Aranda's Call Sheet: Offensive Explosion, Confidence Is Key and Beating TCU
On Monday, head coach Dave Aranda held his weekly press conference before the Bears (4-4, 2-3) take on TCU (5-3, 3-2) in a rivalry matchup on Saturday at McLane Stadium. He discussed the offense’s growth, how confidence is essential moving forward and what to expect from the Horned Frogs.
Offensive Explosion
What’s becoming a consistent theme throughout this season is the success of Baylor’s offense on a weekly basis.
Against Oklahoma State, the Bears rushed for a season-high 343 yards and threw for 222 yards. For the first time since 2021, Baylor’s offense has totaled over 500 yards in back-to-back games.
Sawyer Robertson (RJr.) became the first Baylor quarterback to throw for three touchdowns and rush for a touchdown of over 40 yards in a single game since Robert Griffin III during his Heisman campaign in 2011.
“His confidence has grown, and his ability to feel more comfortable with the skill players has grown,” head coach Dave Aranda said of his starting quarterback. “To see someone be there their best version and grow, and then to bring other people along with you, is what we’re seeing with him, and it’s pretty cool.”
All three running backs — Dawson Pendergrass (So.), Bryson Washington (RFr.) and Richard Reese (Jr.) — averaged over 4.5 yards per carry in the homecoming win.
Pendergrass led the ground game with 142 rushing yards on just six carries. He iced the victory with a 55-yard touchdown run where he fought through three defenders on his back near midfield and broke through the hole for the score.
“To have that type of competition [at running back] allows you to play the hot hand, and it forces guys to be at their best because everyone wants to play,” Aranda said. “That’s been a benefit to us, and Coach Hall and Coach Spav do a great job of making sure everyone gets their touches and finding a way to spread it around.”
Aranda mentioned a funny story from last season about Pendergrass. He was doing a study and saw that the freshman running back forced the most missed tackles on the team, but he didn’t think anybody would believe him when he said that.
“His running style and speed are very much like a change-up if you’re a baseball pitcher,” Aranda said of Pendergrass. “There’s just a little bit off; it’s a little different, and people have a hard time adjusting to it.”
Out wide, Robertson spread the ball around, and over six different pass catchers had a reception, including touchdown passes to Ashtyn Hawkins (5Sr.), Hal Presley (Sr.) and Matthew Klopfenstein (So.).
“When it is the way it is right now, I think everyone feels they have a piece and part of scoring points and winning games,” Aranda said. “It’s a more positive and better environment moving forward.”
Aranda later discussed how talented the collective group of skill position talent is, saying, “[Michael] Trigg is a matchup problem. Ashtyn [Hawkins] is a matchup problem. Monaray [Baldwin] is a matchup problem. Hal [Presley] is a matchup problem. All of those things are good for the Bears.”
Hawkins's touchdown, in particular, was a spectacular grab in which he mossed his defender, came down with the ball, crossed the goal line and then rushed to the other side of the end zone for a sweet dance celebration.
“He does that all of the time,” Aranda jokingly said of the Texas State transfer’s incredible catches and dance moves. “He did that to us a year ago, and it’s cool that he’s doing it to other people now.”
Confidence Is Key
This weekend, Baylor will wear its “anthracite” uniforms under the lights at McLane Stadium against the rival Horned Frogs. Aranda noted a “different feeling” and that there was some added juice at practice this morning.
“They’re excited; we had those helmets on this morning in the walkthrough, and everyone's fired up about that,” he said. “I think everybody knows. There wasn't a whole bunch of words being said, but there was a different feeling. There was a different feeling this morning, and I think a lot of it has to do with what you're what you're talking about. We'll take it. I’m excited about it too.”
To add to the storylines going into the matchup, Baylor will also be formally honoring the 2013 and 2014 Big 12 Championship teams for the first time.
“It's going to be really cool,” Aranda said of the ceremony. “I know a fair amount of them from my experience here, but I remember watching those games. I remember the excitement. I know there's great love here in the community for those teams and those players, so it'll be exciting to have them back.”
As the Bears look to end TCU’s four-game winning streak in the rivalry this Saturday, Aranda mentioned that Baylor’s confidence has shown itself on the field in recent weeks.
“One of the things that really showed up in this past game was just the personality of the guys and the team and the fun that they had,” he said. “That's cool to see. When there's a looseness enveloped in a focus and intentionality and everything else, you want to have that mix, and I'm hopeful that we're approaching that and going to get to that spot.”
Looking To Break The Streak
This weekend, Aranda will look to pick up his first win against TCU, who is bringing an explosive offense to town with four extremely talented, veteran wide receivers in Jack Bech (Sr.), Eric McAlister (Jr.), Savion Williams (Sr.) and JP Richardson (Sr.).
“The last three in a row that we’ve played are all similar in some ways, but I think TCU probably has the most skill of all of them,” Aranda said. “We’re going to have to be able to execute better and ‘do simple’ better in a fast-paced environment where they’re going to try and embarrass us. We have to play much better than what we did on Saturday.”
The Horned Frogs average the fifth-most points in the conference per game (32.5). Quarterback Josh Hoover (So.) leads an ariel attack that’s first in the Big 12 in passing yards per game (333.0).
“They make it hard all the way around,” Aranda said. “They’re trying to get 70, 80 yards every play. They’re always on the attack.”
The Bears will be counting on their secondary to play well this weekend, and it starts with reigning Freshman All-American cornerback Caden Jenkins (So.), who picked up his first interception of the year against Texas Tech on Oct. 19.
“In the past, he would make plays and create more negative stuff than trying to play his job and do his role and capitalize off the plays that come to him,” Aranda said. “There’s been a maturity on his part of it. … He’s the leader for us in the backend, and we’re going to look for him to have a big game on Saturday.”
As for injury updates, Aranda was specifically asked about the return of three key players for Baylor: cornerback Lorando “Snaxx” Johnson (RSr.), wide receiver Ketron Jackson (Sr.) and running back Dominic Richardson (Sr.).
“Snaxx [Johnson], as of today, looks like he’s on the road back,” he said. “I’m not sure about Tron [Jackson], and I’m not sure about Dom [Richardson].”