Five Straight Held to 20 or Fewer and a Four-Game Win Streak: Baylor Brings a Historic Defense Into the Blackout Against Tumbling TCU

By Mac Rivera, RF Sports Radio Baylor voice

Bears fans, wear black and bring your voice. Baylor's defense is doing something Waco has not seen in decades, and Saturday night it gets a rival that badly needs a win.

The facts

Baylor (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) hosts TCU (2-3, 0-2 Big 12) on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 6 p.m. Central at McLane Stadium on FS1, in the Revivalry branded Blackout on the Brazos, per BaylorBears.com. The Bears are on a four-game win streak that includes a 55-19 win at Arizona State.

According to Baylor's TCU-week game notes, the Bears have held five straight opponents to 20 points or fewer to open the season, a program-history stretch the notes describe as its longest in decades. Baylor is allowing 14.2 points per game, which the notes list as 12th nationally in scoring defense.

Quarterback DJ Lagway, a transfer from Florida whose father starred at running back for Baylor in the 1990s, has 860 passing yards and eight touchdowns, per Baylor's game notes and local previews. TCU quarterback Jaden Craig has thrown for 1,400 yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions. TCU enters tumbling after recent losses, per Wildcats Radio 1290's preview.

RF Sports Radio's take (opinion)

My take: this is the best version of a Baylor defense I have seen in a long time, and the numbers back it up. Five straight under 21 is not a soft-schedule mirage when one of those wins came on the road in Tempe by 36. The front is winning early downs, the secondary is tackling, and the whole unit plays like it expects to get off the field. That is coaching, and it is effort.

TCU is the trap, though. A 2-3 team with an 0-2 conference record has nothing to lose, and Craig has enough arm to punish a defense that gets greedy. Rivalry games do weird things to good teams. The Bears need Lagway to stay efficient, not spectacular, and they need the offense to finish drives with touchdowns instead of field goals so the defense never has to play with a one-score margin in the fourth quarter.

My call: Baylor 27, TCU 17. The defense makes it six straight held to 20 or fewer, the Bears go to 3-0 in the Big 12, and McLane stays black and loud all night. That is a prediction. If TCU hits two explosive passes early and the crowd goes quiet, this becomes a coin flip fast.

What to watch next

Kickoff is Saturday at 6 p.m. Central on FS1. Watch the points-allowed streak, Baylor's red-zone touchdown rate and Craig's turnover count. For Wednesday's blackout preview, read our Wednesday Blackout on the Brazos preview, and follow the Baylor Football page.

Radio question: is this the best Baylor defense of your lifetime, and does beating TCU in the blackout make the Bears real Big 12 contenders?

Sources: BaylorBears.com — Red-hot Baylor hosts TCU in Blackout on the Brazos; BaylorBears.com — Baylor football game notes vs. TCU (PDF); Wildcats Radio 1290 — Baylor bids to continue building momentum vs. tumbling TCU.