Baylor’s Defense Keeps Rolling, Offensive Line Searching for Answers Ahead of ASU
One of the early storylines of Baylor’s season is its strong defense under first-year defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman. In the first four games, the Bears have held opponents under 20 points in each contest, marking the first time Baylor has done that since 2005.
The Bears currently lead the Big 12 in sacks (15) and have already surpassed their 2025 season total of 12. This past Saturday, in the 23-13 win over Colorado, the defense racked up five sacks, 13 tackles for loss, six pass deflections and a fumble recovery.
When asked if this defense can be special, sophomore safety Bo Onu told the media on Tuesday, “Yeah. I feel so. We put in work every single day, and with the leaders that we have now, just seeing other guys — and as a young guy, seeing the older dudes who were out here last year develop — it's something special.”
Offensively, the Bears didn’t find the same success that the defense had for much of the afternoon. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Baylor finally started to click, which culminated in junior quarterback DJ Lagway’s 33-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Jadon Porter.
“I know that was a big boost for us confidence-wise, but honestly, it was frustrating knowing that we could have been executing that the whole game, start to finish, and just weren't,” junior center Koltin Sieracki said.
Across the first month of the season, the offensive line has caught some flak for Baylor’s limited ground game. On Saturday, the Bears didn’t have much success with the rushing attack until the fourth quarter, when senior running back Dawson Pendergrass had seven carries for 57 yards; Pendergrass finished the contest with 85 yards on 16 attempts.
“I do feel like we're finally starting to trend in the right direction,” Sieracki said. “We've had a tough few weeks rushing, and that's always hard. That falls on us entirely. This week, there’s a big emphasis on being physical on the offensive line, moving people and being man-movers. We're really excited to put that on tape.”
Sieracki admitted the offensive line isn’t pleased with its performance, so what’s been the problem? Sieracki doesn’t believe it’s a lack of talent or desire to be great; it’s just about everyone getting on the same page consistently and cleaning up the little mistakes.
“Watching the film, I think it's just half a second longer here, half a second longer there,” Sieracki said. “It just feels like, at times, one piece of the puzzle is missing, and then when that piece is there, [it] pops. But we got to make sure we're fitting the puzzle every single time. We're gonna try to do our best to make that happen.”
One piece of that puzzle could be inserting Toledo transfer Cole Rhett into the starting unit. The 6-foot-6, 348-pound senior slid into the right guard spot in the fourth quarter on Saturday, leading the Bears to have their most success on the ground this season. Rhett earned the highest grade (74.7) of any Baylor offensive player, according to Pro Football Focus.
“I don't know if he necessarily brings anything different, but the guy's got juice,” Sieracki said of Rhett. “When he gets out there, he's a passionate player. He loves to throw people in the ground and dive on them. He loves to get a finish. I'd definitely say he brings that to the table when he's out there.”
Similar to the offensive line, the safety room has faced some reshuffling. Just before the season kicked off, senior Jacob Redding was lost for the year with an ACL injury. In recent weeks, fifth-year senior Devin Turner has battled through a hamstring injury, but the group hasn’t missed a beat.
“Mainly, just having team meetings and position meetings, and then we have dinners and stuff like that, so we just try to keep everybody close,” Onu said. “Then we try to make sure that everybody who has the opportunity knows what they’re doing.”
While the defense looks to build on its great season and the offense tries to put the pieces together, the Bears have a big test this weekend as they head west to Tempe to take on Arizona State.
“We see pretty good guys,” Onu said when asked about the Sun Devils. “We've been playing against guys the whole season that are good like that, so it was nothing too shocking. But going out there and just playing good guys, they're a great team.”
As for what to expect from Arizona State’s quarterback Cutter Boley, Onu said getting pressure in the backfield will be big, noting, “It'll be important, but he's not an NFL quarterback or anything like that. He's a good quarterback, but we've been playing good quarterbacks all season.”
Despite starting the season against Auburn, the game was technically a neutral-site showdown because it was in Atlanta, so this weekend’s matchup against Arizona State will be the Bears' first true road test, and the overall vibe about hitting the road is excitement.
“I love being in McLane,” Sieracki said. “It's really nice to stay at home and see the fans and stuff, but I'm excited to get on the plane and go see what we can do. Arizona State has a great environment and a really cool stadium. I'm really excited to go see a new part of the country.”
Onu, Sieracki and the rest of the Bears (3-1, 1-0) will head to Tempe to take on Arizona State (2-1, 1-0) at 9:30 p.m. CDT on Saturday, Oct. 3, at Mountain America Stadium. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN.
