We now know what was ailing Bryce Petty in Baylor's drubbing of SMU on Sunday: his spine. More specifically, two cracked bones in his spine.
As painful as that sounds, it is not expected to cause Bryce Petty to miss much time, if any. Petty is listed as day-to-day after an MRI revealed the cracks in his spine on Monday.
During Sunday's game against SMU, Petty was in obvious discomfort and pain throughout the first half. Despite that obvious pain, Petty played the entire first half, but did not make an appearance in the second half.
Petty finished his one half of work against SMU by going 13 of 23 for 161 yards and 2 touchdown passes through the air. Petty also ran for 21 yards and a touchdown.
This is what Petty told CBSSports.com, “I’m bummed out because it’s never fun being hurt. Bummed out because I just watched tape and everything is off. You never want to make any excuses. When you’re throwing and I can’t torque [it's frustrating]. Every time I went to throw it would jolt. It felt like somebody was punching me in my side.”
Baylor has an easy schedule from now until the end of September. The Bears will face Northwestern State on Saturday (9/6) before a road game to the Buffalo Bulls on Friday, September 12. Baylor has a bye week before starting their Big 12 conference schedule on the road against Iowa State on September 27.