There’s no denying the last handful of years have been a bumpy ride after that Sugar Bowl victory. Dirt-floor lows, with a ceiling season in 2024 that didn’t even break national radio waves.
Compared to a 12-season stretch from 2010-2021 (which also housed the 2016-2018 seasons) that had Heisman Trophy and Biletnikoff Award winners, high-volume All-Americans, three Big 12 Championships and another appearance, major bowl games and a ton of mojo. These last four seasons have given Baylor fans very little reason to want to show up.
There has been virtually no reason to be excited, and if there was ever a reason to be excited, it disappeared almost as quickly as it started. Chasing bowl games is not the same anymore, and it’s not what’s going to get people in the stands. That standard is a blessing and a curse.
Will this season ultimately prove to be different? Baylor is 4-1 now, with four very winnable games ahead to propel the program into November. I’m not here to tell you it’s going to happen, but it’s time for Baylor fans to nurse the little flame that is flickering at the end of a long, dark tunnel.
We’ve all earned the right to be cautious. It makes sense if you have been waiting to see whether this version of the program is actually different before you fully buy back in.
This Saturday is the night to stop waiting.
I know that there are reasons to dissect what is inside Baylor’s 4-1 start to disprove it and explain why it’s not sustainable. And maybe that’s what ultimately plays out. But that itch you’re feeling about this team is real, regardless of how the next seven games play out.
So why not scratch the itch with an October evening game against Baylor’s biggest football rival? If you haven’t attended one game since 2021, why not this one? What if this is a team that truly has the juice, and you just happened to miss this one because you just weren’t sure?
Baylor’s 4-1 start is the first since starting 4-1 in 2021. Baylor’s defense ranks No. 9 in the country according to 2026 isolated SP+ stats. DJ Lagway just put up five touchdowns, and the offense scored 55 points on the road.
This momentum is different than the 2024 team that took six games to find its footing and fix its flaws. The ultimate goals are still available for redemption.
This doesn’t feel like a team asking you to believe in spite of the evidence. It feels like a team that has earned a loud, full house under the lights. Even if you’re just not sure what the ceiling is, why not make that trip to Waco and find out for yourself firsthand?
Not to mention that TCU is typically the one priming up to put a beat down on Baylor. Since Art Briles left, it has just felt like the Bears have always been the ones chasing the energy when playing TCU.
I understand there hasn’t been a great time to put the best foot forward in Waco since 2014. It wasn’t in 2016 when the train was completely off the tracks. It wasn’t in 2018 during Matt Rhule’s rebuild. In 2020, we all had COVID, and in 2022, Baylor came off a 28-point beatdown to KSU. The 2024 game was a step in the right direction, but nothing like what is setting up for Saturday night.
This one is in your building, at night, with a team that has momentum and a clear identity. Remember that talk about the fan-first era from Doug McNamee? The changes to the game-day atmosphere that were a focus? Those things aren’t as fun against PVAMU, but they can be a lot of fun against TCU with a game that’s going to be played under the lights after the first quarter.
It’s a game that carries weight on the side of the team, but also for this fan base. This is the type of night that can reinforce the progress of this team, but also the potential for the fan base to return to what it was consistently a decade ago.
Seems like a great opportunity for the two sides to align for the first time in a while, doesn’t it? None of us owe the program blind loyalty after the uneven years. You do have a chance, on Saturday night in Waco, to show up for a team that looks ready to be more than the sum of its recent ups and downs. Black it out. Make it loud.
No pressure. But if there was one, this is the one.
