The Baylor Football team notched an incredible complementary performance in their 45-17 win against Texas Tech on Saturday with spectacular showings on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. With so many Bear-driven disruptive plays during the Red Raiders matchup also known as the BUTT bowl, it’s no surprise that two Baylor players received Big 12 Players of the Week honors! Freshman RB Richard Reese is cementing his position as one of the Bears’ best RBs ever—recording a career-high 36 carries for 148 yards and 3 TDs. According to Baylor Athletics’ Jerry Hill (papa), “Saturday marked Reese’s fourth multi-TD effort of the year, third 100-yard performance of the season, and second three-TD output of 2022. He also added 12 receiving yards on three catches as BU won its fifth game of the season.” Such an outstanding performance by Reese combined with sophomore QB Blake Shapen’s 211 yards and 1 TD established a thoroughly balanced offensive showing. Reese was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week for the second time this season (he earned the first award after the Bears’ victory over Texas State during the third week of the season), which makes him the first athlete in program history to earn the honor twice in one season. Reese also needs only 90 more yards to match former RB Shock Linwood’s freshman rushing record of 881 yards.
Junior DL Gabe Hall is the second Baylor athlete to earn this week’s Big 12 weekly award as Defensive Player of the Week following a monster beatdown of Texas Tech’s QBs. Although the Red Raiders are apparently known for their quick and lengthy offense (they’ve bragged about how many players they run per game), Hall was no match for head coach Joey McGuire’s 3 QBs who rotated in the 60 minutes of play. The Baylor defense recorded an incredible season-high 6 sacks (Hall was responsible for 3 of them) and 5 interceptions—the most turnovers since Baylor vs. TCU in 1989! Hall totaled 3 tackles, 3 sacks for a loss of 24 yards, and 1 QB hurry to receive his first Big 12 Player of the Week honor.
