John Lovett ran for 1,371 yards and 24 TDs on 178 carries as senior at Cherokee High School. Photo courtesy of Baylor University Athletic Department.

One moment, he was running away or running over high school defenders. The next, it seemed to John Lovett, he was getting pounded every time he looked up.

That is how it was for Lovett, the former Cherokee High School standout running back—and the Baylor football program—in 2017. One of 15 true freshmen who were forced to start for the injury-riddled, rebuilding Bears, Lovett took the brunt of it, as one of the focal points of a team that finished 1-11 overall and 1-8 in the Big 12.

Still, Lovett finished with a team-best 445 yards rushing, along with and 5 touchdowns on 98 carries as a freshman last season. He recorded a season-best 95 yards rushing against Kansas State. Under first-year coach Matt Rhule, the former Temple coach, Baylor used 27 players who made their first-ever collegiate starts this season, the third-most in Division I football.

“I feel like we’re a lot past our mark that we left off on last year already and this is just spring ball,” Lovett said during the spring. “Every day is going up. [Last year] taught me, because we know what we can’t do. We know our standards now. Everyone just knows how the program works, so we all hold each other accountable.”

Rising sophomore Charlie Brewer started the last five games at quarterback, and with Lovett back and full of experience, it’s an offense that has to be better than 2017. The problem the Bears had was a defense that was ranked 111th in the country, giving up an average of 456.9 yards a game.
There was one thing that the 6-foot-2, 202-pound Lovett did that Rhule has to love—he kept getting back up.

“Baylor had injuries and suspensions last year, and John wound up starting on a team that wasn’t very good,” longtime Fox Big 12 analyst Brian Baldinger said. “John found out fast what major college football is all about, physically, mentally, the whole thing. I covered their second game, when they got beat by Texas-San Antonio.

“John is an every-down player. John needed to get physically stronger and probably bigger, and that’s what the off-season of college football is all about. I did a total of three Baylor games last year, and I saw them early in the year, and I saw them later in the year, against Texas Tech, and they competed hard. They competed hard against Oklahoma, and you have remember, they were starting 15 freshmen.

“Matt Rhule was looking at this like Temple all over again,” Baldinger continued. “No one panicked. Right after the season was over, Matt was back on the road again recruiting and they found a quarterback in Charlie Brewer, who looked good the last couple of games. As for Lovett, I think he has a great future ahead of himself.”