Gameday Thread: Baylor Welcomes Arizona State to Waco for Prime Time Big 12 Showdown

Reverend said:

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Ok. Let's settle. The risk is just too scary.

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Well now here is the thing. Since we beefed up NIL, Baylor has won 59% of its games under Aranda. We have won 59% of our games since the end of the 23 season. We lost last night by a last second field goal. That is tough but ridiculous to be histrionic about. You evaluate at the end of the season. I still suspect we are going to have a good year. Winning 10 of your last 17 games is not something to be throwing everything out over especially with our history.

Reverend said:

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I was being sarcastic. Sorry I confused.

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BTW - are you a real Reverend? We don't have any of them here to the best of my knowledge. A couple of faux pastors is all I know about.

PartyBear said:

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Unfortunately if one assumes we would discover the next Art Briles if only we had an opening, he or she also doesn't know the way the world works or Baylor football history. The chances are greater actually that we would discover the next Roberts or Steele.

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With this AD that's very likely.

PartyBear said:

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Reverend said:

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Ok. Let's settle. The risk is just too scary.

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Well now here is the thing. Since we beefed up NIL, Baylor has won 59% of its games under Aranda. We have won 59% of our games since the end of the 23 season. We lost last night by a last second field goal. That is tough but ridiculous to be histrionic about. You evaluate at the end of the season. I still suspect we are going to have a good year. Winning 10 of your last 17 games is not something to be throwing everything out over especially with our history.

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I basically agree with you. But that makes it no less frustrating to me that we're 6-9 in one-score games since 2022, especially since we were tied or leading in the final minute of eight of those nine losses.

Under Dave, we'll occasionally snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. But until proven otherwise, we'll do the opposite more frequently.

bear2be2 said:

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PartyBear said:

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Reverend said:

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Ok. Let's settle. The risk is just too scary.

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Well now here is the thing. Since we beefed up NIL, Baylor has won 59% of its games under Aranda. We have won 59% of our games since the end of the 23 season. We lost last night by a last second field goal. That is tough but ridiculous to be histrionic about. You evaluate at the end of the season. I still suspect we are going to have a good year. Winning 10 of your last 17 games is not something to be throwing everything out over especially with our history.

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I basically agree with you. But that makes it no less frustrating to me that we're 6-9 in one-score games since 2022, especially since we were tied or leading in the final minute of eight of those nine losses.

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Wow, didnt realize we were so bad in those losses. I guess they kinda felt like semi-wins, the kind that the fans always talk about but the rest of the nation ignores

Matt Rhule:

Zero ranked wins at Temple
Zero ranked wins at Baylor
Zero ranked wins at Nebraska

— Jake (@Shake_Jaw) September 20, 2025

Assassin said:

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bear2be2 said:

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PartyBear said:

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Reverend said:

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Ok. Let's settle. The risk is just too scary.

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Well now here is the thing. Since we beefed up NIL, Baylor has won 59% of its games under Aranda. We have won 59% of our games since the end of the 23 season. We lost last night by a last second field goal. That is tough but ridiculous to be histrionic about. You evaluate at the end of the season. I still suspect we are going to have a good year. Winning 10 of your last 17 games is not something to be throwing everything out over especially with our history.

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I basically agree with you. But that makes it no less frustrating to me that we're 6-9 in one-score games since 2022, especially since we were tied or leading in the final minute of eight of those nine losses.

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Wow, didnt realize we were so bad in those losses. I guess they kinda felt like semi-wins, the kind that the fans always talk about but the rest of the nation ignores

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That's what I'm saying, we're not that far away from being pretty good. But it will require a defense we can trust to make a late stop to seal a victory in close games ... and we haven't had that since 2021.

Pretty much in the Gundy zone until we show some consistency.

Baylor is simply not good enough to overcome a minus-3 turnover ratio. The Bears gave it a shot, but it was asking too much. This program has lost way too many home games under Dave Aranda. There's not much of an advantage, sadly.

— Matt Mosley (@mattmosley) September 21, 2025

Assassin said:

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Baylor is simply not good enough to overcome a minus-3 turnover ratio. The Bears gave it a shot, but it was asking too much. This program has lost way too many home games under Dave Aranda. There's not much of an advantage, sadly.

— Matt Mosley (@mattmosley) September 21, 2025

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And turnover ratio is even worse if you count failed fourth downs and skipping field goals.

bear2be2 said:

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IowaBear said:

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The B12 sucks.. Dave is just ass as a coach. Anyone with a brain sees that.

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Dave isn't as bad as some here want to make him, but he's just aggressively mediocre. At this point, he is exactly what his record says he is -- both good and bad.

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His 2023 was historically bad. It's still very understated how pathetic that year was considering the 3 terrible G5 teams on it in addition to weak OOC.

BUATX2000 said:

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We are 70 games in to Dave Aranda's head coaching career and the sample size is significant enough for us to know exactly what he is. Anybody who thinks it's going to get better consistently does not understand how the world works. At this point, he is an OK coach on an OK team with OK players. Baylor has chosen the "consistent mediocrity" standard as our national brand.

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They've coddled the guy for years now trying to carry him to success. That's one of my main concerns.

Any halfway decent coach would have shown more success if they were given the endless chances Dave has been given.

Quinton said:

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BUATX2000 said:

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We are 70 games in to Dave Aranda's head coaching career and the sample size is significant enough for us to know exactly what he is. Anybody who thinks it's going to get better consistently does not understand how the world works. At this point, he is an OK coach on an OK team with OK players. Baylor has chosen the "consistent mediocrity" standard as our national brand.

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They've coddled the guy for years now trying to carry him to success. That's one of my main concerns.

Any halfway decent coach would have shown more success if they were given the endless chances Dave has been given.

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To me, his biggest issue has been his gameday coaching decisions. I dont agree with so many of them

Quinton said:

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bear2be2 said:

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IowaBear said:

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The B12 sucks.. Dave is just ass as a coach. Anyone with a brain sees that.

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Dave isn't as bad as some here want to make him, but he's just aggressively mediocre. At this point, he is exactly what his record says he is -- both good and bad.

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His 2023 was historically bad. It's still very understated how pathetic that year was considering the 3 terrible G5 teams on it in addition to weak OOC.

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I'm going to guess you weren't around from 1997 to 2004 if you think 2023 was historically bad.

The 2023 team was bad, no doubt. But it could have made a bowl game had it won all of its 50-50 games.

We had quite a few years where 50-50 games were a rarity.

bear2be2 said:

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Quinton said:

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bear2be2 said:

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IowaBear said:

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The B12 sucks.. Dave is just ass as a coach. Anyone with a brain sees that.

---

Dave isn't as bad as some here want to make him, but he's just aggressively mediocre. At this point, he is exactly what his record says he is -- both good and bad.

---

His 2023 was historically bad. It's still very understated how pathetic that year was considering the 3 terrible G5 teams on it in addition to weak OOC.

---

I'm going to guess you weren't around from 1997 to 2004 if you think 2023 was historically bad.

The 2023 team was bad, no doubt. But it could have made a bowl game had it won all of its 50-50 games.

We had quite a few years where 50-50 games were a rarity.

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We had quite few years where 50/50 1st quarters were a rarity. 10:25 left in the first quarter…"alright, let's head to the georges tent"

BUATX2000 said:

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bear2be2 said:

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Quinton said:

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bear2be2 said:

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IowaBear said:

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The B12 sucks.. Dave is just ass as a coach. Anyone with a brain sees that.

---

Dave isn't as bad as some here want to make him, but he's just aggressively mediocre. At this point, he is exactly what his record says he is -- both good and bad.

---

His 2023 was historically bad. It's still very understated how pathetic that year was considering the 3 terrible G5 teams on it in addition to weak OOC.

---

I'm going to guess you weren't around from 1997 to 2004 if you think 2023 was historically bad.

The 2023 team was bad, no doubt. But it could have made a bowl game had it won all of its 50-50 games.

We had quite a few years where 50-50 games were a rarity.

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We had quite few years where 50/50 1st quarters were a rarity. 10:25 left in the first quarter…"alright, let's head to the georges tent"

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Dude! I came from the Bill Beall years. In comparison, we were near the Nat Championship in your time!

BUATX2000 said:

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bear2be2 said:

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Quinton said:

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bear2be2 said:

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IowaBear said:

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The B12 sucks.. Dave is just ass as a coach. Anyone with a brain sees that.

---

Dave isn't as bad as some here want to make him, but he's just aggressively mediocre. At this point, he is exactly what his record says he is -- both good and bad.

---

His 2023 was historically bad. It's still very understated how pathetic that year was considering the 3 terrible G5 teams on it in addition to weak OOC.

---

I'm going to guess you weren't around from 1997 to 2004 if you think 2023 was historically bad.

The 2023 team was bad, no doubt. But it could have made a bowl game had it won all of its 50-50 games.

We had quite a few years where 50-50 games were a rarity.

---

We had quite few years where 50/50 1st quarters were a rarity. 10:25 left in the first quarter…"alright, let's head to the georges tent"

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This is sadly true. Haha.

Assassin said:

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BUATX2000 said:

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bear2be2 said:

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Quinton said:

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bear2be2 said:

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IowaBear said:

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The B12 sucks.. Dave is just ass as a coach. Anyone with a brain sees that.

---

Dave isn't as bad as some here want to make him, but he's just aggressively mediocre. At this point, he is exactly what his record says he is -- both good and bad.

---

His 2023 was historically bad. It's still very understated how pathetic that year was considering the 3 terrible G5 teams on it in addition to weak OOC.

---

I'm going to guess you weren't around from 1997 to 2004 if you think 2023 was historically bad.

The 2023 team was bad, no doubt. But it could have made a bowl game had it won all of its 50-50 games.

We had quite a few years where 50-50 games were a rarity.

---

We had quite few years where 50/50 1st quarters were a rarity. 10:25 left in the first quarter…"alright, let's head to the georges tent"

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Dude! I came from the Bill Beall years. In comparison, we were near the Nat Championship in your time!

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I wasn't around then, but I can't fathom Beall being significantly worse than Steele.

It's hard to imagine anyone being significantly worse than Steele.

bear2be2 said:

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Assassin said:

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BUATX2000 said:

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bear2be2 said:

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Quinton said:

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bear2be2 said:

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IowaBear said:

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The B12 sucks.. Dave is just ass as a coach. Anyone with a brain sees that.

---

Dave isn't as bad as some here want to make him, but he's just aggressively mediocre. At this point, he is exactly what his record says he is -- both good and bad.

---

His 2023 was historically bad. It's still very understated how pathetic that year was considering the 3 terrible G5 teams on it in addition to weak OOC.

---

I'm going to guess you weren't around from 1997 to 2004 if you think 2023 was historically bad.

The 2023 team was bad, no doubt. But it could have made a bowl game had it won all of its 50-50 games.

We had quite a few years where 50-50 games were a rarity.

---

We had quite few years where 50/50 1st quarters were a rarity. 10:25 left in the first quarter…"alright, let's head to the georges tent"

---

Dude! I came from the Bill Beall years. In comparison, we were near the Nat Championship in your time!

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I wasn't around then, but I can't fathom Beall being significantly worse than Steele.

It's hard to imagine anyone being significantly worse than Steele.

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Beall served as the head coach at Baylor from 1969 to 1971, compiling a record of 3-28. It was sooooo bad. Not many shining stars except for Roger Goree. 5' nutin, 100 nutin and one bad SOB

bear2be2 said:

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Assassin said:

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BUATX2000 said:

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bear2be2 said:

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Quinton said:

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bear2be2 said:

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IowaBear said:

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The B12 sucks.. Dave is just ass as a coach. Anyone with a brain sees that.

---

Dave isn't as bad as some here want to make him, but he's just aggressively mediocre. At this point, he is exactly what his record says he is -- both good and bad.

---

His 2023 was historically bad. It's still very understated how pathetic that year was considering the 3 terrible G5 teams on it in addition to weak OOC.

---

I'm going to guess you weren't around from 1997 to 2004 if you think 2023 was historically bad.

The 2023 team was bad, no doubt. But it could have made a bowl game had it won all of its 50-50 games.

We had quite a few years where 50-50 games were a rarity.

---

We had quite few years where 50/50 1st quarters were a rarity. 10:25 left in the first quarter…"alright, let's head to the georges tent"

---

Dude! I came from the Bill Beall years. In comparison, we were near the Nat Championship in your time!

---

I wasn't around then, but I can't fathom Beall being significantly worse than Steele.

It's hard to imagine anyone being significantly worse than Steele.

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In 1971, we scored 27 points in a 34-27 loss to TCU, and 47 points total in the other 9 games. The only win was over Indiana, when we returned the 2nd half kickoff for a TD, then managed to shut them out.

whitetrash said:

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bear2be2 said:

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Assassin said:

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BUATX2000 said:

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bear2be2 said:

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Quinton said:

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bear2be2 said:

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IowaBear said:

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The B12 sucks.. Dave is just ass as a coach. Anyone with a brain sees that.

---

Dave isn't as bad as some here want to make him, but he's just aggressively mediocre. At this point, he is exactly what his record says he is -- both good and bad.

---

His 2023 was historically bad. It's still very understated how pathetic that year was considering the 3 terrible G5 teams on it in addition to weak OOC.

---

I'm going to guess you weren't around from 1997 to 2004 if you think 2023 was historically bad.

The 2023 team was bad, no doubt. But it could have made a bowl game had it won all of its 50-50 games.

We had quite a few years where 50-50 games were a rarity.

---

We had quite few years where 50/50 1st quarters were a rarity. 10:25 left in the first quarter…"alright, let's head to the georges tent"

---

Dude! I came from the Bill Beall years. In comparison, we were near the Nat Championship in your time!

---

I wasn't around then, but I can't fathom Beall being significantly worse than Steele.

It's hard to imagine anyone being significantly worse than Steele.

---

In 1971, we scored 27 points in a 34-27 loss to TCU, and 47 points total in the other 9 games. The only win was over Indiana, when we returned the 2nd half kickoff for a TD, then managed to shut them out.

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Is there any other NCAA school that had TWO worst hires than Beall & Steele… literally? Green & Gold paint on everything and the Nation witnessing the absolute worst "send a message" blunder of a101yard fumble return for game winning TD with no time on the clock.

The steel 101 yard fumble return is maybe the worst play in modern college football history. I honestly can't think of a close second. Maybe the hail Mary we gave up against Colorado last year followed by the fumble going into the end zone in OT. That comedy of errors was two plays.

BUATX2000 said:

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The steel 101 yard fumble return is maybe the worst play in modern college football history. I honestly can't think of a close second. Maybe the hail Mary we gave up against Colorado last year followed by the fumble going into the end zone in OT. That comedy of errors was two plays.

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3 plays - If you include the play right before the Hail Mary - Where we dodged a bullet on a very similar Hail Mary toss.

Instead, we learned nothing from that close call, and decided to say "Hold My Beer."

BBWCBear said:

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whitetrash said:

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bear2be2 said:

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Assassin said:

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BUATX2000 said:

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bear2be2 said:

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Quinton said:

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bear2be2 said:

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IowaBear said:

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The B12 sucks.. Dave is just ass as a coach. Anyone with a brain sees that.

---

Dave isn't as bad as some here want to make him, but he's just aggressively mediocre. At this point, he is exactly what his record says he is -- both good and bad.

---

His 2023 was historically bad. It's still very understated how pathetic that year was considering the 3 terrible G5 teams on it in addition to weak OOC.

---

I'm going to guess you weren't around from 1997 to 2004 if you think 2023 was historically bad.

The 2023 team was bad, no doubt. But it could have made a bowl game had it won all of its 50-50 games.

We had quite a few years where 50-50 games were a rarity.

---

We had quite few years where 50/50 1st quarters were a rarity. 10:25 left in the first quarter…"alright, let's head to the georges tent"

---

Dude! I came from the Bill Beall years. In comparison, we were near the Nat Championship in your time!

---

I wasn't around then, but I can't fathom Beall being significantly worse than Steele.

It's hard to imagine anyone being significantly worse than Steele.

---

In 1971, we scored 27 points in a 34-27 loss to TCU, and 47 points total in the other 9 games. The only win was over Indiana, when we returned the 2nd half kickoff for a TD, then managed to shut them out.

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Is there any other NCAA school that had TWO worst hires than Beall & Steele… literally? Green & Gold paint on everything and the Nation witnessing the absolute worst "send a message" blunder of a101yard fumble return for game winning TD with no time on the clock.

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We weren't trying to "send a message," we were trying to "create an attitude." And based on everything that happened after that game, I would say Steele succeeded. Just not in the way he had hoped.

That was probably the lowest I've ever felt after a football game. With last year's Colorado game serving as a close second.

Classy

The European mind will never comprehend what’s happening at center field

pic.twitter.com/8PIHjDzzfu

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 21, 2025

I'd honestly say the Colorado game was worse.

No one really expected us to do much in '99.

So that loss, while very bad, wouldn't have made a difference in that disaster of a season.

After that debacle, we managed to win 1 game (N. Texas). The other 8 games were complete blowouts.

Our closest loss was to OSU by 20 on Senior Day, never put up more than 14 points in those eight contests, were shut out twice at home (Texas 62-0, Colorado 37-0), and we were outscored in those 8 losses 347-61.

Finished the season 1-10.

As for last year - We actually had legitimate hope/expectations going into last season's conference opener.

It was in prime time, we were going up against the Sanders Machine, and we had the opportunity to ruin Colorado's return to the Big XII.

Pretty much outplayed Colorado for most of the night, and even had a chance to ice the game if we'd made the FG before Colorado's final possession.

But the Boulder Blunder, followed by the hangover against BYU the following week, ended up costing us a shot at making the conference title game (and possibly the playoff).

So in the grand scheme of things, much worse!

LTBear19 said:

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I'd honestly say the Colorado game was worse.

No one really expected us to do much in '99.

So that loss, while very bad, wouldn't have made a difference in that disaster of a season.

After that debacle, we managed to win 1 game (N. Texas). The other 8 games were complete blowouts.

Our closest loss was to OSU by 20 on Senior Day, never put up more than 14 points in those eight contests, were shut out twice at home (Texas 62-0, Colorado 37-0), and we were outscored in those 8 losses 347-61.

Finished the season 1-10.

As for last year - We actually had legitimate hope/expectations going into last season's conference opener.

It was in prime time, we were going up against the Sanders Machine, and we had the opportunity to ruin Colorado's return to the Big XII.

Pretty much outplayed Colorado for most of the night, and even had a chance to ice the game if we'd made the FG before Colorado's final possession.

But the Boulder Blunder, followed by the hangover against BYU the following week, ended up costing us a shot at making the conference title game (and possibly the playoff).

So in the grand scheme of things, much worse!

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The issue with the UNLV game in 1999 is it was the second game in a new coach's tenure. You're excited for the future and looking for any reason for buy-in at that point.

After the doinked field goal against Boston College and that decision, it was clear two games in that Steele was going to be a disaster. The was really the first clue into what we would be in for over the next four years.

We play OSU next. Baylor beat them yesterday. Baylor Hayes that is, the Tulsa Freshman QB. It would be great if they could lose to Baylor two weeks in a row

Kenny Dillingham on ASU's win:

"Holy cow. A game that you're up 3-0 in the turnover battle should not come down to a game-winning kick. But they don't look at that in the end ...

That's football ... Find ways to win ... We'll never win like that again. Gotta find another way." pic.twitter.com/zaTqVrPciE

— Justin LaCertosa (@LaCertosaSports) September 21, 2025

A Sawyer Robertson stat I keep staring at...a year ago he finished with 230-yards rushing and 4-TD's, and although an ankle injury slowed him down he was mobile and a running threat, this year, he has 13-carries for 12-yards.

— David Smoak (@DavidSmoak) September 21, 2025

Scott Drew and Baylor basketball have a bench cam and they review bench tape, and have to meet standards for how engaged they are while on the bench.

Need a similar practice for football.

— Scotty Swingler (@PleaseBearW_Me) September 21, 2025

Fair point.

Kinda significant that when Baylor FB fans look for some point of comparison, some benchmark, it's always a point in time when things were worse than they are at present.

Following Josh Cameron's rough performance, Kole Wilson told him to "keep his head up." Full quote⤵️

"I know Josh is a dog, so obviously, this is not the game he wanted to have, but I know the type of person that he is, and he’s going to bounce right back."#SicEm🐻 pic.twitter.com/ukSkbv7EtM

— Baylor Bears on SicEm365 (@SicEm365) September 22, 2025

Let's see...where have i already heard this 10,000 times before

Head coach Dave Aranda on Baylor "putting it all together" after the loss to Arizona State🐻⤵️

"The team knows there's a lot of talent ... If we put this thing together, really good things can happen. We're going to be all about that." pic.twitter.com/tBlW4XIO8Z

— Baylor Bears on SicEm365 (@SicEm365) September 22, 2025