“We’re ready to hit someone else,” head coach Dave Aranda told the media on Saturday as his Bears gear up for a Texas Bowl showdown against his former school, LSU, where he spent four seasons as the defensive coordinator and helped guide the Tigers to the 2019 National Championship.
Baylor, who ended the regular season on a six-game winning streak, last played on Nov. 30, defeating the Kansas Jayhawks, 45-17. Since then, the Bears took some time off before returning to practice, only to face themselves in anticipation of Tuesday’s Texas Bowl.
Aranda, however, isn’t worried about his team’s rustiness and said his team has regained its stride in practice over the last few weeks.
“We're ready for football,” the fifth-year head coach noted. “We're ready to play a game. It's been a long time since we played. Today's practice was a good one. We were efficient at all the things we were asking guys to do, and guys were showing good effort and playing hard.”
“It’s one of those things when you’re in rhythm, the ball’s falling your way and things are happening for you because of your effort and consistency,” he added. “Then, to break that, it’s difficult to get it back, especially since we were off for two weeks. To get it back on, we’ve had enough practices now where we have it.”
After Baylor’s 2-4 start to the season, it’s rather remarkable that the Bears were able to bounce back from the sluggish start and rattle off six straight wins. When asked if this season was considered a success, linebacker Keaton Thomas (RSo.) and wide receiver Hal Presley (Sr.) quickly shifted the focus back to the task at hand.
“We’ve had a great time; it’s been a great year, but now we’ve got to finish strong,” Thomas said.
Presley reiterated, “It feels good, but we have to make sure we finish strong. The season isn’t over, and we have one game left.”
Amidst the six-game winning streak, Aranda believes a victory on Tuesday would help propel the program into the offseason with a significant wave of momentum.
“It's really important that we win this game,” he said. “To finish what we started is really important. There’s some momentum going, and you get that momentum by winning. That’s what we’ve been able to do, and we have to continue to be able to do that in any circumstance. If we do that, it puts us in a good position for next year to be able to win some more.”
Aranda also provided an injury update on quarterback Sawyer Robertson (RJr.), who’s been dealing with a nagging foot injury since the win on Nov. 2 over rival TCU.
During his first six starts in conference play, the Lubbock native rushed for 252 yards and three touchdowns on 45 attempts. Across his last three contests, Robertson didn’t leave the pocket anywhere near as much as he did earlier in the season and carried the ball just eight times.
“He’s [doing] great,” Aranda reaffirmed. “He’s in a boot the majority of the time that he’s not just walking around. There are quarterback runs, scrambles and all of those things where he’s coming alive and playing fast. I’m excited for him.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Robertson will lead the charge against the Tigers in NRG Stadium, home of the Houston Texans. Robertson’s teammates, namely Thomas and Presley, are excited to play in an NFL stadium to finish the year.
“I’m excited about it,” Thomas said with a big smile. “Everybody loves that type of atmosphere, and you get that “league feeling.” You don’t come to college football if the [NFL] is not your goal. To get that experience is once in a lifetime, and I hope to maximize it.”
“I didn’t really get to play on the [2021 Big 12] Championship [team], but I played in [AT&T Stadium] in high school; the atmosphere was definitely there, and I felt it,” Presley said. “It definitely made me go harder.”
As for the competition, LSU has been one of the premier college football programs in the country this century. While the Bayou Bengals had a “disappointing” season by their standards, the Bears must still be ready for the tough test.
“We’ve got a really strong challenge with the team we’re about to play with the weapons they have, how explosive they are on offense,” Aranda said of his former school. “Then, on defense, with the negative plays they create and the pressure they put you in. It’s going to be a tough matchup for us.”
Thomas added, “They have high-level athletes. They have a really good quarterback who’s smart, understands the game and knows what he’s looking at. We have to make sure that we execute. This game is going to be about the little things if we want to win.”
Baylor (8-4) will close out its season against LSU Tigers (8-4) in the Texas Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 31, at 2:30 p.m. at NRG Stadium in Houston. The game will be televised on ESPN.
