Baylor (2-2, 0-1) will return home to face newly ranked No. 22 BYU (4-0, 1-0) at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, at McLane Stadium. Here are some of the top questions heading into the contest.
How Will the Bears Respond to the Loss against Colorado?
After Saturday’s unbelievable gut-wrenching overtime loss to Colorado, things could go one of two ways for the Bears in the coming weeks – head coach Dave Aranda’s squad could either use it as motivation to improve, or it could be a moment that potentially derails the season.
Post-game, defensive lineman Kyler Jordan (RSo.) was in disbelief after the defeat, saying, “To have [the win] in your hands and throw it away hurts. The pain in the locker room is terrible. You want to remember the good, but it’s hard to do that when it turns out the way that it did.”
One thing is clear, however: this year’s team is mentally tougher than a season ago. After getting punched in the mouth against No. 11 Utah in the first half, Baylor responded. After fumbling three times in the first half against Air Force, Baylor responded.
Now, the questions move to whether blowing an extremely winnable conference game on the road becomes a rallying point or is the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.
Does Saturday’s Defeat Impact Dave Aranda’s Job Security?
Obviously, Aranda being on the hot seat entering his fifth year at the helm is no secret to anyone. People have reported that he probably needs to make a bowl game to feel safe about his future.
More often than not, in recent seasons, however, Aranda’s Bears have found ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, which was especially the case on Saturday against Colorado when Baylor had a 99% chance to win that game, per ESPN. The missed field goal? The Hail Marys? The fumble in overtime? It all culminated in a perfect storm in the worst way.
“It was a tough and heart-wrenching loss, very hard to take,” Aranda said postgame. “The team is gutted right now. We’re frustrated, and we’re going to be hurting all the way back to Waco. My message to them was that there was a lot of heart and care in this, but there were way too many mistakes.”
Similarly to how the players will respond to the loss, how will Aranda and the coaching staff handle the loss to Colorado? Obviously, they have to move forward and focus on No. 22 BYU, but if this loss is allowed to linger, things could go south quickly.
Is a Path to a Bowl Game Possible?
The Big 12, like most years, has been predictably unpredictable so far. Before the season started, BYU was supposed to be one of the worst teams in the league, but they just whooped No. 12 Kansas State, 38-9, at home. Now, the Cougars moved into the rankings (No. 22) and are sitting at 4-0, coming into a big matchup this weekend against the Bears.
Next weekend, Baylor will likely face undefeated, top-15 Iowa State on the road. After that, the Bears will take on three long-time opponents who don’t appear as good as they were expected to be: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and TCU.
To close out the year, Baylor travels to Morgantown to face West Virginia, faces a bad Houston team and finishes with a struggling Kansas squad at home.
The path to six wins is there, but there are more than likely going to be many coin-flip games that the Bears need to win. Hopefully, the Colorado game will serve as a lesson on how to close games moving forward.
