Edit: Since I didn't talk about West Virginia, I do want to say it's a bad sign for them. I don't have confidence in the staff yet. I would hope this isn't a Louisville Steve Kragthorpe thing where he has to clean house. West Virginia should have won the game, they were the better team.
Keys to the game
1. Contain Robert Griffin
The Huskies will miss tackles against the talented QB Griffin, but
they can’t let him run up and down the field and dominate action.
2. Continue to pound the run
Get Donald Brown the ball, get Jordan Todman the ball, get Andre
Dixon the ball. The rushing game has been unstoppable early in the
season and the Huskies need to establish it again to dominate the
line of scrimmage.
3. Make Baylor uncomfortable
This is Baylor’s first road game of the year in unfamiliar territory.
Crowd noise and physical play should make the trip an a difficult
one, at least on the field anyhow. Perhaps in no other sport is crowd
noise and atmosphere as important than college football. Friday
night, late, and on national TV is a good prescription for a
deafening crowd.
On Offense
Baylor has turned the offense over to true freshman quarterback
Robert Griffin and the results have been explosive. Griffin has run
the spread offense with uncanny ease rushing for a school-record 217
yards last week in a blowout over Washington State. Griffin has 288
yards rushing and four touchdowns while he also has passed for four
touchdowns and has a 62.3 completion percentage. Running back Jay
Finley is also productive rushing for 232 yards and three touchdowns
and averaging 8.3 yards per carry.
UConn has the No. 5 ranked rushing offense in the country and aren’t
going to try and switch things up. Donald Brown is the nation’s No. 2
rusher with 566 yards and eight touchdowns while Tyler Lorenzen has
been effective scrambling and on QB keepers averaging 5-3 yards a
carry. Lorenzen has only be sacked once. The Huskies figure to get
speed back Jordan Todman and last year’s top rusher, Andre Dixon,
back in the mix. Lorenzen was efficient last week hitting 13-of-15
passes, and if the running game is working, that is going to make
things easier in a still untested passing attack.
Defense
Baylor has been pretty good against the run in the early going
surrendering only 90 yards per game. Linebacker Joe Pawelek is the
top tackler with 35 on the season. Defensive end Leon Freeman has
been a load with two sacks and five tackles for a loss in three
games. If Baylor is going to have a chance, the defensive line is
going to have to continue to limit the rushing productivity.
UConn has had trouble against mobile quarterbacks in the past,
notably West Virginia’s Pat White, and Robert Griffin will be a
challenge. The key will be the play of defensive ends Cody Brown and
Julius Williams. They can’t get taken out of plays and need to force
Griffin wide when he comes off the edge. It’s also imperative that
the Huskies secondary and linebackers come up and make plays. Griffin
is going to make people miss, but there has to be another wave of
players to help get him down. The Huskies have only allowed one
touchdown and is ranked 15th in total defense so far this season.
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