Aranda's Bears Continue to Lack Killer Instinct to Close Non-Conference Play

WACO – Since head coach Dave Aranda took over, Baylor has mostly taken care of business against its non-Power Four opponents in non-conference play.

Aside from the 2023 loss to Texas State, Baylor has won comfortably in every other non-Power Four game, averaging a 43.5-point margin of victory.

However, the games over the last few years haven’t offered much optimism when the Bears have had a chance to show off with some style points.

Baylor slugged its way to a 30-7 win over Long Island in 2023, and the Bears have scored just four touchdowns in the second half of their last three non-Power Four games against Samford, Prairie View A&M and Louisiana Tech.

In a season in which style points might matter, and you have to win some toss-up Big 12 games, the fourth quarter of Saturday’s 36-19 win didn’t inject much enthusiasm.

The Bears entered the fourth quarter on Saturday with a 29-7 lead and a chance to pour on late against a team that made LSU sweat for a couple of quarters and forced four turnovers.

Baylor got a second critical turnover in the red zone: a strip sack from safety Bo Onu (So.), recovered by edge rusher Garrick Ponder (5Sr.).

However, the offense stalled, and Louisiana Tech capitalized on the small opening. The Baylor defense had given up four of six third-down conversions to open the game, but just one of six after that heading into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter alone, they gave up three third-down conversions and the pass defense wavered after giving up just 103 yards in the first three quarters.

“I think there's kind of a feeling out of period there that we had to kind of rebound and respond, and I thought for a moment there in the game we did,” Aranda told the media postgame. “I was really hoping for a much cleaner game and really good coaching to try to achieve that.”

There were moments when Baylor couldn’t get out of its own way, and penalties or turnovers just breathed more life into the Bulldogs. In its last two games, Baylor has been flagged 19 times for 175 yards.

“I really wanted to have the errors and the mental mistakes and the Baylor beating Baylor stuff behind us moving into Big 12 play, and unfortunately, we're still carrying it with us, and so there's a lot to improve on in that area,” Aranda said.

Cornerback LeVar Thornton (Sr.) had a 100-yard pick-six called back due to a penalty. Two plays later, the Bulldogs cashed in on points.

On the next drive, tight end Tony Livingston (Sr.) caught just his second pass of the year but carelessly put the ball on the deck, giving Louisiana Tech more chances.

A roughing-the-passer call on Baylor turned a 21-yard completion into a 36-yard play, and it was inside the Bears’ 10. The Bulldogs would score two plays later to cut the once three-score lead to just 10.

Offensively, the seventh-year head coach feels the Bears haven’t had much issue connecting on big plays, but more so sustaining possession and finishing double-digit play drives in the end zone.

“We're able to connect on some haymakers and knock the guy down, so to speak,” Aranda said. “I think, ideally, we’d like to build it to hit the body blows and keep cracking at the ribs, keep throwing at the ribs, keep hitting the body, keep hitting the body. That would play out as longer drives. That would play out as time off the clock. That would play out as we're kind of grinding them out.”

Aranda said the Bears have an identity in wanting to be tough, smart and dependable. While he believes two of those areas are covered, one is still sorely lacking.

“The toughness part, we’re on the right track, but the smart part, I feel like we're not there yet,” Aranda said. “There's a lot of work to be done there. We're going to be hard to kill, and right now we're struggling to do that. The dependable part, I feel that we have. I think we can depend on guys to make plays when we need plays to be made.”