After Utah 'Wake-Up Call,' Bears Aim to Regroup and Challenge Arizona

In Baylor’s blowout 55-28 loss to No. 13 Utah on Saturday, the Bears were gashed defensively, surrendering 483 total yards, 380 on the ground, and rushing touchdowns of 64, 67 and 74 yards; the Utes averaged a staggering 8.8 yards per carry.

“There are a lot of hard conversations,” redshirt junior outside linebacker Kyler Jordan said on Tuesday. “That was probably one of the most intense defensive unit meetings I’ve been in since I’ve been here, and I would say it’s necessary. It’s a wake-up call to all of us.”

Head coach Dave Aranda said that, after watching the film, nearly every big play Utah had was the result of one or two Bears being out of position. Aranda noted that when they practice, however, that’s never the case, marking an apparent disconnect between what’s happening on the practice fields versus the turf of McLane Stadium on Saturdays.

“It’s kind of like if we get those looks in the week and we don’t do it on Saturday, why are we wasting our time? That’s definitely, definitely frustrating,” Jordan said. “It’s really frustrating because we’d have 10 guys doing their job, and all it takes is one, and it’s out the gate.”

The Bears, however, have set a goal to put the demoralizing loss behind them and regroup ahead of the final two games.

“I think it’s just moving on,” Jordan. “The past doesn’t define our future. That game is over and done with. Sulking on it isn’t going to do anything. We call it tell-the-truth Monday for a reason. Tell the truth. Learn from it. Move on, and we’ve got to get better.”

The defense wasn’t the only side of the ball that struggled against Utah, as the offense turned the ball over twice, converted only 3-of-6 fourth-down attempts and settled for field goals on three red-zone drives.

“We clearly have the weapons to do great things; the biggest thing is just consistency,” junior tight end Matthew Klopfenstein said. “We’re off the charts in a lot of areas, but there are also places where we struggled, with the red zone being one of them. Something like that can be such a killer for an offense. We do believe that we have the power to go out and do what we want to do with the talent that we have.”

With just two weeks remaining, the Bears sit with a 5-5 record and are still looking to make a bowl game. Despite coming nowhere near their preseason goals of competing for the conference championship and College Football Playoff, Aranda is preaching to the team to take it a day at a time and to finish the year strong.

“I think the overall thing Coach Aranda has been talking about is just going 1-0 and focusing on a day-to-day basis,” Klopfenstein said. “He’s been talking about the importance of controlling what we can control and not letting the past define the future.”

He continued, “Overall, we know we have two games left. We’re going to go 2-0, and we’re going to give the best shot at getting a good bowl game. We talk a lot about the seniors — there’s a lot of leadership on this team — we want to do it for them. It really comes down to a brotherhood and playing the game that you love. We’ve got two games left and two weeks to go out and play our best ball.”

This weekend’s opponent, Arizona, is on a three-game winning streak and is playing with a ton of confidence right now. Meanwhile, it’ll require the Bears’ best effort to handle the Wildcats, and it starts with playing together as a team, something that’s been hit-or-miss this season.

“They’ve got a really talented team,” Jordan said of Arizona. “We’ve got to go out there and do our best. We’ve got to play with each other. We really just need to play as a unit, more than anything. We’re capable of it. We just have to go and do it.”

The Bears (5-5, 3-4) will travel to Tucson next Saturday, Nov. 22, to face Arizona (7-3, 4-3) at noon CT at Arizona Stadium. The game will be televised on TNT.