After a 43-21 loss to No. 16 Iowa State over the weekend, the Bears will enter the season's midpoint with a 2-4 record. Here are the top questions entering the Bears’ much-needed bye week.
Saturday’s defeat to No. 16 Iowa State marked head coach Dave Aranda’s eighth consecutive conference loss and dropped him to 3-17 in his last 20 games versus FBS opponents.
Against the Cyclones, Baylor’s defense, which has looked much improved from last year, allowed 542 total yards and missed countless tackles. After the game, Aranda said the loss was “very disheartening and very frustrating.”
“The players for sure feel that, and the coaches do – I sure do,” he added. “There’s a bunch of emotions, and disheartening is probably the most pleasant one.”
After starting fast and jumping out to an early 14-3 lead versus Iowa State, a blocked punt returned for a touchdown midway through the second quarter gave the Cyclones all of the momentum, and they didn’t look back, out-scoring Baylor 40-7 over the final two and a half quarters.
Versus Colorado, it was the missed field goal, the Hail Mary at the buzzer and the fumble in overtime. Against No. 22 BYU, it was getting behind 21-0 in the first quarter before you could even blink.
“In these last couple of losses, there’s been those instances where we’ve almost found a way to lose the game,” Aranda said. “To be talking about it and focusing on it, and to still have something like that happen, it’s very disheartening and frustrating.”
He added to that, later saying, “All of our boys are trying to win. They're trying to do good. They're trying to achieve. But there's a level of detail, and there's a level of professionalism that has to be developed. This league demands it. Until we get it, unfortunately, it's probably going to be stuff like this. This is not acceptable.”
Unfortunately for Aranda, his job is hanging in the balance, and there’s no guarantee he will have enough time to get things turned around and see his team develop the type of professionalism he’s speaking of. Whether his Bears can find a way to win four of their last six games will likely determine if he returns as the head coach for a sixth year.
Despite Saturday’s loss, two of Baylor’s top players, Sawyer Robertson (RJr.) and Keaton Thomas (RSo.), stressed their confidence and belief in this year’s squad.
“We just have to finish,” Thomas said after the defeat. “I’m still a firm believer in this team and our capability to be great; we just have to play four quarters of ball.”
After three straight losses, two of which were gut-wrenching, Baylor desperately needs this bye week to reset before the final back half of the schedule, where the Bears will have to go 4-2 to make a bowl game.
“The bye week will be good physically to get some guys heal up,” Robertson said. “Mentally, it’s a reset button. We did some good things in the first half of the season, but we have to do better in the second half. We have to come together, figure it out and make something happen. We know the goal we have for this team. It’s not over.”
From the outside looking in, this squad appears mentally tougher than the 2022 and 2023 teams. However, the bye week will be crucial for team morale, and we will see how Baylor responds in a few weeks with a big road test against Texas Tech (5-1, 3-0) in Lubbock on Oct. 19.
For most people, the goal for the Bears entering the season was to make a bowl game. With Aranda’s job also likely riding on whether Baylor can string six wins together, each win or loss feels all the more important.
The Bears sit at 2-4 at the season's halfway mark. If you look at the rest of Baylor’s schedule, there’s a potential path to six wins. Considering what we’ve seen in recent weeks, is it likely? No. Is it possible? Yes.
After the bye week, the Bears will travel to Lubbock to face Texas Tech (5-1, 3-0) and then return home to play back-to-back reeling, underachieving opponents in Oklahoma State (3-3, 0-3) and TCU (3-3, 1-2).
To cap off the year, Baylor will travel to face West Virginia (3-2, 2-0) and Houston (2-4, 1-2) and will return home to finish off the season against Kansas (1-5, 0-3).
The Bears can win each of the remaining games on their schedule. Baylor won’t be a heavy favorite or underdog in any of the final six contests. Obviously, a lot has to go right, but the season isn’t technically dead just yet.
