[BAYLOR FOOTBALL] Baylor Football Hosts Long Island on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Mon Sep 11 15:17:44 CDT 2023

BAYLOR ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS – Sept. 11, 2023

Baylor Football Hosts Long Island on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Bears Welcome Sharks for Saturday Matchup

For more information contact: Brent Ingram; 210-845-8651, brent_ingram at baylor.edu<mailto:brent_ingram at baylor.edu> or Max Calderone; 254-265-1639, max_calderone at baylor.edu<mailto:max_calderone at baylor.edu> or Colin Pirtle; 940-564-0351, colin_pirtle1 at baylor.edu<mailto:colin_pirtle1 at baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas -- Baylor Football will continue a season-long four-game homestand on Saturday, playing host to Long Island at 11 a.m. at McLane Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and the Baylor Sports Network.

ESPN+ will have Pete Sousa (play-by-play) and LaDarrin McLane (analyst) on the call, while the Baylor Sports Network will feature the Voice of the Bears, John Morris (play-by-play), and former BU greats J.J. Joe (analyst) and Ricky Thompson (sideline).

SCOUTING LIU

• The Bears will face off with a Long Island team under the direction of second-year head coach Ron Cooper, who has previously served as the head coach at Eastern Michigan (1993-94), Louisville (1995-97) and Alabama A&M (1998-01), in addition to eight games as the interim head coach at FIU (2016).

• Cooper is a veteran coach who has a bevy of experience, including full-time roles at UNLV, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, South Carolina, LSU, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, South Florida, Texas A&M, Arkansas and Alabama, before taking over the helm of LIU for the 2022 season.

• Eric Mathies serves as the assistant head coach/defensive coordinator/defensive line coach and has been with LIU since 2020 which followed a season as the defensive line coach at North Texas and at Florida Atlantic (2017-18), in addition to four years at USF. Kort Shankweiler is the offensive coordinator and coaches tight ends and joined the Sharks after a season as the QB coach at Lafayette College after previously serving as the quality control coach for Butch Jones at Tennessee in 2017. Shankweiler was also the QB and WR coach at FIU from 2015-16 and worked with TE’s from 2013-14, also serving as the running backs coach at Central Michigan for three seasons.

• LIU comes into the game having suffered consecutive losses at Ohio and Bryant. The Sharks fell 27-10 on opening weekend in Athens, Ohio, before falling 21-10 on Saturday in Smithfield, R.I. This game marks the final tune-up for LIU before opening North East Conference play vs. Duquesne on Sept. 30.

• The Sharks have scored 10 points per game in the early going of the season, averaging 129 yards rushing, 175 yards passing and 304 yards of total offense. Defensively, LIU has allowed 24 points per game, on 351 yards of total offense, 162 yards rushing and 189 yards passing.

• Daylen Fuller leads the defense with 26 tackles in just two games, owning a sack, two TFLs and two QB hurries. Antwan Spencer has 17 tackles, Eric O’Neill and Lesaan Hibbert have 16 tackles each - with O’Neill sporting 3.5 TFLs, and Ja’Nyus Morgan has 12 stops. O’Neill also has an interception.

• Two QBs have seen time for LIU, with Luca Stanzani throwing for 204 yards on 25 of 41 passing with a TD and three picks. Chris Howell has going 9 of 19 for 139 yards. Davon Wells has caught nine passes for 131 yards and a TD, while Owen Glascoe has seven catches for 46 yards. Stanzani leads the team with 68 rushing yards, with Ethan Greenwood toting it eight times for 66 yards. Howell has a TD rush on 11 carries and 29 yards.

CONNECTING THE TEAMS

• The Bears have several connections to LIU, including the AD for the Sharks, Ryan Kelly, who served as the associate operations director for Baylor football from 2016-18.

• LIU defensive backs coach Dwayne Thomas played for Coach Dave Aranda as the STAR at LSU. “In 2016, we played at Alabama and played really well,” Aranda said of Thomas in his Monday press conference. “Dwayne was our nickel and had a lot of success in that game. Always knew he was going to be a coach so way proud of him.”

• LIU special assistant to the head coach Kevin Cosgrove was a defensive analyst on LSU’s national championship team with Baylor’s Aranda, assistant coach Caleb Collins and Dennis Johnson.

FRESHMEN, NEWCOMERS MAKE IMPACT EARLY

• The Bears have relied heavily on first-time starters and newcomers early in the 2023 season.

• A total of 17 of Baylor’s starters in the first two games have been first-time starters. Eight of those first-time starters have started both of the first two games, which makes that 25 of Baylor’s 44 starts (57%) in the first two games coming from players who had not started a game prior to 2023.

• The total of 17 first-time starters through the first two games of the year marks a stark contrast to the last two seasons, when Baylor had six combined first-time starters in 2021 and eight combined first-time starters in 2022.

• Baylor has also played 18 freshmen in 2023.

First-Time Starters (opponent) - 17

Ketron Jackson, WR (vs. Texas State, Utah)

Campbell Barrington, LT (vs. Texas State, Utah [RT])

Clark Barrington, C (vs. Texas State, Utah)

Kaden Sieracki, RG (vs. Texas State, Utah)

Tate Williams, RT (vs. Texas State)

Jake Roberts, TE (vs. Texas State)

Cooper Lanz, DL (vs. Texas State, Utah)

Kyler Jordan, OLB (vs. Texas State, Utah)

Mike Smith Jr., LB (vs. Texas State, Utah)

Isaiah Dunson, CB (vs. Texas State)

Devyn Bobby, S (vs. Texas State, Utah)

Jonah Burton, WR (vs. Utah)

Alvin Ebosele, LT (vs. Utah)

Sawyer Robertson, QB (vs. Utah)

Corey Gordon Jr., S (vs. Utah)

Caden Jenkins, CB (vs. Utah)

Chateau Reed, CB (vs. Utah)

First-Time Starters in First Two Games By Year

2021: 6 (Game 1 - 5; Game 2 - 2)

2022: 8 (Game 1 - 7; Game 2 - 2)

2023: 17 (Game 1 - 11; Game 2 - 6)

Freshman Playing - 18

Carl Williams, Caden Jenkins, Corey Gordon, Bryson Washington, DJ Coleman, Dawson Pendergrass, Tay’Shawn Wilson, Kaian Roberts-Day, Kyler Jordan, Devonte Tezino, George Maile, Kaden Sieracki, Alvin Ebosole, Matthew Klopfenstein, Micah Gifford, Trey Wilson, Palmer Williams, Jeremy Evans

ROBERTSON MAKES FIRST CAREER START

• With starting quarterback Blake Shapen going down with injury in the season opener vs. Texas State, the Bears turned to redshirt sophomore QB Sawyer Robertson to make his first career start, coming vs. No. 12/12 Utah.

• Robertson, who was 6-of-12 for 113 yards, with 14 rushing yards in relief of Shapen vs. TXST, faced off with one of the nation’s best defensive units in the Utah matchup. He threw for 126 yards in the first half vs. the Utes, leading the Bears to a 13-3 lead. Utah’s defense stiffened in the second half and forced Robertson into a pair of interceptions. He finished with a career-high 218 yards passing and rushed for 19 yards including his first career TD.

NEXT

• Baylor will open its Big 12 season with No. 4/6 Texas on Saturday, Sept. 23 at McLane Stadium. The game will be televised live on ABC at 6:30 p.m.

- BaylorBears.com -

--
Brent Ingram | Assistant AD for Communications
Men’s Tennis Sport Program Administrator
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 210-845-8651

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