Baylor vs Texas Southern 9/11/21 College Football Picks, Odds, Predictions

The Baylor Bears meet the Texas Southern Tigers Saturday in week 2 college football action from McLane Stadium. Texas Southern kicked off their year with a matchup versus Prairie View. In that one, the Tigers took a blowout loss. As for the Bears, they played Texas State in their opener. Baylor bagged a nine-point victory there. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Texas Southern only got to play three games in the spring. The Tigers would finish 1-2, with the matchup against Alcorn State being a forfeit victory. Otherwise, Texas Southern lost 20-19 to Prairie View A&M and 51-23 to Southern. 

In the opener game versus Prairie View, the Tigers were down 20-3 at the half and stumbled to a 40-17 defeat. Texas Southern QB Jalen Brown managed 181 yards and a score, while LaDarius Owens led the rushers on 46 yards and a TD from nine carries. 

Over on the Baylor side, they managed to play nine games last fall, going 2-7 overall. That result left the Bears just one spot out of the basement in the Big 12 Conference standings, just ahead of a winless Kansas team. 

In their first game of the year versus Texas State, Baylor scored in every quarter on the way to a 29-20 victory. Bears QB Gerry Bohanon put up 148 yards passing, and Trestan Ebner bagged 120 yards rushing. Abram Smith added 118 yards on the ground with two TDs on 19 carries. 

PICK: I’m going to stick with Baylor, even with the thick line. The Bears did a reasonable job on offense in their opener, posting 386 total yards—with 238 coming on the ground—and 5.6 yards per play. Baylor forced three turnovers but also had 11 penalties for 99 yards. 

As for Texas Southern, their opener was something of a limp effort with 354 pass yards and three scores allowed through the air. The 17-point halftime deficit didn’t help either. I think the Tigers will play better in this one but Baylor is still probably the better cover option.