As Baylor football enters conference play a foot away from being undefeated, the Bears are excited to turn the page and begin their pursuit of a Big 12 Championship, starting with Colorado this Saturday at McLane Stadium. The preparation, however, remains the same for head coach Dave Aranda’s bunch as they get ready for the Buffaloes.
“At the end of the day, it is more important, but for us, it's a nameless, faceless opponent,” fifth-year wide receiver Jayden McGowan told the media on Tuesday. “We're just going out and playing these guys like any other opponent. We go into every week with the same process.”
Through the first month of the season, Baylor’s defense has been the team’s biggest bright spot, and fifth-year senior linebacker Travion Barnes has been at the center of its success. Barnes has totaled 18 tackles so far and looks forward to leading the Bears through Big 12 play this fall after suffering a season-ending injury early last year.
“It's motivating me a lot,” Barnes said of being back healthy. “Last year, I didn't really get to play in the Big 12, so now I'm excited, I'm happy and emotional about it. I'm just ready to go and show what I can do.”
Barnes is also looking to grow as a leader on and off the field, using his own experience to help defensive lineman Devonte Tezino navigate a season-ending injury. Tezino broke his ankle on Sept. 12 against Prairie View A&M, the same injury Barnes suffered on Sept. 20 of last year against Arizona State.
“When it happened, I tried to go to him on the sideline,” Barnes said. “And just talk to him and tell him, 'I understand. If you need somebody to talk to about it, I've been through the same situation.’ I tried to tell him when he'll feel the pain or stuff like that, and the stuff I did to get through the situation, what could help him, and he's just using that now.”
Even with Tezino sidelined for the rest of the fall, Baylor’s defense remains the team’s biggest strength. Across the first three games, the Bears have posted 10 sacks, 23 tackles for loss and six turnovers as a team.
“The communication is way better from the first game to now,” Barnes said. “Everybody's just flying around. I feel like a lot of confidence is being built, even with the younger guys.”
On the other side of the field, Baylor’s offense hasn’t matched the defense's consistency over the first month. The Bears have the second-most penalties in the conference (24-215), most of which have come on offense, and have given the ball away seven times. Baylor’s offense knows it needs to clean up its mistakes moving forward.
“We got to keep our foot on the gas,” McGowan said of the offense’s struggles. “We got to be more disciplined. We had a lot of offensive penalties, so we got to get rid of those. We got to be more on details and just keep our foot on the opponent's neck through all four quarters, all 60 minutes of the game, and don't let up at all.”
While quarterback DJ Lagway has been sidelined the last two weeks with an ankle injury, McGowan has taken advantage of his close relationship with Nate Bennett and has hauled in four touchdowns during that span. With Lagway back in the lineup, McGowan is excited to see what the former five-star signal-caller can provide when fully healthy and available.
“DJ is my guy,” McGowan said. “We've been close since I got here. I didn't get to take a ton of reps with him because I was missing most of camp and everything. But I got a lot of reps with him going into the first game, and I'm confident in him. I think he's a great player, great leader, and I'm really happy with where this team's gonna go with him in there.”
With Lagway back and the Bears nearing full strength, they’re looking forward to rocking the throwback uniforms this week in front of what they hope will be a packed McLane Stadium.
“I feel like it's amazing,” Barnes said of playing in front of a big home crowd. “When we run out, just hearing all the fans, it gives the team more energy than we already have, and it just helps some guys. Like, yeah, it's time to go. Let's do it for the fans.”
Barnes, McGowan and the rest of the Bears (2-1) will open Big 12 play against Colorado (2-1) at 11 a.m. this Saturday, Sept. 26, at McLane Stadium. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2.
