The Baylor Bears surprised college football in 2021 by going all the way and winning the Big 12 title. The Bears won 12 games that season, the most ever in a season for the program. With everyone having a target on their back, the Bears have a challenging 200 college football season ahead of them, but they are ready. They have the talent, the think tank, and the confidence to repeat as Big 12 champions. Baylor football opens its season at home against a lightweight in the form of the Albany  Great Danes on Sept. 3, but before they dive into that, here are three predictions for the team in their looming 2022 campaign.

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Baylor football 2022 predictions

2. Baylor football cracks the top 15 in scoring with Blake Shapen at the helm

All eyes will be on Bears quarterback Blake Shapen. Whether he admits it or not, he must be feeling the pressure now that he is the unquestioned no. 1 guy in the quarterback room of Baylor football. The redshirt sophomore appeared in only five games in 2021 as a backup to Gerry Bohanon, who left Waco for the South Florida Bulls.

In those five games, Shapen showed plenty of promise that made Bohanon's departure, easier to swallow for the Bears. After all, he was the main reason why Bohanon entered the transfer portal.  In 2021, Shapen passed for 596 yards and five touchdowns. He was not intercepted once and connected on an incredibly efficient 72.1 percent of his passes.

While the sample size was small, Shapen's output in a limited role in the last college football season is enough to make everyone in Waco excited about the future of the Bears with him orchestrating the attack in the upcoming campaign. He already gave them a glimpse of what he could do when he stepped up in last year's Dr. Pepper Big 12 championship game where he passed for 18- yards and three touchdowns on 23 of 28 completions to lead the Bears to a 21-16 victory over an Oklahoma State Cowboys team that owned a top-10 defense, nationally.

Unlocking his full potential as a starting quarterback for Baylor football mostly lies in Shapen himself, and he knows it.

Via Chuck Carlton of The Dallas Morning News:

“Yeah for sure, I’m not a backup quarterback anymore, so I’ve got to take full control of everything that’s going on the field,” Shapen said earlier this month. “I think I learned a lot of things being the backup. Stepping up into a leadership role … is key for me right now.”

That being said, there are other more tangible factors pointing to a big season for Baylor's offense in Shapen's first year as a full-time starter. The Bears were 54th in the nation in 2021 with 29.0 points per game and were just 61st with 400.5 total yards per outing. But with Shapen, the Bears could even take their offense to a higher level. Plus, there's also the fact Shapen is going to be protected by an offensive line that features multiple returning senior starters.  That's the same protection unit that has Jacob Gall and Connor Galvin, who both earned preseason honors, with both players put on the Outland Trophy Watch List.

1. Two 1,000+ yard rushers by the end of the 2022 college football season for the Bears

Speaking of a stout offensive line, it's also going to be why the run game of Baylor football is going to be robust once again in 2022. In 2021, the Bears were 18th in the nation in terms of run play percentage (59.55%) and 24th with 204.2 rushing yards per game. That makes a lot of sense because they had the extremely talented Abram Smith, who led the Bears with 1,601 rushing yards, which were also second-most in the entire Big 12 conference. He also burned rubber for 12 rushing touchdowns. Smith is no longer in Waco, though, having taken his talents to the NFL. Trestan Ebner is also now a pro, which means the Bears' top-two options in their run game in 2021 are gone.

Between Smith and Ebner, the Bears have 2,400 rushing yards to cover this year. The good news for Baylor is that it is not lacking in talent in that area. The Bears still have Taye McWilliams, who should be the next top rusher for the team. McWilliams only had 17 rushing attempts in 2021 but turned them into 181 rushing yards and a couple of touchdowns. With McWilliams in the running back room is Craig Williams who will finally have more opportunity to shine after collecting 247 rushing yards and three scores on just 32 rushing attempts through seven games so far in his stint with the Bears.