2019 Baylor Bears football team

2019 Baylor Bears football
Sugar Bowl, L 14–26 vs. Georgia
ConferenceBig 12 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 12
APNo. 13
Record11–3 (8–1 Big 12)
Head coach
Co-offensive coordinatorGlenn Thomas (3rd season)
Co-offensive coordinatorJeff Nixon (3rd season)
Offensive schemeSpread
Defensive coordinatorPhil Snow (3rd season)
Base defense3–3 stack[1]
Home stadiumMcLane Stadium
Uniform
Seasons
← 2018
2020 →
2019 Big 12 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 7 Oklahoma y$^   8 1     12 2  
No. 13 Baylor y   8 1     11 3  
No. 25 Texas   5 4     8 5  
Oklahoma State   5 4     8 5  
Kansas State   5 4     8 5  
Iowa State   5 4     7 6  
West Virginia   3 6     5 7  
TCU   3 6     5 7  
Texas Tech   2 7     4 8  
Kansas   1 8     3 9  
Championship: Oklahoma 30, Baylor 23 OT
  • ^ – College Football Playoff participant
  • $ – Conference champion
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2019 Baylor Bears football team represented Baylor University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bears played their home games at the McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas, and competed in the Big 12 Conference. They were led by Matt Rhule in his third and final season as the program's head coach.

Baylor, only two years removed from a 1–11 season in 2017, began the year unranked and projected to finish in sixth in the Big 12 Conference. The Bears won their first nine games of the season and climbed to 13th in the College Football Playoff rankings, but did not play a ranked team in that span. The team then hosted then-No. 10 Oklahoma, but Baylor squandered a 25-point lead and lost 34–31. Baylor finished out the regular season with an 11–1 record, 8–1 in Big 12 play to finish tied atop the conference standings, earning them a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game, the school's first appearance in the game, to play a rematch against Oklahoma. There, the Bears lost to the Sooners again, this time in overtime, 30–23. Baylor received an invitation to the Sugar Bowl to play SEC runner-up Georgia, where they lost 26–14, to end the season at 11–3 and ranked 13th in the final AP Poll.

Baylor's defense was led by defensive tackle James Lynch, who was a consensus All-American and the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. He led the conference with 13.5 sacks on the season. He was joined on the first-team all-conference by defensive tackle Bravvion Roy. Offensively, the Bears were led by 3,000-yard passer Charlie Brewer, and 1,000-yard receiver Denzel Mims. Head coach Matt Rhule was named Big 12 Coach of the Year, and, after the completion of the season, he departed to take the head coaching job with the Carolina Panthers.

  1. ^ Newton, David (September 29, 2021). "Carolina Panthers' top-ranked defense reflects 'old-man' strength of Phil Snow". ESPN. Retrieved December 5, 2023.