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Will penalties kill Baylor's shot at making the playoff?
They say holding can be called on just about any possession of a football game. But that's not the case for false starts, illegal motion, unsportsmanlike conduct and even, to an extent, pass interference.
For the Baylor Bears, though, it really does seem like any of the above can be called on any given play. For two years running the Bears are the most penalized team in college football, and apparently they're trying to make it a three in a row after accumulating 13 yellow hankies in the season-opening win at SMU.
Baylor has still managed to win consecutive Big 12 championships, but at some point a penalty is going to cost Baylor late in a game, maybe even cost it a game. And in a cutthroat playoff environment, an ill-timed penalty could cost Baylor a playoff berth.
So what gives with all the penalties?
"Addressing them in practice, it’s hard to simulate game-type situations with tempo,” Baylor coach Art Briles told the Waco Tribune-Herald. “When the ref is going to set the ball and when they’re not, crowd noise and claps, things that go on in the game that you don’t concern yourself with in practice. I’m talking about illegal formations and false starts.
“The other penalties — holding, facemasks, that kind of stuff, once again you’re talking about it in practice but you’re not getting penalized for it. It’s just part of playing, and you’ve got to hope that you’re able to overcome if you get those. Fortunately we have been.”
One theory introduced by Brice Cherry of the Waco Tribune-Herald is that the up-tempo pace the Bears employ can lead to extra flags being thrown. Cherry noted that other high-tempo teams such as Texas Tech and Oregon were both high-penalty teams last year. Oregon played for the national title.
"You’ve just got to focus,” offensive tackle Spencer Drango told the Tribune-Herald. “Actually the two false starts on the line (against SMU), a guy jumped on the opposite side and made one of our guys react a little bit. The other, the center didn’t hear the snap. We went and he didn’t snap it. It’s kind of one of those things where those things happen. But those are easy to fix."
(h/t Waco Tribune-Herald)
