Following back-to-back demoralizing losses to rival TCU and No. 21 Cincinnati, it feels like Baylor’s season is teetering on the brink of collapse, as rumors of head coach Dave Aranda's job security reach the loudest levels they’ve been.
Despite the noise, the Bears have no intentions to pack up their bags and quit, with redshirt senior quarterback Sawyer Robertson saying, “Yeah, we got hit in the mouth, but you pick yourself up off the mat and you get back to work and try to make the most of these last four opportunities. You play for the dudes in the locker room. You play for the school that you represent — all of that stuff. Obviously, faith carries you through the whole thing, but there’s still a ton to play for.”
Before the start of the season, everyone inside the Baylor locker room had aspirations of competing for a conference title and a possible bid to the College Football Playoff. Now, with three losses in Big 12 play, those hopes are out the window, and the Bears have to recalibrate their goals for the rest of the season.
“Like Jacob Redding said, after the game, it becomes a character thing. How well do you respect the guys around you? How far are you willing to go to see how good of a bowl game you can get? It's unfortunate that our chances are done for the Big 12 Championship, but I love these guys,” junior tight end Matthew Klopfenstein said. “There’ll never be another team like it. Going out there and giving it the best shot we got to go out and go for 4-0, that's pretty much what I want and what a lot of people want.”
With another week passing by, and another ugly loss, it was just one more example of Baylor’s inability to play complementary football this season, something that Aranda and the coaching staff have repeatedly preached. The players, however, still believe they have time to figure out a way to put it all together.
“Last season, the biggest thing was all three phases of the ball were in sync together, complementing each other, and we still haven’t done that this season,” Robertson said. “It’s a lot easier said than done, obviously. If every team were doing that, then every team would win games. We haven’t been great at that this year. Once that clicks, you’ll start to see those wins happening, instead of fighting each other. When the offense is playing well, the defense is struggling. When the defense is struggling, the offense is sputtering.”
As for why these issues persist, even the players don’t understand how what happens on the practice field rarely carries over onto the turf on Saturdays.
“That's a good question. When it comes to game time, physicality, everything's there. I really just think it comes down to being a mental game. We have the talent. We have everything that it takes to win. At the end of the day, we just have guys with missed assignments,” Klopfenstein noted.
He added, “The disconnect is probably people just being out of certain gaps that they should be in, or not doing the correct thing that we practiced all week. We'll be practicing it during the week and have great practices. Offense will be rolling. Defense will be rolling. Overall, finding the same success in practice and in the game has probably been a little challenging for us.”
One of the reasons that the Bears have routinely put themselves behind the eight-ball is that they, time and time again, have gotten off to slow starts. Baylor has been outscored in the first quarter this season by Power Four opponents, 48-23, leaving Aranda in search of answers. In fact, the Bears have changed their practice routines four times this year.
“There’s a lot that goes into it. Obviously, we have to start faster; we have to put points on the board because we haven’t been doing that,” Robertson said. “When we come out, how are teams going to play us? They gameplan too, so they have their adjustments as well. Once we get into that rhythm and flow, we’re pretty dang good, but we have to shorten the amount of time it takes to get there. There’s no worry or pressing with that, we just have to figure out ways to score faster.”
Maybe the easiest answer to the slow starts is letting the offense start the game with the ball if the Bears win the coin toss. Robertson noted, “I need to start doing that. It’s a great point. I actually texted Spav that after the game. We might need to start taking the ball.”
This Saturday, the Bears (4-4, 2-3) are set to face UCF (4-3, 1-3) at 11 a.m. for their annual Homecoming matchup at McLane Stadium. The Knights are a rebuilding team under first-year head coach Scott Frost, and appear to be the most winnable game left on Baylor’s schedule, but with how the Bears have played in recent weeks, it’s hard to have any expectations.
“I think at the end of the day, it's just another game,” Klopfenstein said. “We need this win. We're gonna go out, we're gonna win. We're excited to give the fans a show and play our best game. We're going in with a lot of confidence. We’ve got nothing to lose, so we’re going all out.”
