On Monday, head coach Dave Aranda held his weekly press conference before the Bears (2-3, 0-2) travel to Ames to face No. 16 Iowa State (4-0, 1-0) at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday. He discussed the offense's strengths and weaknesses, the mood surrounding the team after back-to-back losses and injury updates on key players.
Despite another slow start in Saturday’s loss, Baylor’s offense played relatively well against a tough, experienced No. 22 BYU defense. One of the main bright spots was the play of quarterback Sawyer Robertson (RJr.).
Robertson threw for 324 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions on 27-of-48 passing; he also rushed for 29 yards and a touchdown on 12 attempts. Notably, on Monday’s depth chart, Robertson was listed as the lone quarterback starter for the first time this season as Dequan Finn (6Sr.) recovers from a shoulder injury.
One thing to monitor, however, is Robertson’s health as he continues to carry the offense week in and week out, both through the air and on the ground, due to a limited rushing attack and porous offensive line play.
“It's one of those things where you want him to run it as long as you don't get hit; he has the innate ability to go to another level and separate when he needs to, and I think you saw that on the touchdown run,” Aranda said. “Whether it's on the move, in the pocket, elongating plays off a three-man rush or it's a designed quarterback run, he has the ability to make yards out of those situations.”
Baylor’s offensive line’s inability to adequately protect Robertson in passing situations or get any push for the running backs has been an issue all season and was even more so on Saturday against the Cougars. Running backs Bryson Washington (RFr.) and Dominic Richardson (Sr.) combined for 34 yards on 16 attempts for a meager 2.13 yards per carry.
How crucial is it for the offensive line to improve as the season goes on?
“It’s very important,” Aranda said. “When we're getting doubles at the point of attack, we get good movement. When it's one-on-one, we're losing those blocks.”
Another positive is the relationship Robertson had developed with wide receiver Hal Presley (Sr.). In the loss to BYU, Presley caught a career-high eight passes for 82 yards.
“If you could pause all of the frustration and look at some of the positives, Hal would be one of the top ones,” Aranda said. “He’s really matured and has grown as a leader. He's a galvanizing dude, and everyone follows Hal. He’ll call you out and will call you up. We need more guys like Hal, and I'm glad he's on our side. He's set to have a big year, and he already is.”
On Saturday, the Bears also saw some changes at placekicker, where Connor Hawkins (Fr.) got the nod instead of the usual starter, Isaiah Hankins (RJr.).
Hankins had gone 7-for-10 on field goals and 11-for-11 on extra points through four games. In place of Hankins in Saturday’s loss, Hawkins made all four extra points but missed a 50-yard field goal.
When asked about the change, Aranda gave a brief answer: "We have to be better at kicking field goals. I think that’s it.”
Saturday’s loss to No. 22 BYU was the Bears' ninth consecutive home conference loss and the latest rough defeat at McLane Stadium. The team's slow start, a theme of the Aranda era, contributed to the loss despite Baylor arguably being the more talented squad.
Since Baylor’s loss to No. 19 Kansas State in November of 2022, the Bears have been outscored in the first half at home, 192-89. Since the start of the 2022 season, both at home and on the road, they’ve been outscored by FBS teams 440-332 in the first half.
“If we put halves and halves together in a complete game, we're not in the top 30; we're in the top 10, and [the team] sees that as a possibility,” Aranda said. “The [team] sees glimpses of that, whereas maybe in the past, there weren't. It drives them and motivates them more than anything, and they know there's something there, but we've got to finish.”
When asked to describe the mood inside the locker room after back-to-back tough losses, Aranda noted that there’s “frustration and urgency” amongst the team.
“I know for sure that they are frustrated and angry,” he added. “They know that they have all this ability and all of this promise. We showed something in the second half – three points, 46 yards. A lot of those 46 yards was off of the fake [punt] that BYU had.”
Aranda still believes his team isn’t far off and doesn’t see things going off the rails like last year’s team did once the losses started to pile up.
“We had a couple of guys up in front of the team prior to the start of the meeting, and it was authentic and real,” he said. “I'm proud of them. I think the response from the team after and then the practice we had, we can build some momentum off of this.”
With the Bears looking down the barrel of a 2-4 start after a trip to Ames this weekend to face No. 16 Iowa State, Baylor’s bowl aspirations and Aranda’s job will be hanging in the balance. The concern amongst the fanbase moves to the top-35 nationally ranked 2025 recruiting class that could fall apart if the Bears don’t get things turned around.
“I think a lot of them have been at these home games, and so a lot of them were there Saturday morning,” Aranda said of the recruits. “It was great to be able to make a connection with them again, to have them down on the sidelines and near the team, and to spend all the time with them. We have been able to talk with them pretty openly throughout the season so far, and I think there's a great belief and trust in the coaches, the schemes and the program.”
Over 10 key Baylor players missed action against No. 22 BYU on Saturday: EDGEs Garmon Randolph (6Sr.), Steve Linton (6Sr.) and JaQues Evans (5Sr.); tight ends Kelsey Johnson (Jr.) and Michael Trigg (RJr.); offensive lineman Campbell Barrington (Sr.); running back Richard Reese (Jr.); defensive backs Kendrick Simpkins (5Sr.), Caden Jenkins (So.) and Chateau Reed (RSr.).
Defensive back Lorando Johnson (RSr.) exited the game after the first play with an apparent injury, and defensive lineman Cooper Lanz (RJr.), who has been dealing with an ankle injury, played sparingly.
“[Barrington is back], Steve is back, Trigg is back and Garmon was with us and rolling with the ones this morning,” Aranda said. “It's good to have a bunch of guys back … A lot of those guys on offense and defense that are now returning are our playmakers, and so to have them back, it's good for us.”
The fifth-year head coach didn’t provide updates on Evans, Johnson, Reese or any of the four defensive backs.
It’s impossible to say whether the outcome of Saturday’s game would have gone any different if most of those players were on the field, but Aranda did say some of the key reasons for jumping behind 21-0 early wasn’t because of backups.
“I think the guys who stepped up played really strong in their absence,” he said. “Some of the mistakes and the errors that led to points early in that first half were not those guys. As the game went on, they played better and better.”
Since Robertson took over as the starting quarterback against Air Force, Finn has yet to see the field. Against the Cougars, Finn didn’t suit up, but on Monday, Aranda provided the latest injury update on the Toledo transfer.
“Dequan is still working through a shoulder injury,” he said. “He was there on the sidelines with us. Keeping Dequan and his spirits up and keeping his motivations clear is really the most important thing right now until we can get that shoulder worked out to where he can fully go out there and throw and put everything he's got into his arm action and his finish.”
WA Jim said:
How crucial is it for the offensive line to improve as the season goes on?
"It's very important," Aranda said. "When we're getting doubles at the point of attack, we get good movement. When it's one-on-one, we're losing those blocks."
Yikes - he said the quiet part out loud - how can the OLine be this bad in Year 5?
