We got man-handled in the trenches - what I expected. And geez- we couldn't run the football and we couldn't stop the run - end of story - everything else is just whip cream on sh&t. We can win some ball games this year when we have an equal or superior line matchup - not sure how many times that will occur - but my 6 game win prediction is still alive!

Marshall going down definitely hurt, but I thought we got some big boys to back him up...where were they? BU had literally nothing in the middle of the Dline all night.

I never bought into the hype. Will continue to root for the team, but this has a somewhat similar vibe as the 2022 season

This is at most a 5 win team. More of the same from Aranda and his recent defenses.

I said 7-5 on the season prediction thread. I'm sticking with that but this team could easily go 6-6 with the poor execution and coaching we saw today. Lot of flaws with this team that we shouldn't be dealing with this many years into the head coach's tenure.

Oh, and the in game experience still sucks. Nothing like listening to slow strumming country music just before a critical down. That'll get the adrenaline flowing.

It's Aranda ball. Win some lose more. It's not going to be a good year to be a Bear sports fan. Very sad game.

PacificBear said:

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It's Aranda ball. Win some lose more. It's not going to be a good year to be a Bear sports fan. Very sad game.

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What is the buyout down to now? No, it's not too early for that kind of talk. Simply a continuation from last season because nothing has really changed. Getting pushed around by a team that will finish in the bottom quarter of another conference...hand tackling attempts in the defensive backfield...players out of position so badly that the announcers marvel at how much room the runners have...bewildered looks on our sideline...goofy press conferences... platitudes and cliches...meh.

WA Jim said:

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We got man-handled in the trenches - what I expected. And geez- we couldn't run the football and we couldn't stop the run - end of story - everything else is just whip cream on sh&t. We can win some ball games this year when we have an equal or superior line matchup - not sure how many times that will occur - but my 6 game win prediction is still alive!

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auBUrns DL run defense absolutely ate against our OL. We could not run the ball at all. In the br*les days (especially the early br*les days) he would use the bubble screen pass basically as a default run play without the OL/DL, when our OL couldn't generate an effective run game. I saw maybe three screen passes all day, and they seemed pretty effective. Is there a reason why we didn't do more to get the ball in our playmakers' hands??? Louis Brown IV hardly touched the ball. Hawkins didn't seem to get many touches either. Instead we ran Washington and the freshman up the gut for 2.9 yards per carry. Did we think we were Auburn and we were gonna rush for 6 ypc??? Also why the HELL did we not defend against the run with more ppl in the box when there was zero evidence 11 couldn't complete a pass but PLENTY of evidence they were gonna try to run it down our throat all night with QB power and that edge RB play??

Right now the excuse is SECSECSEC.

Let's see what SMU does next week.

Keep in mind that Auburn was unranked, and SMU is something like #15.

Right now a 1-3 start is very possible.

Realitybites said:

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Right now the excuse is SECSECSEC.

Let's see what SMU does next week.

Keep in mind that Auburn was unranked, and SMU is something like #15.

Right now a 1-3 start is very possible.

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To be fair, the rankings don't mean anything right now since they aren't based on what happens in the season. Because that is the case, implying that Auburn isn't good because it's unranked right now is a bit silly since they could easily be ranked next week based solely off of the Baylor win.

Aberzombie1892 said:

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Realitybites said:

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Right now the excuse is SECSECSEC.

Let's see what SMU does next week.

Keep in mind that Auburn was unranked, and SMU is something like #15.

Right now a 1-3 start is very possible.

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To be fair, the rankings don't mean anything right now since they aren't based on what happens in the season. Because that is the case, implying that Auburn isn't good because it's unranked right now is a bit silly since they could easily be ranked next week based solely off of the Baylor win.

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LOLOLOLOL

The cope is hilarious. 90% of this board *****ed about the SEC being overrated. Now the excuse is that BU just can't compete with that kind of size, speed, and talent the SEC has. Definitely curious what the excuse will be after SMU

Realitybites said:

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Right now the excuse is SECSECSEC.

Let's see what SMU does next week.

Keep in mind that Auburn was unranked, and SMU is something like #15.

Right now a 1-3 start is very possible.

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A 1-3 start is not only possible, but probable. So is 2-4.

I think we will probably end up winning 7 or 8 games because of our weak back end of the schedule, but Aranda is not the guy and at least if we melt down the silver lining is we will move on from him sooner.

Will we? I seriously doubt that… Dave beating the sisters of the blind last season bought him another half decade

IowaBear said:

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The cope is hilarious. 90% of this board *****ed about the SEC being overrated. Now the excuse is that BU just can't compete with that kind of size, speed, and talent the SEC has. Definitely curious what the excuse will be after SMU

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You realize that your constant *****ing/negativity is a cope, too, right?

The constant emotional hedging is no less obvious -- and often annoying, frankly -- than those who use irrational optimism as a crutch.

Barring injuries to key players and positions, this Baylor team will likely win eight-plus games again in 2025, and that will be a good season for a program that has done that pretty rarely in its history.

Everyone knew the first two games would be tough and that we could lose them. Calling out everyone who is not slitting their wrists as vigorously as you after one game isn't the flex you apparently think it is.

IowaBear said:

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Will we? I seriously doubt that… Dave beating the sisters of the blind last season bought him another half decade

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I do think we would move on if he had a total meltdown. By meltdown I mean go 4-8 or worse. And while I don't think 4-8 is likely, it's definitely possible if we lose confidence after a bad start, (which we will almost assuredly have).

Right now, we are in a fight for our lives to be included in the next round of realignment when the big boys separate from the little. That has been mentioned to me by more than one administrator and it's all but public knowledge. I think Mark wants his final legacy to be to get us in. We are right on the cut line and losing football keeps us out.

Fair post. I actually empathize with the eternal optimist a little bit more. How can you not want to see Baylor succeed? Also, those of us that are old enough to have been through some really bad decades of football have a lower bar than those that came up in the Briles era.

Aranda is clearly not a championship coach. But at the same time, he's a good man and a pretty solid coach. Which is a combination we haven't had very often. I want to see him succeed and I hope I'm wrong about the championship part.

Franklins said:

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IowaBear said:

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Will we? I seriously doubt that… Dave beating the sisters of the blind last season bought him another half decade

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I do think we would move on if he had a total meltdown. By meltdown I mean go 4-8 or worse. And while I don't think 4-8 is likely, it's definitely possible if we lose confidence after a bad start, (which we will almost assuredly have).

Right now, we are in a fight for our lives to be included in the next round of realignment when the big boys separate from the little. That has been mentioned to me by more than one administrator and it's all but public knowledge. I think Mark wants his final legacy to be to get us in. We are right on the cut line and losing football keeps us out.

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There is no fight for our lives. That fight ended the day Texas and OU left for the SEC.

There is nothing Baylor could possibly ever do to wiggle its way into a Power 2 structure.

We'll be in the Big 12 as long as it exists and some other second-tier league if it folds. All of our fans would be better off making the realization that we're not a big boy and enjoy watching us compete with peer programs at our level.

Franklins said:

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Fair post. I actually empathize with the eternal optimist a little bit more. How can you not want to see Baylor succeed? Also, those of us that are old enough to have been through some really bad decades of football have a lower bar than those that came up in the Briles era.

Aranda is clearly not a championship coach. But at the same time, he's a good man and a pretty solid coach. Which is a combination we haven't had very often. I want to see him succeed and I hope I'm wrong about the championship part.

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No one who knows me would ever call me an optimist. I just didn't see anything last night that dissuades me from believing that this team is capable of winning the remainder of its games. It won't win them all, obviously, but we won't play another team the rest of the year that will put us at the same kickoff-time talent disadvantage that Auburn did.

And I think this team is going to do a lot of things offensively that those closer to us in talent level will have a hell of a lot of trouble trying to stop.

This isn't a bad football team. It's just not talented enough to compete physically against the top half of the SEC or Big Ten. Most of us knew that long before last night, and it doesn't change the goals this team has, which is to compete at the top of our own league in the hopes of eventually getting into a playoff we'll never win.

That's far from true.

If you really think schools like Missouri and Northwestern are locks while we have no chance then you don't have a clue. We are definitely the underdog, but there's a path.

Good thing for SMU their alums are more optimistic than you are. You better believe they think they're getting in and we were ahead of them by a mile a few years ago. Results talk. Most importantly, money talks.

I may be going out on a limb here, but I thought that going for it on fourth and goal very early in the game and coming away with nothing was a major turning point. Auburn got the ball at their four yard line and went 96 yards for a TD. We trailed the entire game after that. It is very similar to when Tom Herman went for it on fourth and goal twice against LSU and got stuffed both times. That was also in the first quarter. You can't win the game in the first quarter but you can lose it. I think that was a major momentum shift that left us behind the entire game.

Franklins said:

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That's far from true.

If you really think schools like Missouri and Northwestern are locks while we have no chance then you don't have a clue. We are definitely the underdog, but there's a path.

Good thing for SMU their alums are more optimistic than you are. You better believe they think they're getting in and we were ahead of them by a mile a few years ago. Results talk. Most importantly, money talks.

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There is no path. SMU has no path either.

Both Baylor and SMU have hit their conference prestige ceilings, and that's OK.

It's time to water the grass where we're at because we're never hopping that fence. To think that the SEC or Big Ten would have any use for a private school with a small regional following is not only delusional, it's keeping you from appreciating and enjoying the things we do have and have accomplished.

There's no point of arguing speculation, but I'll tell you that I have info from knowledgeable sources that say otherwise. Granted these sources are trying to get my money & would probably tell me whatever I needed to hear to give it, but I believe them.

But in general, I feel really sad for you man. I hope you're not so miserable that you won't be happy to be wrong.

Pecos 45 said:

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I may be going out on a limb here, but I thought that going for it on fourth and goal very early in the game and coming away with nothing was a major turning point. Auburn got the ball at their four yard line and went 96 yards for a TD. We trailed the entire game after that. It is very similar to when Tom Herman went for it on fourth and goal twice against LSU and got stuffed both times. That was also in the first quarter. You can't win the game in the first quarter but you can lose it. I think that was a major momentum shift that left us behind the entire game.

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I agree. I think you should always take points early in the game because the longer you stay in a game like last night's the better.

Aranda is consistently over-aggressive for my tastes. He leaves points on the field seemingly every game.

Franklins said:

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There's no point of arguing speculation, but I'll tell you that I have info from knowledgeable sources that say otherwise. Granted these sources are trying to get my money & would probably tell me whatever I needed to hear to give it, but I believe them.

But in general, I feel really sad for you man. I hope you're not so miserable that you won't be happy to be wrong.

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I won't be wrong about this.

But even if I was, why would any Baylor fan be happy being the ***** in a league we don't belong and can't compete in?

Anyone who thinks being Vanderbilt or Northwestern in the SEC or Big Ten is better than competing for conference titles in the Big 12 needs their head checked. You and I won't ever see a penny from any of these TV rights deals. Eagerly sacrificing the ability to compete and my enjoyment of football season for a few extra shekels that won't make it into my pocket would be really odd position for me to take as a fan.

Our place in the college football landscape has been right-sized, if anything, and it's left us in the most competitive, entertaining league in America. I'll choose to enjoy that rather than pine for inclusion in a structure we don't belong in.

My prediction is that by week four, the premium board/sunshine narrative subtlely switches from talking about a path to get into the conference championship/playoffs, and starts talking about how we can totally still get to six wins and a bowl game and salvage the year

Back to hugging Dave's nuts are we Bear2? Dave once again **** the bed when given a massive opportunity to take the next step as HC at BU. Sugarcoat it all you want. Last night was rather deflating imo. We're in year 6 and the same issues have plagued Dave year and year once again reared there ugly head last night. Believe it or not it's OK as a fan to be upset with yet another L on the big stage

I understand and respect your perspective, but I fully disagree.

This is gonna sound Steele esqe but if you reverse 2 plays we are tied....1)early on in the game and we are going for a TD 4th and 3 from their 3. 2)Their kickoff return for a TD.

Also it seemed the refs screwed us on multiple calls. They rip off our player's helmet but grabbing the facemask and twisting, no call. Then we get multiple holds on us and they show the replay and no hold. Then you'd see Auburn hold us and no call.

bear2be2 said:

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Franklins said:

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Fair post. I actually empathize with the eternal optimist a little bit more. How can you not want to see Baylor succeed? Also, those of us that are old enough to have been through some really bad decades of football have a lower bar than those that came up in the Briles era.

Aranda is clearly not a championship coach. But at the same time, he's a good man and a pretty solid coach. Which is a combination we haven't had very often. I want to see him succeed and I hope I'm wrong about the championship part.

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No one who knows me would ever call me an optimist. I just didn't see anything last night that dissuades me from believing that this team is capable of winning the remainder of its games. It won't win them all, obviously, but we won't play another team the rest of the year that will put us at the same kickoff-time talent disadvantage that Auburn did.

And I think this team is going to do a lot of things offensively that those closer to us in talent level will have a hell of a lot of trouble trying to stop.

This isn't a bad football team. It's just not talented enough to compete physically against the top half of the SEC or Big Ten. Most of us knew that long before last night, and it doesn't change the goals this team has, which is to compete at the top of our own league in the hopes of eventually getting into a playoff we'll never win.

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About where I am.

I'm just gonna keep harping on this, because it's so funny. Have you noticed that the sunshine pumpers always move the goal posts for what a good season should be? In the offseason, they were talking about playoffs. When we got a little bit closer to the start of the season, it was just a conference championship. Now it's just eight wins. Pretty soon, it will be "make a bowl game". When that's off the table, it'll be "well the team is still showing a lot of fight" or some such clich

IowaBear said:

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Back to hugging Dave's nuts are we Bear2? Dave once again **** the bed when given a massive opportunity to take the next step as HC at BU. Sugarcoat it all you want. Last night was rather deflating imo. We're in year 6 and the same issues have plagued Dave year and year once again reared there ugly head last night. Believe it or not it's OK as a fan to be upset with yet another L on the big stage

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Everyone was disappointed by last night's loss. Some of us are just capable of handling that disappointment in an adult manner.

We lost to a better, more talented team last night. It is what it is. We fought our asses off to stay in the game, but the team that does a better job of running the ball and stopping the run is going to win the vast majority of football games.

I could choose, like you, to extrapolate last night's results into a season of failure. OR ... I could make the pretty easy realization that we'll very likely do a better job of running the ball and stopping the run against everyone else on our schedule than we did against Auburn last night.

If we played an SEC schedule the rest of the way, I could get being depressed. But we don't. And I'm telling everyone here this right now, our team will do things -- particularly on the offensive side -- that will make us a very difficult matchup for most Big 12 teams.

So ... I'm going to choose to take a wait and see approach. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see us beat SMU next week. I wouldn't be terribly surprised to see us lose that one either. Either way, I think this team will compete well against the everyone it plays in the final 10 games of the season this year.

Predictable. You can't call a spade a spade around here. You MUST move goalposts. Dave Aranda and Baylor **** the bed last night. It's that simple. Dave had another chance at a marquee win and soiled his pants. He gets yet another shot next week. If he wins I'll be the 1st to congratulate him. When he likely loses I look forward to more moving of goalposts by the usuals

Where did I insinuate last nights L means the entire season is a failure. If we lose next week to SMU than yes I'll be in that camp. I could care less about beating a handful of crap B12 teams. Daves at the point in his tenure where he needs to start winning some of the toss up games and some of the games bU is a slight dog in. He has 5 of those this season. TCU, Auburn, ASU, SMU, KSU. If he's going to take the next step a few of those need to be Ws. Beating Okie St, Houston, Zona will prove nothing

Youre a clown said:

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I'm just gonna keep harping on this, because it's so funny. Have you noticed that the sunshine pumpers always move the goal posts for what a good season should be? In the offseason, they were talking about playoffs. When we got a little bit closer to the start of the season, it was just a conference championship. Now it's just eight wins. Pretty soon, it will be "make a bowl game". When that's off the table, it'll be "well the team is still showing a lot of fight" or some such clich

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If you're referring to me, a) I'm not a sunshine pumper by any stretch of the imagination and b) my expectation for this team has always been eight wins. I think this team is capable of exceeding that total under optimal circumstances, so my goal for this team is closer to 10 wins, but there's a reason our Vegas over-under was 7.5 wins.

This team still has weaknesses that limit its ceiling. We saw several of them rear their heads last night.

But this team also has some really significant strengths -- and we saw those, too.

Dividing fans into two camps after one game in which we competed well for four quarters is not only strange, it's stupid. We have exactly one data point and limited context for that because we don't have any idea how good Auburn is at this point.