'We’re Doing The Right Things The Right Way'

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

As one text message after another flooded his phone following Baylor's 35-24 win over Texas Tech to become bowl-eligible, Mack Rhoades couldn't help but smile.

Not that Baylor's third-year athletics director needed any validation for his hiring of head football coach Matt Rhule in December 2016. "I never felt like and still don't feel like Matt Rhule needs validation. Matt Rhule is a heck of a football coach."

Rhoades' smile came from the "validation that we're doing the right things the right way."

Baylor (6-6, 4-5) is bowl-eligible for the eighth time in nine years and will find out its bowl destination next Sunday, Dec. 2. Possible landing spots include the Dec. 22 Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, the Dec. 26 Cheez-it Bowl in Phoenix, Ariz., the Academy Sports & Outdoors Texas Bowl on Dec. 27 in Houston, the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on New Year's Eve in Memphis, Tenn., the Camping World Bowl on Dec. 28 in Orlando, Fla., and the Valero Alamo Bowl the same day in San Antonio.

"When you go 1-11, you start to question, 'Man, is this really the right thing?''' Rhoades said in the aftermath of Saturday's game at AT&T Stadium. "And there's days that you leave the office and you're going, 'Man, are we doing the right things?' . . . There's always that question in the back of your mind, even though you know you're doing it the right way. I think it's just the validation for the process and what we're doing."

It's the same question Rhule asked of himself during a 1-11 season last year, even though he had been through it before. He won two games his first season at Temple, finished 6-6 in Year 2, then posted back-to-back 10-win seasons.

"No one really knows what it's like when you win one game or two games. Unfortunately, I've been there," he said. "When you win one game, you preach the message all day about patience and progress and faith. All you hear is negativity, and it's natural. Even as the head coach, you start to question will this really work? Either you break, facture or come together."

The Bears didn't break or fracture after going 1-11 last year. Even if no one else could see it, and the scoreboard certainly didn't always show it, Rhule saw signs of the team coming together by the end of that season.

"I saw the guys getting better as the year went on," he said. "I saw them block out the noise and hang in there. . . . I preach this message to our team that all of the things that happen to you, happen to you for a reason. And they prepare you for the next opportunity. So, all of the things that have happened to us throughout the course of the year prepared us for this opportunity today."

Fifth-year senior offensive lineman Blake Blackmar, who has played for three head coaches and three different position coaches during his career, said he could see the progress the team made last season, "we just never quite sealed the deal."

"We've made a ton of progress (this season), and big strides," Blackmar said. "To be able to seal the deal and go to a bowl game now . . . it's really a turning point for the team and hopefully how we're going to lead Baylor going forward. We've done it, and now we're going to win this bowl game. And next year, all of the guys that are still here, they're going to know how to do it and they're going to push beyond this."

Other than practicing with the team, senior transfer receiver Jalen Hurd from Tennessee wasn't a part of last year's 1-11 finish. Recently invited to play in the Senior Bowl, Hurd hurt his knee on the opening drive of the game, but refused to sit.

"We had a whole game plan set up around him," Rhule said. "I told him, 'Jalen, you should sit this one out.' He was like, 'No, Coach, I'm playing.' Just special kids."

Same for redshirt junior running back JaMycal Hasty, who went home over Thanksgiving to take care of something, but "his mom dropped him off at 9 this morning to be here, even though he knew he wasn't playing," Rhule said.

"I thought today, we just said, 'Hey, let's go play for each other, one snap at a time. Let's not play for the bowl. Let's play for each other, and the bowl will come.' I thought you saw a team today. I talked about Jalen and JaMycal, but there were other guys who laid it on the line for the team today."

That included fifth-year senior receiver Chris Platt. Coming off an ACL knee injury that sidelined him for all but four games last season, he came into Saturday's regular-season finale with just 29 catches for 390 yards and one TD.

With Hurd limited by the injury, Platt stepped up to catch a season-high six passes and record his fourth career 100-yard day and first of the season with 114 yards. He hauled in a 39-yarder on the Bears' first offensive play of the second half and added a 37-yard catch and run in the fourth quarter in a scoring drive that extended it back to an 11-point lead.

"Things haven't always gone to him this year the way he wanted," Rhule said of Platt. "I thought he made some unbelievable plays. That was the key to me today. We made key plays at key times to go win the football game."

As much as the younger returning players will benefit from the extra weeks of bowl practice, Rhoades said the bigger story is the seniors getting the chance to "end their career here with a bowl game, and to be a part of that foundation in terms of bringing Baylor back. That's something special that I think they will always remember."

Platt described Saturday's game against Texas Tech as a "win-or-go-home moment."

"Being able to get the win, and being able to play an extra game, is a blessing," he said.

Baylor football season ticket holders and Bear Foundation members can sign into their individual ticket accounts and request tickets to Big 12-afiliated bowl games. Deadline for priority requests is Monday, December 3. Requests are only valid in the event Baylor is selected to one of the Big 12-affiliated bowls.

The bowl request link is https://baylorbears.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventList?groupCode=BR&linkID=baylor&shopperContext=&caller=&appCode=

'We’re Doing The Right Things The Right Way'

Players Mentioned

Blake Blackmar

JaMycal Hasty

Jalen Hurd

Chris Platt

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