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2014 Baylor

11–⁠2 (8–⁠1 Big 12), coached by Art Briles, finished No. 7 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Baylor in 2014, game by game: won vs. SMU 45–0; won vs. Northwestern State 70–6; won at Buffalo 63–21; won at Iowa State 49–28; won at Texas 28–7; won vs. No. 9 TCU 61–58; lost at West Virginia 27–41; won vs. Kansas 60–14; won at No. 16 Oklahoma 48–14; won vs. Oklahoma State 49–28; won vs. Texas Tech 48–46; won vs. No. 9 Kansas State 38–27; lost vs. No. 7 Michigan State 41–42+64−14Won 45–0 vs. SMU+45SMUWon 70–6 vs. Northwestern State+64Northwestern St…Won 63–21 at Buffalo+42BuffaloWon 49–28 at Iowa State+21Iowa StateWon 28–7 at Texas+21TexasWon 61–58 vs. No. 9 TCU+3No. 9 TCULost 27–41 at West Virginia-14West VirginiaWon 60–14 vs. Kansas+46KansasWon 48–14 at No. 16 Oklahoma+34No. 16 OklahomaWon 49–28 vs. Oklahoma State+21Oklahoma StateWon 48–46 vs. Texas Tech+2Texas TechWon 38–27 vs. No. 9 Kansas State+11No. 9 Kansas StateLost 41–42 vs. No. 7 Michigan State-1No. 7 Michigan State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31vsSMUW 45–⁠078%
Sep 6vsNorthwestern StateW 70–⁠693%
Sep 12atBuffaloW 63–⁠2171%
Sep 27atIowa StateW 49–⁠2874%
Oct 4atTexasW 28–⁠761%
Oct 11vs9TCUW 61–⁠5874%
Oct 18atWest VirginiaL 27–⁠4173%
Nov 1vsKansasW 60–⁠1491%
Nov 8at16OklahomaW 48–⁠1438%
Nov 22vsOklahoma StateW 49–⁠2882%
Nov 29vsTexas TechW 48–⁠4686%
Dec 6vs9Kansas StateW 38–⁠2768%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs7Michigan StateCotton BowlL 41–⁠4252%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Michigan State 42–⁠41 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 7 in the final AP poll; Big 12 champions.

In program history: The best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 121 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 10
  2. Wk 2: 10
  3. Wk 3: 8
  4. Wk 4: 7
  5. Wk 5: 7
  6. Wk 6: 7
  7. Wk 7: 5
  8. Wk 8: 4
  9. Wk 9: 12
  10. Wk 10: 12
  11. Wk 11: 10
  12. Wk 12: 6
  13. Wk 13: 6
  14. Wk 14: 5
  15. Wk 15: 5
  16. Wk 16: 4
  17. Final: 7

Big 12 champions8–⁠1 in the conference, shared with TCU

Consensus All-AmericanSpencer Drango, OL

Record
11–⁠2
Conference
8–⁠1 shared first in Big 12
AP final
No. 7 peak No. 4
Points
627–⁠332
Coach
Art Briles
Elo
1768 +115 this season
SP+ rating
23.9 No. 8 of 128; offense No. 11, defense No. 21, special teams No. 46
SRS
19.6 No. 6 of 128 in FBS
Returning
82% of last season’s EPA, No. 20 of 125
Recruiting class
No. 25
Offensive coordinator
Philip Montgomery
Defensive coordinator
Phil Bennett
Offense
Veer and shoot
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense8th of 128
  • Defense46th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted10th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted38th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2950%1.208th of 128
Defense0.1140%1.3146th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.28 off
0.11 def		50% off
39% def		—10th off
38th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense4.0own 321% allowed
Defense3.6own 282% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsBryce Petty QB3,855 yds
Passing touchdownsBryce Petty QB29 TD
Rushing yardsShock Linwood RB1,252 yds
Rushing touchdownsShock Linwood RB16 TD
Receiving yardsCorey Coleman WR1,119 yds
Receiving touchdownsCorey Coleman WR11 TD
InterceptionsOrion Stewart S4 INT

Top recruits in the 2014 class

K.D. Cannon WR★★★★★No. 30
Davion Hall ATH★★★★No. 49
Terence Williams ATH★★★★No. 232
T’Kevian Rockwell OLB★★★★No. 295
Ishmael Zamora WR★★★No. 363

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2014 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers33.70.909
Offensive line13.00.837
Defensive line43.00.829
Linebackers23.50.892
Athletes and specialists33.70.915
Whole class133.40.877

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2015

The 2015 draft
Rd 4Bryce Petty QBNew York Jets
Rd 7Bryce Hager ILBSt. Louis Rams

Roster 111

The 2014 roster

111 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2014 line; 37 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big 12

6 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2014 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2014 Big 12 standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
TCU8–⁠112–⁠13
Baylor8–⁠111–⁠27
Kansas State7–⁠29–⁠418
Oklahoma5–⁠48–⁠5
West Virginia5–⁠47–⁠6
Texas5–⁠46–⁠7
Oklahoma State4–⁠57–⁠6
Texas Tech2–⁠74–⁠8
Kansas1–⁠83–⁠9
Iowa State0–⁠92–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.