Reason #1: Turnover Margin
Baylor is 2nd in the Big 12 in turnover margin, at an astounding +1.36 and a large part of this is that Robert Griffin, see below, is careful not to turnover the ball. Not to mention, Baylor is tied with Texas Tech at forcing 25 turnovers through the course of the season, which is good for 3rd in the conference. Harrell has got to be careful, make his reads and make the right throws.
Reason #2: Robert Griffin
I'm sure that I could go on and on about Griffin and you're probably tired of me talking about how explosive Griffin is, but he is truly a unique talent and it's probably unfair to actually label him as "The Next ____" because he's not Vince Young, he's got a better arm, and he's not Michael Vick, because it appears he may not be as quick, but certainly as fast. The best way to think about Griffin is that he is totally unique and may not be anything that Texas Tech has seen thus far. Griffin accounts for 249.45 yards of total offense for Baylor and he makes them go. His legs scare me to death and it will be imperative that the defensive line and linebackers contain Griffin so that he doesn't get outside and expose the relatively slow Texas Tech linebackers.
Reason #3: A Long Line of Great Baylor Punters
Go ahead and laugh, but field position is a huge part of the game and Baylor has one of the best punters in the country in Derek Epperson, who is averaging 44.31 yards a punt, which is good for 10th in the nation and 2nd in the Big 12. Epperson follows the great, and I mean great, Danny Sepulveda.
Reason #4: Baylor Can Put Up Points
Averaging only 28.00 points a game is a lot less than Texas Tech's 45.45 points a game, but as I watched Baylor play Texas I noticed that the Bears are a scrappy group, and I don't mean to demean them in any way by saying that. They truly don't give in or give up and although I've only briefly followed this team, they do fight and I think a lot of it has to do with Briles, a coach I highly respect. Baylor is more than capable of putting up points (see TAMU) and playing good teams close (see Missouri). Do not sleep on these guys because they can play.
Reason #5: Because This Could Be The Bad Loss
I've worried about this all year and now it comes down to this, could this be the game where Texas Tech suffers the Bad Loss? This is exactly the type of game that Texas Tech would lose, but in previous years there may not have been much motivation. This year it is different, there is still quite a bit on the line and a decisive win over Baylor coupled with some other teams losing, but this game will be a real test of whether or not Texas Tech will slip back to the teams of yesteryear or will step up and play like the team we believe they are.