Back from the farewell: Baylor football faces a duel with Texas Tech

By Foster Nicholas | Sports editor

After a bye week of two games under .500 at the halfway point of the season, Baylor football has a strong sense of urgency. Head coach Dave Aranda and the Bears held their breath and rolled out a new game plan as the team prepares to face Texas Tech on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock.

Despite early-season struggles that have left the Bears (2-4, 0-3 Big 12) in second-to-last place in the new-look Big 12, Aranda believes he has all the players, figures and pieces to get his team back into the league’s search for a bowl game.

“The positive thing is that we have the potential to be a really good team,” Aranda said. “We have talent. I think we have playmakers on offense. I think there needs to be consistency, especially in the run game, and I think those playmakers will come alive even more. Our quarterback play was positive. Our receiver play has been more consistent than ever… All of those things will be put to the test here on Saturday.”

Baylor earned the bye the week after a 43-21 loss to then-No. 16 Iowa State, where the Bears allowed 265 rushing yards and a 40-7 Cyclones run to end the game. With the extra time to analyze the film and make changes, the Green and Gold tried to focus on the positives and find an approach to fixing the flaws.

“It’s always hard to say goodbye after a really hard defeat because you’re just sitting there. But I think if you use that feeling to be really honest about what needs to be improved and how you need to improve it, then you have a chance to get better,” Aranda said.

The Bears’ “real” game is against a familiar opponent, as Joey McGuire, a former Baylor assistant and third-year head coach at Texas Tech (5-1, 3-0 Big 12), poses the next threat. The Editor Raiders rank third in the Big 12 and have a top-25 offense in the country, averaging 460.5 yards per game and 6.31 yards per play. Under McGuire, Texas Tech leads the conference in points per game (39.3) and has the league’s leading rusher, super-senior running back Tahj Brooks, who averages 135.8 rush yards per game.

Sophomore fullback and Lubbock native Kyler Jordan sees an opportunity for Baylor to get into opponents’ territory and repeat Baylor’s stunning win in 2022. While the Texas Tech offense has shown signs of excellence, they have also been forced into the most third-down plays of any school in the Big 12 (92), converting on 44 of those opportunities. However, the Red Raiders have the worst fourth-down conversion rate of any team in the conference (30%), meaning early stops in drives can lead to mistakes.

“The season is not over yet. We have six games left to make a bowl game and make something of this team,” Jordan said. “Some of these games go a little different, we would sit here and feel a little bit better. We have a big event on Saturday. Half the battle in football is believing you can do it. I think when you compete with confidence you have a better chance of winning a football game. I really believe we can do it. I think the guys here believe we can do it.”

As the Green and Gold enter the home stretch, consistency will be key and the team will look to close out close games. Baylor has lost two one-score games, and the four losses came against teams with an overall record of 20-4, including two undefeated teams, No. 9 Iowa State and No. 13 BYU.

“Looking back on our season, we had a lot of close games. We probably didn’t capitalize on that,” senior offensive lineman Campbell Barrington said. “We just had the mentality that we would come out of this swinging. We do everything, we move the ball quite well. We just have to stay consistent throughout the game and know that there will be those moments when things get close.”

Aranda and the Bears focused on improving the running game after failing to gain more than 80 yards on the ground in the last two games. Texas Tech has recorded the second-fewest sacks in the Big 12 (6) and has allowed an average of 148.2 rushing yards per game. Barrington and the offensive line practiced winning one-on-ones in space and allowing the running backs to beat both zone and man coverage.

But opening the game with the right foot and staying strong was seen as the key to recovery.

“Starting quickly really means we don’t wait and see what new plays they have. We won’t wait and see what adjustments we need to make. We won’t wait and see how different this is from what we practice. That means we’re going to run through the smoke,” Aranda said. “This is the big leagues and the scheme and the inconsistencies and all that happens quickly and we have to be able to react quickly. If this all happens for four quarters, I think we’ll be able to finish it.”

Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Jones AT&T Stadium and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2. This will be the Bears’ sixth consecutive game to be televised on national television. In 2023, Baylor only had five games on national broadcast, with the other seven broadcast exclusively on ESPN+.