Player's Club: 'We Have Games In Front of Us That We Can Win'
After a 43-21 loss to No. 16 Iowa State, the Bears returned to Waco with a much-needed bye week awaiting them. Without a game on the calendar, Dave Aranda’s squad used the added rest to get healthy and to mentally reset as they prepare for the back half of the schedule.
Throughout the bye week, Aranda’s message to the team was that they still controlled their destiny and could reach six wins and a bowl game despite the sluggish 2-4 start to the year. He told the Bears, “It’s not over. We have six more games to make a bowl game and make something of this team.”
Linebacker Kyler Jordan (RSo.) reiterated that message to the media on Tuesday: "If a couple of those games bounced a little differently than they did, we’d be sitting here feeling a lot better about ourselves. It’s not over. We have a big one on Saturday [against Texas Tech].”
“[Aranda] reminded us to stay focused,” offensive lineman Campbell Barrington (Sr.) added. “We have games in front of us that we can win; if we do that, we’re making our way onto a bowl game. It’s about keeping that mindset and staying focused so we can still finish this season out strong.”
So far this year, Baylor has experienced several gut-wrenching losses, including an overtime defeat to Deion Sanders and Colorado and a last-second loss to No. 22 BYU. Now, with a week spent on bettering themselves, the Bears have to somehow find a way to combine four quarters of complementary football.
“Looking back at our season, we've had a lot of close games, and we probably haven't capitalized on that, losing the Colorado game and whatever else,” Barrington said. “We've had that mentality of coming out swinging, but we were doing all this stuff. We're moving the ball just fine. We have to stay consistent throughout the whole game. These moments will come when it's a tight ballgame, and we have to finish as a unit and an offense.”
Jordan believes the key to success in the second half of the season is for the team to play confidently for 60 minutes.
“Half the battle in football is just believing that you can do it,” he said. “Going in with confidence gives you a better chance of winning a football game. I really think that we can do it. The guys here think that we can do it. We’re just ready to go on Saturday.”
But to upset the Big 12-leading Red Raiders in Lubbock this weekend, the Bears desperately need to get something from their rushing attack. Currently, Baylor is only averaging a meager 3.9 yards per carry and is 109th nationally in success rate when running the ball.
During the bye week, shoring up the rushing attack was a point of emphasis for the Bears’ offensive line.
“We spent some time focused on the run game after Iowa State; it’s coming together and looking good,” Barrington said. “We’ve been focusing on a lot more detail with one-on-one blocks. We’re just keeping the mindset that if you win your one-on-one block and everybody else falls along, we’ll take one step closer to succeed.”
Baylor will also be getting Richard Reese (Jr.) back from an injury after missing the last several games due to a concussion. In the Bears’ 2022 beat-down of Texas Tech, 45-17, Reese rushed for a team-high 148 yards and tied a career-high in touchdowns with three.
“Rich is a lot more jitterier; he’s a lot quicker, and that adds a whole different aspect to our run game that we’ve been missing,” Barrington said.
On defense, the Bears are the healthiest they’ve been since the start of the season and will be getting back three "integral" players in Caden Jenkins (So.), Carl Williams IV (So.) and Kendrick Simpkins (5Sr.).
“It’s great [to get guys healthy],” Jordan said. “We’re still trying to get a few more guys back, but it’s great going into the game fully loaded.”
Baylor (2-4, 0-3) will travel to Lubbock to take on Joey McGuire and Texas Tech (5-1, 3-0). Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. CT on Saturday, Oct. 19, at Jones AT&T Stadium, and the game will be televised on ESPN2.