5 things to know about Baylor football, Ole Miss' Sugar Bowl opponent

OXFORD — The 2022 Sugar Bowl will be a showcase of two programs that couldn't be happier with their second-year head coaches.

No. 8 Ole Miss (10-2, 6-2 SEC) will battle the Big 12 champions, No. 6 Baylor (11-2, 7-2 Big 12), in the 2022 Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 (7:45 p.m. CT, ESPN) in New Orleans. It's a matchup of two teams led by second-year regimes that have build contenders in their image at a shocking speed.

Led by defensive-minded coach Dave Aranda, Baylor allows just 19.2 points per game and ranks in the top-20 nationally in run defense and turnovers created. After finishing 2-7 in Aranda's first season, the Bears turned things around dramatically in 2021 with ranked wins over BYU, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, the last of which coming Saturday in the Big 12 championship game.

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Here are five things to know about Baylor before the Sugar Bowl.

1. The defense is stingy, holds firm

Over its last four games, which includes matchups against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, Baylor is allowing 16 points and 311 yards per game.

Baylor can attribute these performances to keeping opponents out of the red zone and limiting damage during red zone trips. In those last four games, Baylor's opponents have only reached the red zone nine times and only scored four touchdowns.

2. Baylor has a bit of a QB conundrum

Junior quarterback Gerry Bohanon had a pretty good year. He threw 17 touchdowns, rushed for nine more, and completed 64% of his passes for 2,154 yards. He didn't make too many mistakes and his 107-yard rushing day was crucial for the Bears' upsetting Oklahoma.

But Bohanon missed the Bears' final two games and was replaced by freshman Blake Shapen. In the regular season finale and Big 12 championship, Shapen completed 69% of his passes for 434 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions.

Shapen isn't as elusive of a running threat as Bohanon is. Bohanon's hamstring will have time to heal before the Sugar Bowl, but the Bears will have a decision to make on how they want to handle their quarterback room.

3. Baylor runs it well

Baylor led the Big 12 and ranked No. 16 in the FBS averaging 215.2 rushing yards per game. Senior Abram Smith rushed for 1,429 yards and 12 touchdowns, which ranked second and fourth in the Big 12.

The Bears' rushing attack isn't built entirely on volume either. There are only 10 Power 5 teams that averaged more yards per carry than the Bears' 5.27 and only two teams (North Carolina and Syracuse) have broken more 20+ yard runs than the Bears.

4. Baylor is loaded with veterans

The Bears have 29 seniors on roster, including nine fifth- or sixth-year seniors. Only five of those seniors are transfers, a remarkable number both by the standards of modern college football and by the standards of a program with a second-year head coach.

Like Ole Miss' veterans, Baylor's older players have played through sanctions, interim coaches, ups and downs. They played for a team that made the Sugar Bowl in 2019 and teams in 2017 and 2020 that won one and two games.

5. Baylor played well vs. ranked teams

Baylor went 4-1 this season against teams ranked at the time of their game. The one loss came against Oklahoma State, a loss the Bears avenged two months later.

In those five games, Baylor outscored its opponents 131-107.

Contact Nick Suss at 601-408-2674 or nsuss@gannett.com. Follow @nicksuss on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: 5 things to know about Baylor, Ole Miss football's Sugar Bowl foe