Baylor Football has had quite the off season showing coming off of their most spectacular season where they secured a program-high 12 wins, recorded their first-ever Big 12 Championship title game victory, had first and only New Years 6 bowl win in the CFP era, and notched 5 wins over Top 25 opponents for their most top-25 wins in a season since at least 1974! The Bears made headlines when head coach Dave Aranda announced backup QB Blake Shapen would replace former starter Gerry Bohanon early into the spring (Bohanon almost immediately transferred to South Florida following the news) and have continued their news-worthy cycle with an ongoing collection of recruits committing to playing for Aranda and co. in the next couple of years. Shortly after five current Bears were named to the 2022 Preseason All-Big 12 Team (far more than last year’s two choices), two of the five—C Jacob Gall and TE Ben Sims earned watch list honors. Gall named to the Rimington Award Watch List, which is an annual award for the most outstanding center in NCAA Division I college football. Sims earned a John Mackey Award Watch List spot for the most outstanding collegiate tight end.
Gall was a contender for the 2021 Big 12’s Offensive Newcomer of the Year in only his first season as a Bear (he was a transfer from Buffalo) and his sixth season playing. Gall was one of the main reasons why Baylor’s OL was a top-10 corps in the country allowing only 18 sacks on the season (let it be known that Baylor’s OL was never a shining star until OL coach Eric Mateos arrived on scene). Over the past four years, Sims totaled 1 carry for 1 yard and 1 TD as well as 47 catches for 530 yards and 9 TDs—becoming one of the most consistent “secret” weapons for the Baylor offense no matter who was behind the C.
