The Baylor Bears are undefeated and looking poised to make a run to the College Football Playoffs, but they will have to do so without their starting quarterback who has been lost for the season. Baylor's high-scoring offense has been a highlight of the season as they make their way through Big 12 play. However, without Seth Russell on the field, they will be met with a challenge hitting the road to play Kansas State.
The Bears had a week to figure out what their offense would look like without Russell. The quarterback was ruled out for the season after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured cervical vertebra in his neck. The injury was suffered during the fourth quarter in the win over Iowa State. It came as a shock to the program as Jarrett Stidham will take his place and lead the No.2 Bears for the remainder of the year.
Filling in for Russell will be no easy task. He had the best passer rating in college football. Stidham is a freshman who was a highly touted recruit. Because Baylor has been blowing their opponents out, he has gotten playing time this season which could make the transition much easier. Stidham has 331 yards to his name along with six touchdowns and no interceptions. Those are pretty good numbers for a backup quarterback who has barely seen the field this season. Baylor's offense is making it easy as they average 61.1 points per game. Now they will face a Kansas State game that has suffered close losses to be 0-5 in conference play.
The Wildcats have been incredibly inconsistent this season. They came very close to beating Oklahoma State and TCU, but fell hard to Texas and Oklahoma. They have shown they have the talent to hang in with top teams in the Big 12, but their inability to close things out has hurt them in the long run. Beating Baylor would certainly cause a national frenzy as they would likely knock the Bears out of the College Football Playoff rankings. Baylor has won the last three matchups against the Wildcats and they hope to keep the streak alive.
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