

“Really none of what we practiced is what they ran,” Schoettmer said. “We practiced all for their traditional offense, what they’ve been doing all year, just with (Johnson) at quarterback.

“So when they got in the wildcat, they brought (Lynx Hawthorne) in the game, (Jefferson) in the game, (Terence Williams) in the game, (Devin Chafin) in the game at quarterback, (Johnson) — they threw a bunch of things at us. So give them credit for that.”

But the loss couldn’t all be pinned down to being caught off guard. UNC had the opportunity to modify its game plan at halftime, and players said adjustments were made then that should have countered the wildcat-heavy offense.

“Once we get to the sideline, we get it drawn up, talk about what they’re doing and how we’re going to play the defense to whoever’s at quarterback,” Schoettmer said. “We did do that, but once that happened we didn’t execute.”

After allowing 28 points during the first half, the Tar Heels still gave up 21 in the second. Baylor ran for 358 yards during the first half (9.2 per attempt), and still managed 287 during the second (6.4 per attempt).

Part of that success, according to defensive tackle Justin Thomason, came because of an extremely physical offensive line combined with a blistering tempo — Baylor ran 102 plays in just over 37 minutes, or about a play every 22 seconds.

“Probably them or Pitt were the most physical offensive line I’ve seen so far,” said Thomason, who finished the game with seven tackles. “Definitely that mixed with the tempo — because Pitt didn’t have that much tempo — I mean it was a tough game. It was a fight.”

But even Thomason pointed back to the difficulty of adjusting to Baylor’s wildcat offense, calling it, “the most challenging” aspect of the game.

“We thought they would do basically what they had been doing,” Fedora said. “We thought they would throw it around a little more.

“All they did was come out and just run it down our throat.”

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