Saturday’s Matchup In Lubbock Will Be Homecoming for Jordan, Robertson
LUBBOCK, Texas – In a cross-town matchup in early October 2020 between rival Lubbock high schools, the Sawyer Robertson-led Coronado Mustangs came out on top over Kyler Jordan and the Cooper Pirates with a 28-0 victory.
In the win, Robertson threw for 307 yards and three touchdowns. On the other sideline, Jordan was a junior and a star edge-rusher for the Pirates, but he doesn't look back on that matchup with fond memories.
"[In Sawyer's] senior year, they were really good that season," Jordan told the media after Tuesday's practice. "They gave it to us. He likes to remind me all the time."
Robertson, the Mustang's star senior quarterback, went on to throw for over 4,500 yards and totaled 58 passing touchdowns en route to winning the 2020 Texas Gatorade Player of the Year while leading Coronado to a 12-1 record and a trip to the Class 5A Regional semi-finals.
The following year, Jordan had a stellar senior season, earning District 3-5A Division II Co-MVP and recording 94 tackles, 15 tackles for loss and eight sacks. He helped the Pirates to a 13-2 record and an appearance in the Class 5A state semi-finals before signing with Baylor as a three-star prospect in the 2022 recruiting class.
"We went to church together growing up, so we kind of knew of each other," Jordan said with a grin. "We would always ask how the game went on Friday, but I don't know if it was more of a love-hate relationship at the time."
Now teammates at Baylor, the former high school rivals will return to Lubbock together to play against the Texas Tech Red Raiders this Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium, with plenty of family and friends in attendance.
"It'll be cool to play with him in Lubbock," Jordan said. "I'll have a lot of my people there, whether they're wearing red and black or green. It's cool to be able to play in my home-town in front of a bunch of people that I love."
Despite the Bears' sluggish 2-4 start to the season, one of the season's positives has been the play of Robertson, the redshirt junior quarterback, who's made a case for being Baylor's best signal-caller since Seth Russell.
"It's been sweet [seeing Sawyer's success]," offensive lineman Campbell Barrington (Sr.) told the media on Tuesday. "Sawyer is a great dude. He's worked his tail off. Seeing things start to click for him has been big for the offense."
After transferring from Mississippi State following the 2022 season, Robertson lost the quarterback competition to incumbent starter Blake Shapen.
When Shapen transferred at the end of 2023, Baylor didn't give Robertson the keys to the offense. Instead, it landed coveted Toledo quarterback Dequan Finn (6Sr.) via the transfer portal.
For the second straight season, Robertson lost the quarterback competition, this time to Finn, the reigning MAC Most Valuable Player.
After Finn suffered an early-season injury, Robertson got his first start of the year against Air Force and stole the show, throwing for 248 yards on 18-of-24 passing while adding a score on the ground.
Robertson hasn't looked back since taking over as QB1, totaling 10 touchdowns, 730 passing yards and 135 rushing yards across three starts in conference play.
"Going back to when it was gonna be this quarterback or that quarterback, I think all that's hard, [especially] when [you're not chosen] two times," head coach Dave Aranda said in Monday’s press conference. "When it does become you, you have to take the reins and do your thing."
Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire added in an interview with 365 Sports this week that "Sawyer has brought a lot of life to that offense."
According to his teammates, Robertson's leadership under center is one of his strongest qualities, and no one is shocked that he has come into his own over the last month.
"It's not [surprising] at all," Jordan said. He's always been a guy that people want to follow, and I'm one of those guys. It's been cool to see."
Aranda gave an example of Robertson's leadership from Monday's practice, explaining that the offense and defense competed in a two-minute drill. The offense got the better of the defense in the first half, but the defense bounced back and won the reps the second time.
"He goes over to the defense and says, 'Guys, way to respond,'" Aranda said. "He's the guy going across and doing all of it. He's very well-adjusted. He always was a leader, but he's taking that role of the leader, and that's really good to see. "
With a matchup against Robertson's home-town Red Raiders scheduled for Saturday, the question is now whether that will serve as added motivation for the former Lubbock Coronado standout.
"I don't know," Barrington laughed. "Personally, if that fires Sawyer up, then that fires us up, and we're going to keep rolling off his energy."
Kickoff between Texas Tech (5-1, 3-0) and Baylor (2-4, 0-3) is set for 3 p.m. CT on Saturday, Oct. 19, at Jones AT&T Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN2.