WACO, Texas – In a battle between the conference's two most-penalized teams, it went about as expected: sloppy. Both teams left a lot of laundry on the field Saturday, as Baylor (10-for-89) and Colorado (9-for-82) combined for 19 penalties and 171 yards.
With the constant starting and stopping, the Bears and Buffaloes were locked in a rock fight for the first three quarters, with both offenses repeatedly sputtering. For Baylor, it was a lack of a rushing attack and inconsistent quarterback play from a rusty DJ Lagway, in his first game back from an ankle injury. As for Colorado, it didn’t get much from its sophomore signal caller Julian Lewis and benched the former five-star for veteran Issac Wilson at halftime; Wilson wasn’t much better.
Point being — it was ugly, especially for most of the first 50 minutes.
Finally, with just over 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and the score knotted at 13 apiece, there was a breakthrough. Lagway, in his Baylor debut at McLane Stadium, did something he'd been unwilling to do all afternoon: scramble. With nothing available downfield, Lagway tucked the ball and scampered up the middle to set up an easy third-and-short.
Although the Buffaloes left the middle of the field wide open all day, Lagway barely took off when he had green grass in front of him, finishing with just two rushes for three yards. Whether it’s because he doesn’t fully trust his ankle is unclear, but it brought back flashbacks from last season, when Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson wouldn’t use his legs, and it really hamstrung the Bears’ offense.
“I knew there would be some kind of getting back into the groove,” head coach Dave Aranda told the media after the game, when asked about Lagway’s limited rushing attempts. “I didn't think it would necessarily look like how it looked this morning. But I give credit to Colorado. I thought up front they're disruptive.”
Aranda added, “When there were guys in the vicinity, that would have been contact, and that would have been a whole thing. But I think coming back from the injury, [Lagway would] throw it out of bounds. That's where it's at right now. I think you want the full opened-up thing. We have to work our way toward that.”
Following Lagway’s scramble, sophomore running back Caden Knighten (10 carries, 18 yards) picked up the first down. On the ensuing play, Lagway fired a laser into the waiting arms of fifth-year senior Gavin Freeman (6 receptions, 59 yards, TD) on a screen pass. The 5-foot-9, 180-pound Freeman hurdled three defenders, bounced off another Colorado player, stayed on his feet and broke another tackle before eventually being brought down. It was one of the most impressive 21-yard receptions you’ll ever see.
“I don't know what he was thinking,” fifth-year senior defensive end Kyler Jordan said jokingly about Freeman. “He's incredible. Seeing that, watching it on the jumbotron, he's incredible. We're so lucky to have him. He's been awesome from the jump. He came in, bought into the culture and just loves to play football. He's gonna go out there and show the world.”
After Freeman’s spectacular play, Lagway made his best throw of the afternoon, hitting junior wide receiver Jadon Porter, who has missed the last two games with a foot injury, in stride for a 33-yard score to give the Bears the lead back, 20-13. Lagway finished with 221 yards through the air on 19-of-39 passing, two touchdowns and an interception.
Baylor’s defense, which put together another strong performance but spent most of the afternoon on the toasty McLane Stadium turf, smelled blood in the water and forced a three-and-out. On Colorado’s following possession, fifth-year senior edge rusher Garrick Ponder stripped a Buffalo of the ball, and junior linebacker Kyland Reed recovered the fumble to ice the 23-13 win, giving the Bears their first conference-opener win since 2022.
Although first-year defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman’s unit had its sloppiest day of the season tackling-wise, the Bears still had another outing to remember, totaling 13 tackles for loss, five sacks and six pass breakups. For reference, the Bears had 12 sacks all of last season, and this team has surpassed that with 15 in four games.
“There's a lot of reasons, but I think above all else is we've got a front playing together,” Jordan said of Baylor’s defensive line. “We’re just rushing as a unit. We call them spokes, spokes on the quarterback, and I think we've been getting better and better at that. It gives everybody a chance to get home. In Coach Klanderman's defense, we're getting vertical. We're playing 100 miles an hour. That's definitely part of the reason.”
Sandwiched between those two defensive stops was an offensive drive capped by a career-long 54-yarder from sophomore kicker Rhett Armstrong, who’s putting together a strong season after a rough debut against Auburn. He went 3-for-3 against Colorado and 2-for-2 on extra points.
Speaking of special teams, it arguably made the difference in Saturday’s contest: the Bears were excellent, while Colorado was flat-out bad. Fifth-year senior Jayden McGowan returned seven punts for 130 yards. At one point, McGowan had more return yards than Lagway had passing yards deep into the third quarter.
Meanwhile, senior punter Palmer Williams showed why he’s a weapon and a Second-Team All-American. The North Carolina native had seven punts for an average of 50.4 yards, with a 63-yarder and four punts inside the 20.
“Palmer had four hits inside the 20,” Aranda said. “That's been a thing for him. I think anytime he can just show off that leg, I mean, that's something that he can easily do. To pinpoint and to be on target like he was today, I think he's really worked hard for that. That's a selfless attitude to do that sometimes because you're taking some miles per hour off your fastball. So way proud of him that way.”
Jordan added, “Palmer killed it today. I think we've all known how good Palmer is, and he really got to show that today. But it's definitely a weapon. Whenever you're going out there as a defense and they're inside the five, I don't know how many times it was, but I mean, unbelievable. Palmer did an incredible job.”
Baylor’s offense struggled for three quarters, but its defense and special teams delivered strong performances, and the Bears finished strong after failing to do so in their first three games. Still, the sloppy start left plenty to be desired, and seventh-year head coach Dave Aranda agrees.
“There's a lot to clean up, and there's a lot that we're still fighting to get right,” Aranda said. “But the thing I'm proud about is that fourth quarter. The ability to close the deal is a goal for us every week, and we were not able to do that last week. It was something that just kind of sits with you, doesn't sit with you right, makes you uneasy, makes you want to get right back to work, makes you want to kind of come out of your skin.”
Although Baylor’s a third of the way through its season, it’s still tough to determine this team’s ceiling, though it’s evident the floor is a second straight year without a bowl game, which would likely signal the end of Aranda’s tenure.
But whether this team can put it all together, win at least four of its next five games, and head into November with something to play for is entirely unclear. Baylor’s defense and special teams should give the Bears a chance on any given Saturday, and its schedule over the next month isn’t particularly daunting, but the Bears won’t have a shot if they can’t clean up the self-inflicted wounds.
Aranda knows that winning more convincingly could help bring fans back to McLane Stadium, saying, “Our goal is to win at home so that we can get our stadium as packed as can be. I showed the team — I'm not sure when the video was made — Coach Briles was speaking over it, and it showed the walkway just being packed with people. It showed the student section packed. It showed the upper levels packed. I know the years he was here. I don't know the exact year this was, but I showed the guys that, and I said, ‘This is what the goal is.’ It takes games like this. They need to be prettier, I think, for certain people, but our goal is to get that thing back, and so this is a step in that direction.”
