Player's Club: 'We Need To Keep Building and Stacking Days'

For the first time in a while, the Bears have a conference win and some tangible momentum.

In Saturday's 59-35 thrashing of rival Texas Tech, head coach Dave Aranda's squad put together four-quarters of complementary football and, for the first time this fall, showed what this team is capable of when they put everything together.

"It's for sure a confidence booster," defensive back Carl Williams IV (So.) said during Tuesday's media session. "Getting that type of win in their home stadium for their homecoming was great, but it showed us that we're a great team. All we need to do is be intentional throughout the week and stack days, and when we do that, hopefully, the results will be a win on Saturday."

Offensively, the Bears hung 59 points on the board, the highest amount in the FBS during week eight. It was also the most points scored against an FBS opponent in Aranda's five seasons at the helm.

Baylor outgained Texas Tech, 529-to-455, in total yardage. Lubbock native Sawyer Robertson (RJr.) earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors after throwing for 274 yards and a career-high five touchdowns on 21-of-32 passing. On the ground, Bryson Washington (RFr.) totaled a career-high in rushing yards (116) while adding two scores of his own.

"[Winning] brings a lot of positive momentum; the guys have seen what the full offense can do," offensive lineman Ryan Lengyel (RJr.) said on Tuesday. "[500-plus yards of offense] is something that we hadn't seen in a really long time here, and so we're excited to see if we can do that again, and that's what we're going to try and do."

However, Saturday's offensive success could not have been accomplished without the offensive line's improvement. In Monday's press conference, Aranda talked about their growth as a unit and how the bye week helped them shore up the rushing attack.

The Bears outgained Texas Tech on the ground, 255-to-149. It was the fourth time this season that Baylor had more rushing yards than its opponent and the second time the Bears eclipsed 100 rushing yards in conference play.

"This past game, we elevated our run game, which is what we've been looking for to open up our pass game more," Lengyel said. "A good run game elevates this offense tenfold. Being able to run the ball is amazing, and it opens up that pass game because they're going to have to load the box. Then we'll be able to do fake runs like RPOs, PROs and stuff like that."

On the other side of the ball, the Bears limped into the bye week after an embarrassing defensive performance in Ames against No. 16 Iowa State, in which they allowed 542 total yards, including a season-high 265 on the ground.

Against Texas Tech, Baylor had its best game of the year in terms of effort and missed tackles, according to Aranda. Williams IV noted that "intentionality" was the key to rebounding from the rough loss versus the Cyclones.

"Seeing and knowing that we're better than that and that the standard here is way better than what we showed [against Iowa State]," Williams IV said. "We came into the [Texas Tech] game saying, 'We're going to be a sound tackling team and make plays on defense.'"

Now, the Bears must flush the victory over the Red Raiders and look ahead to an Oklahoma State (3-4, 0-4) squad that will enter the weekend winless in conference play and hungry to pull off an upset.

"Celebrate the win, but then on Monday, get back straight to the drawing board," Williams IV said. "That was last week, but now we have a new opponent. We're trying to focus on going one 1-0."

"Going into this week, we're trying to wash it all away; plus, not get too high or too low, and carry what we did into this next game," Lengyel added. "We've got a different opponent. They're doing different things, and we have to play our best ball again this week to win."

Baylor's win over Texas Tech gave Aranda's team a tangible victory they can point toward and be proud of. However, the next challenge will be learning how to stack wins. After all, the Bears have not beaten a conference opponent in McLane Stadium since Oct. 22, 2022.

"Saturday's performance was a great showing of what this team is," Williams IV said. "We're a winning team, no matter what the record says, no matter what's happened, we feel like we're a winning team, and we want to show that on Saturdays and keep progressing."

There's no reason for Baylor to be complacent yet; as they climb back to above .500 for the first time in two years, Aranda's squad continues to be fueled by the close losses earlier in the season against Colorado and No. 22 BYU.

"[Saturday's win] is a breather, but all the other ones are still hurting," Lengyel said. "That's what's keeping us going right now. We know how good our record could be, but it's not because the ball flipped the other way. We're going to try and correct our records as best we can."

Baylor (3-4, 1-3) will look to build upon last weekend's success as it takes on Mike Gundy and the Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-4, 0-4) at 2:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, Oct. 26, at McLane Stadium. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.