Williams creates a real field-position edge
Palmer Williams was named a second-team midseason All-American by The Sporting News after averaging 51.4 yards per punt, the best mark in the country. The senior is the reigning Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year and a 2025 Ray Guy Award finalist. That résumé gives Baylor a weapon capable of changing where an opponent begins without requiring a turnover.
Field position has special value for a defense that has held six consecutive opponents to 20 points or fewer, Baylor's longest such streak since 1965. A long punt can make Kansas assemble a full drive against that unit, and well-placed coverage can erase return opportunities. Williams gives the Bears hidden yardage that will not appear in the offense's total.
Hidden yards are not substitute points
The distinction became sharp in a 17-6 loss to TCU. Baylor produced 310 total yards but no touchdowns, allowed four sacks and averaged only 1.6 yards per rushing attempt. Even excellent punts cannot repair an offense that repeatedly enters long-yardage situations or leaves the red zone without seven. At some point, field-position advantage has to become a finished possession.
That conversion starts before third down. Baylor needs enough successful runs or quick throws to keep Kansas from attacking a stationary pocket. Protection improves when the defense has to honor multiple outcomes, not only when five linemen win isolated blocks. The Bears do not need to abandon deeper concepts; they need to earn the down-and-distance in which those concepts have time to develop.
Lawrence is a complementary-football test
Baylor is 4-2 and 2-1 in the Big 12 entering Saturday's trip to 2-4 Kansas. The Bears have won 14 straight in the series since 2007, but that history will not protect the quarterback or create a red-zone crease. It only frames the expectation around a matchup that demands more offensive precision than Baylor showed against TCU.
Williams can help the Bears control territory, and the defense can make that territory expensive. The offense's job is to prevent those strengths from being consumed by repeated three-and-outs. If Baylor can reduce sacks, establish a credible early-down run threat and turn even one short field into a touchdown, its punter becomes an amplifier. Without that support, he is merely postponing the same problem.
Sources & reporting
- Baylor Athletics: Palmer Williams named midseason All-America ↗
- Baylor Athletics: Kansas preview ↗
- Baylor Lariat: Bears return to drawing board ↗
This article adds independent analysis to publicly available reporting. We did not conduct the interviews or report the game firsthand. Report a factual error.