Well now everyone is aware of LA Monroe after they were competitive against two solid SEC teams. I thought the Warhawks would fold in a hangover spot on the road at Auburn after upsetting Arkansas, but they only lost by a FG and should have won with a couple missed field goals. That tells me all I need to know about this team as they are definitely mentally tough and will be a lot for Baylor to handle tonight in their tight 20,000 stadium that will consume a ton of energy and enthusiasm from the fans making it difficult for Baylor at times.
Baylor meanwhile has had a cupcake schedule against Sam Houston and SMU, a team that lost 3-48 to Texas A&M and has a completely rebuilt offensive line. Both of these teams threw for over 300 yards against Baylor's defense which still does not look any better than a year ago and that sets things up nicely for Kolton Browning who has 649 yards passing in 2 games 6 TD and 1 INT thus far vs. two SEC defenses. Quite impressive and he should have plenty of success against Baylor since Baylor can't get any sort of pass rush. Baylor had 0 sacks vs. SMU a team breaking in a completely rebuilt offensive line. Baylor leaned on their ability to get the turnovers in that game, but now they play an LA Monroe team that's +3 in that department.
Defensively LA Monroe runs a 3-3-5 defensive scheme that could confuse Nick Florence who has yet to prove anything against weak competition. Florence threw 2 interceptions and only completed 58% of his passes against Sam Houston. Look for him to make some mistakes and that will only lead to the crowd going crazy and shifts in momentum. I think the Warhawks have a great opportunity here and a real chance to upset Baylor. Baylor's offense for all its done this year are just 25% on third down conversions. They went 2-8 against SMU and 3-12 vs. Sam Houston. LA Monroe's defense is better than both of those teams and has held Arkansas and Auburn to 37.5 % conversions through the first two games. Baylor's defense meanwhile allowed 60% this year and allowed 51% conversions a year ago.
Colorado is losers of 13 of 15 and 4 of their last 5 to the Diamondbacks who are still playing for the wild card spot. Wade Miley is 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA in 4 appearances 3 starts vs. the Rockies who could be without Carlos Gonzalez their best hitter in tonight's game after leaving his last game with a leg injury. Arizona will go up against Drew Pomeranz and I think the Diamondbacks have a major advantage here in the pitching match up.
First of all the Dbacks are 7th in OPS vs. LHP this year and Pomeranz has not pitched well at home which is no surprise given his stat line. He' snot a guy that is over powering and he's walking nearly 4 guys per 9. He also has 13.5% HR/FB percentage which is not a good mix for Coors Field. To put things in perspective Wade Miley is 4th among starters with a 7% HR/FB and is walking less than 2 guys per 9. That's a major advantage here along with the bullpen of the Diamondbacks which has a 1.04 ERA over their last 10 compared to the Rockies 6.55. Diamondbacks bullpen actually has pitched extremely well all year on the road 2.68 ERA while the Rockies have a 4.94 at home. Colorado even with Gonzalez in the line up will struggle against Miley in 54 AB they have a .222 average and .615 OPS while in just 18 AB the Dbacks are 9-18 and post an OPS over 1.200.
