# 2018 Baylor Bears football team

The 2018 Baylor Bears football team represented Baylor University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bears played their home games at the McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas. They competed as a member of the Big 12 Conference and were led by second-year head coach Matt Rhule. The team improved on its 1–11 record from last season, as they would finish 7–6, 4–5 in Big 12 play to finish in a tie for fifth place. They were invited to the Texas Bowl, where they defeated Vanderbilt.

## Preseason
### Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released
| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Rimington Trophy | Sam Tecklenburg | C | JR |
| Fred Biletnikoff Award | Denzel Mims | WR | JR |
| Bronko Nagurski Trophy | Ira Lewis | DT | SR |
| Outland Trophy | Ira Lewis | DT | SR |
| Lou Groza Award | Connor Martin | K | JR |
| Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award | Denzel Mims | WR | JR |

### Big 12 media poll

The Big 12 media poll was released July 12, 2018, with the Bears predicted to finish in ninth place.
Media poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Oklahoma | 509 (46) |
| 2 | West Virginia | 432 (2) |
| 3 | TCU | 390 (1) |
| 4 | Texas | 370 (1) |
| 5 | Oklahoma State | 300 |
| 6 | Kansas State | 283 (2) |
| 7 | Iowa State | 250 |
| 8 | Texas Tech | 149 |
| 9 | Baylor | 125 |
| 10 | Kansas | 52 |

## Schedule

Baylor announced its football schedule Oct. 26, 2017. The Bears played 12 games with six home games (two non-conference games and four Big 12 games), five away games (one non-conference game and four Big 12 games) and a neutral-site Big 12 game.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 7:00 p.m. | Abilene Christian* | McLane StadiumWaco, TX | FSN | W 55–27 | 45,330 |
| September 8 | 6:00 p.m. | at UTSA* | AlamodomeSan Antonio, TX | Facebook | W 37–20 | 42,071 |
| September 15 | 2:30 p.m. | Duke* | McLane StadiumWaco, TX | FS1 | L 27–40 | 40,442 |
| September 22 | 2:30 p.m. | Kansas | McLane StadiumWaco, TX | FS1 | W 26–7 | 36,725 |
| September 29 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 6 Oklahoma | Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial StadiumNorman, OK | ABC | L 33–66 | 86,642 |
| October 6 | 2:30 p.m. | Kansas State | McLane StadiumWaco, TX | FS1 | W 37–34 | 36,888 |
| October 13 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 9 Texas | Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial StadiumAustin, TX (rivalry) | ESPN | L 17–23 | 93,882 |
| October 25 | 6:00 p.m. | at No. 13 West Virginia | Mountaineer FieldMorgantown, WV | FS1 | L 14–58 | 53,117 |
| November 3 | 11:00 a.m. | Oklahoma State | McLane StadiumWaco, TX | FS1 | W 35–31 | 43,492 |
| November 10 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 23 Iowa State | Jack Trice StadiumAmes, IA | FS1 | L 14–28 | 53,860 |
| November 17 | 11:00 a.m. | TCU | McLane StadiumWaco, TX (rivalry) | FS1 | L 9–16 | 45,140 |
| November 24 | 11:00 a.m. | vs. Texas Tech | AT&T StadiumArlington, TX (rivalry) | FS1 | W 35–24 | 27,308 |
| December 27 | 8:00 p.m. | vs. Vanderbilt* | NRG StadiumHouston, TX (Texas Bowl) | ESPN | W 45–38 | 51,104 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time |||||||
    Schedule Source:

## Game summaries
### Abilene Christian

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 7 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 27 |
| Bears | 17 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 55 |

### At UTSA

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 10 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 37 |
| Roadrunners | 3 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 20 |

### Duke

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Blue Devils | 7 | 16 | 7 | 10 | 40 |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 13 | 14 | 27 |

### Kansas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Jayhawks | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Bears | 7 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 26 |

### At Oklahoma

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 6 | 3 | 14 | 10 | 33 |
| No. 6 Sooners | 14 | 14 | 21 | 17 | 66 |

### Kansas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 7 | 7 | 0 | 20 | 34 |
| Bears | 3 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 37 |
Baylor held a slight edge in the pregame analysis. Coming into the game Baylor was considered better than they were at this same time last year and has won 3 games (Kansas, Texas-San Antonio, and Abilene Christian), the Bears have also lost 2 (Duke, Oklahoma). In Baylor's previous game against Oklahoma, they achieved 493 yards of offense in their loss—something expected to be a challenge for Kansas State on defense.
The game started with Kansas State holding the lead at the end of the first and second quarters. Baylor pulled ahead in the third quarter but missed several field goals. Baylor's Charlie Brewer threw for 296 yards and Kansas State's Alex Barnes rushed for 250 yards (he ran for 129 yards and four touchdowns in the 2016 matchup also at Baylor).
Kansas State had its share of mistakes: K-State missed a field goal and an extra point and were also ineffective on kickoff returns. Kansas State also gave up a fumble on the kickoff return after a controversial play review to start the third quarter and Baylor scored a touchdown two plays later. Wildcat turnovers and penalties led to three touchdowns for Baylor. They also had problems with a punt return they recovered and an extra point was blocked.
Baylor's Connor Martin had a rough day as the kicker, missing three field goals and an extra point, yet among all that he ended up kicking the game-winning field goal from 29 yards with 8 seconds left in the game. The final score was a Baylor victory, 37-34.

### At Texas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 7 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| No. 9 Longhorns | 3 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 23 |

### At West Virginia

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| No. 13 Mountaineers | 10 | 31 | 10 | 7 | 58 |

### Oklahoma State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cowboys | 7 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 31 |
| Bears | 0 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 35 |

### At Iowa State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| No. 23 Cyclones | 7 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 28 |

### TCU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Horned Frogs | 3 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 16 |
| Bears | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 |

### vs Texas Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 7 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 35 |
| Red Raiders | 10 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 24 |

### vs Vanderbilt–Texas Bowl

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 10 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 45 |
| Commodores | 14 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 38 |

## Players drafted into the NFL

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL Club |
| 3 | 67 | Jalen Hurd | WR | San Francisco 49ers |