The Baylor Bears lost another tough game on Saturday, falling to the No. 25 Texas Longhorns 56-50 at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin.
The loss, which drops the Bears to 3-3 on the season and 0-3 in the Big 12, showcased further struggles by the Baylor defense. Despite putting up 50 points and over 600 yards of offense against Texas, the Bears were unable to contain the Longhorns offense and lost in yet another shootout.
The Bears have scored 134 points in their past three games, yet have allowed 175 points in what have been three straight losses for Baylor. With Nick Florence leading one of the country's top offensive attacks, building off of the success in 2011 under Robert Griffin III, it was expected that Baylor would continue as one of the more feared teams in the Big 12.
Instead, as Mark C. Moore of Our Daily Bears points out, the defense has let down the team to the point where drastic changes may have to be made:
I've tried to be rational about the defense this season. Lord knows how hard I've tried. We've gotten to the point now where I think the rational belief is that Phil Bennett has to go. The issues we have in tackling, alignment, and scheme lay at his feet and his alone. Art Briles ceded control of that side of the ball to him two years ago in the hope that things would get better. They haven't. They've gotten much, much worse.
I know we have a disparity in talent with most other good teams in our league. I know we have had difficulty recruiting at important positions like the defensive line. I also know that there are scores of teams across the country with less talent that put a superior product on the field. There is no justification for how bad we are that is acceptable. This kind of repeated performance is not acceptable.
Baylor will have another tough test next week, as they travel to take on No. 24 Iowa State on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT.