Aranda’s Call Sheet: Bears Look to Carry Momentum Into TCU Rivalry

After head coach Dave Aranda and the Bears dominated Arizona State 55-19 in Tempe on Oct. 3, they had to wait to keep the train rolling.

Baylor returned to Waco for a bye week following arguably the program’s best performance in the last five seasons. Aranda’s priority during the idle week was to build on that performance and sustain the momentum heading into Saturday’s rivalry matchup against TCU in Waco.

“I think probably would have liked to continue playing,” Aranda told the media during his Monday press conference. “With that not being an option, how do we create momentum during the bye week? The guys talked about energy in practice. Energy in meetings, a lot of one-on-one stuff, a lot of good versus good in practice, and then keeping score, having winners and losers, starting practice that way, finishing practice that way. So those are all things that we did.”

He continued, “I thought the guys did great with it. The speed and all of it really came out strong, and so I thought we were able to create momentum during the bye. Now we get to a point where we're healthy, we got it all lined up, and we need to be able to create some momentum this week for a really big game coming up on Saturday.”

In the past, Aranda used the bye week to give the second- and third-stringers extra reps, but with so many players forced into action through five games, the Bears treated this idle week differently, focusing on cleaning up what needed to be corrected.

“The majority of it was, ‘Hey, what does this team need? What are areas of improvement?’ We had our defensive analysts and coaches break down our offense and vice versa,” Aranda said. “So coaches were able to take that on early in the week and say, ‘Hey, I need to build to hide this alignment, or I need to adjust this formation to even out these numbers because the tendencies are too strong here.’”

One of the more impressive aspects of the win over Arizona State was how cleanly the Bears played. The offense didn’t turn the ball over, and junior quarterback DJ Lagway didn't put it in harm’s way once. Baylor entered the contest as one of the Big 12’s most penalized teams, and the Bears had just three for 37 yards, one in garbage time. This fall, Aranda has preached a brand of football built on being tough, smart and dependable, and the blow-out of the Sun Devils finally checked all three boxes.

“There's a bunch of examples of toughness out there with us, and so we want to play tough for four quarters, 60 minutes, all the way through,” Aranda noted. “This last game, in particular, we were able to play smart, which was a nice relief from what it's been. We want to keep playing smart football and not play two opponents, just one.”

Another breakthrough against Arizona State was Baylor’s ground game, as the Bears rushed for 244 yards on 36 attempts, averaging 6.8 yards per carry. Four-star freshman Ryelan Morris got the party started with a 63-yard scamper for his first collegiate score, and sophomore Caden Knighten had a 75-yard touchdown of his own in the second half.

It was the rushing performance Aranda had been waiting to see, and he is hopeful it can continue moving forward, saying, “There is a speed of play that guys were playing with, and a confidence. Then you combine that with a correct ID and communication, where all five of those guys are working together, we're able to create some big runs. That's the formula.”

While limiting penalties and avoiding turnovers were a huge step in the right direction, Baylor’s biggest positive against Arizona State was the play of its star signal caller: DJ Lagway. The junior quarterback looked rusty against Colorado in his first game back from a high-ankle sprain, but he dominated against the Sun Devils, throwing for 306 yards and a career-high four touchdowns. With a bye week now under his belt, Lagway should be as close to 100% as he’s been all season.

“He looks improved,” Aranda said of Lagway’s ankle injury. “I think from where he was when he played on Saturday to where he is now, much improved. He's running around. There's pocket movement for him. There are quarterback runs for him, and so he's moving around much better.”

On the other side of the ball, Baylor’s defense just keeps chugging along under first-year defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman. After forcing three turnovers, posting six tackles for loss and holding the Sun Devils to 19 points, the Bears’ defense put itself in impressive company. Baylor has held its first five opponents to fewer than 20 points, the longest such streak to open a season since 1966. It’s also the longest streak of consecutive games holding a foe to 20 points or less since 1986.

“They have a lot of pride, and I think Coach Klanderman's done a great job of putting together game plans that limit explosives and force people to have to earn it,” Aranda said. “The players are really playing for him. They are giving second effort and are sacrificing for him and for the team. You see guys playing together. Regardless of what the score is or how much time is left in the game, they're still competing. That is a rare, rare thing.”

The win over Arizona State was a huge step forward for Aranda’s program, but Saturday’s rivalry game against TCU offers a chance to build on that breakthrough. The Horned Frogs have had Baylor’s number for much of the last decade, and under Aranda in particular, the Bears' only win came in 2024. The seventh-year head coach is making sure Baylor’s locker room, which is made up of nearly 50 newcomers, understands the importance of this matchup.

“We have our meetings and everything later today, but we've done a fair amount of instructing our team about what this means and how long this has been going on, particularly for us, what the last seven years, 10 years have looked like in this rivalry,” Aranda said.

He continued, “A lot of our guys, being transfers, are new to it, so I'm trying to tell them, ‘Hey, this is where it's at. Here's what we can do about it.’ I think it's way important, and to hear from so many people where this means so much, it's cool to be a part of.”

Since 2022, the Bears are 7-14 against Power Four opponents at home, but Saturday’s matchup against TCU provides Aranda’s squad a perfect opportunity to begin reversing those struggles in Waco.

“We’ve talked a lot about it, yeah, and we're very much working for that,” Aranda said. “I think the play on the field, trying to get wins, to get there to be something to believe in, something to have confidence in. I know Doug [McNamee], his team, and Jovan [Overshown] have done a great job building excitement outside of it. It'd be a huge impact to have. I don't think since I've been at Baylor we've really had that. We haven't had it full. We haven't had it what it could be, and so very much pushing for that.”

As for what to expect from the rival Horned Frogs, Aranda noted that TCU might have the best defensive line the Bears have faced so far. The Horned Frogs have had a slow start to the season, with all three losses coming in one-score games — North Carolina (15-10), UCF (21-13) and No. 10 BYU (17-10) — and Aranda expects a win-hungry team to enter McLane Stadium on Saturday.

“They're a dangerous team,” Aranda said of TCU. “I think O-line-wise, they're improved. I think the quarterback is really close to just breaking out. I think the tight end's a big mismatch. I think the D-line makes it really hard to run against. I think the safety group might be the best in our league. They're a talented team. They're just hunting for belief.”

Aranda and the Bears (4-1, 2-0) will kick off against TCU (2-3, 0-2) at 6 p.m. CDT on Saturday, Oct. 17, at McLane Stadium. FS1 will televise the matchup nationally.