Utah vs Baylor | College Football Week 2 Game Preview

one of the more underrated games in week two is going to be the Utah udes and the Baylor Bears these are two teams that play different styles of football but that's what makes this game so interesting Utah won the game last year and it was a defensive battle and we'll go into what might happen this year if Utah can repeat that success or if Baylor has other plans now Baylor had a good showing the Jakes pavol offense clearly got off to a good start with a 45-3 win now this is a team in da Aranda Squad that is looking to bounce back after a tough year in 2023 and getting things off to a good start offensively is exactly what fans wanted to see we knew that Dave Randa had the defensive mind but with him being on the hot seat you knew that he had to bring someone in to make this offense better and they have some weapons that make this really intriguing and they also have some defensive pieces that will be players to watch now Utah had uccess offensively as well and a lot of that had to do with who they had returning but a 49 to Zer win though against inferior competition is still a good win to start the year both teams come in at 1 and0 and it's going to be a really fun matchup to watch these are two teams like I said that play different styles of football but that makes this game so much more intriguing and that's also why you have to look at Baylor and wonder can the Bears solve Utah's defense last year you saw that was during a run for Utah where they were just mauling everybody they were creating turnovers and their defense was playing at a high level which was huge because cam Rising went down with an injury and they needed that defense to step up in a big way and they certainly did they were a defense that was super fun to watch they were running all over the field you had guys like Jonah Ellis wreaking havoc in opposing teams backfields and that's going to be a question for Baylor to solve do the Bears have what it takes to combat that how do they counter certain things because Utah is a very physical team the Baylor's going to want to get the ball on Space they're going to want to get toan Finn the ball and how do you get him involved more without having him to be running up the middle or dropping back the pass you know those are the traditional ways to get him involved but how do you get him out in space can you roll him out where you're not worried about the interior of Utah's defense can you find ways to get the ball out of his hands quickly to your Playmakers those are questions that can be answers to that bigger question there for Utah it's going to be can the passing attack keep up this pace now having cam Rising back is huge but is that what they want to be this year now Andy lwig has done a good job of adapting to his personel and you have a good group of pass catchers for cam rising to hit downfield but can they do what they did last week and that's probably not a good sample size to go off of against a team like Southern UI you're not going to want to base your whole season and expectations off of that but also you know that this team has the weapons to do so now the matchup I'm curious to watch is what can Baylor's offensive line do against Utah's defensive line this is still a very talented and experienced Utah Utes defensive line and Baylor has some guys up front that will be intriguing to watch and it's going to be the the Baylor offensive line is going to really dictate how well this team does in 2024 and in the Big 12 that's going to be a big thing for Baylor and it's going to help this offense quite a bit because again you have plenty of skill position talent that can make things really fun and really explosive but if your offensive line can't block it doesn't matter this gives you kind of that option to show your physicality to show the level that you're willing to go to to win football games and Baylor's offensive line is where things start Utah is a 14-point favorite at the time I'm recording this and a big reason is going to be cam ryy when you look at what cam ryy did in 2023 you know you had a lot of questions about his health he obious he did not play in 2023 but you saw his impact on this team you had to go through multiple different quarterbacks and now both of those quarterbacks are gone so an impact player very much so cam Rising is one of those players that if he is out you are going to see an impact and you saw that last year you saw Utah's offense look very different and they did not have as many options like cam Rising so his health is vitally important to this team and it's going to be fun to see what he can do now that he is back when you look at what he has we talked about the options he had down field you bring guys like Dorian singer from the transfer portal rant keithy comes back from an injury himself you have certain players that did not playay play roles last year playing very prominent roles for this team dejon Stanley had a big game last week as a runner and as a pass catcher so that's definitely another aspect this the Utah team that still wants to run the football and they have an offensive line that loves to be physical and wants to continue to establish the run on the Rock and I think that they're still going to try to do that that is their identity they are physical team but they could also sprinkle in some more passes you kind of saw again it's it's so hard after week one week one is one those things where you can't lean too much into it but you also have to take some of that and think what if it's almost that's what you have to do you have have to think what if Utah tries to throw the ball more can they do that do they have the Personnel to to make that happen those are going to be big questions there the defense like I said before a very good group van villinger had a good game last week and he is one of those veterans that I mentioned before that will make a big time impact Smith Snowden is a player that's emerging as a cornerback I think Utah fans are very familiar with him but he is going to have his hands full with the Baylor Playmakers and this is a Baylor team that has I think they have some players that are still relatively under the radar and that's going to make them really fun if they find ways to break out now dcoin Finn coming in from Toledo was one of the more intriguing transfers that we saw this year he is a guy who has dual threat abilities really improved as a passer in 2023 and I think that he is a really good fit for spidol system had a solid week last week with 192 yards and two touchdowns through the air he had 19 rushing yards and one touchdown on the ground so you obviously not the most Explosive Performance but at the same time you didn't necessarily need him to be now you do now you need him to be an impact player he is probably the biggest X Factor in this game outside of Cam risen's health for either of these teams Finn's ability to make plays on the Run get the ball out in space and really just Escape pressure is what's going to either dictate if if Baylor can win this game or if they're going to struggle like they did last year I think he is a big difference maker and he'll be good with his arm but he's also going to be really important with his likes joining him in the back field Rich Reese is kind of a name that is forgotten coming into this year he is looking to bounce back and show people what he could do as a freshman so that he can do that again KRON Jackson had a big week but again we don't really know who's going to be that go-to wide receiver yet he is definitely one of those players monter Baldwin could be one of those guys we saw from last year you saw a number of players that could fit into that role it's just a matter of who's going to step up now the defensive side of things the front six front seven whatever front they're going to go with they have lots of penil and guys like Steve Linton are a perfect example of that a guy who started at Syracuse goes to Texas Tech and now is at Baylor he is someone that I think could have a really special season if he figures it out in Dave randa's system and I think that's going to be really fun to watch Matt Jones is that leader he's that steadying force that you need in a defense and he is going to be a big playmaker as well so this is a really fun matchup because of the different styles but you also have different players that can play similar roles for both teams cam rising and dcoin Finn are probably the two biggest X factors for each of their sides but for different reasons and it's going to be really fun to watch both of these teams now if ryzing stays healthy and this defense continues doing what it's doing I think that Baylor's in for a long night this one long day I should say the one thing that that really could change things is Finn's ability to handle that pressure again his ability to run he's not the most explosive Runner but he is a capable Runner and I think that that's going to be a big impact if if youah can't get him down if he's able to make makes more decisions and also extend plays with his legs then I think Baylor is is in good position to expose this Utah defense now Utah has plenty of options themselves so this is what makes this game so intriguing I think we're in store for another close game and I I think Utah is still there's a reason why they are picked to win the Big 12 I think that they are going to win this game I think it's still going to be close but don't be surprised if Baylor has a few things up their sleeve and if Utah has to adjust to the different way that Baylor is playing