I Have No Idea What to Expect From Baylor and That’s the Problem
I’ve watched every Baylor game this year. All twelve of them. And I still have absolutely no idea who this team is.
One week they’re beating Kansas State in Manhattan. Beating them convincingly. Looking like a top-25 team. Running the ball, playing physical defense, doing all the things that good Big 12 teams do.
The next week they’re losing to Houston at home. HOUSTON. The team that went 4-8. The team that’s rebuilding from scratch. Baylor lost to them by 14 points. At McLane Stadium. In front of their own fans.
How does that happen? How does a team go from beating a quality opponent to losing to a bad one in the span of seven days? What changes? Is it preparation? Motivation? Some kind of collective brain freeze?
I’ve asked Mike to explain it. He’s watched the film. He doesn’t know either.
Mike’s note: I genuinely have no explanation. The Houston tape looks like a different team than the Kansas State tape. Same players, same coaches, completely different execution. It’s baffling.
The thing that’s frustrating about Baylor is that you can SEE the talent. The defense is legitimately good when they want to be. Dave Aranda is a defensive coach — he was DC at LSU when they won the national championship — and you can see his fingerprints all over the scheme.
But something’s not clicking consistently. The offense sputters. The quarterback play is up and down. They go three-and-out at the worst possible times.
Sawyer Robertson, the Texas Tech transfer (yes I’m aware he’s a Tech guy, that doesn’t make me biased), showed flashes. He can make throws. He has arm talent. But he also had stretches where he looked completely lost. Ten interceptions isn’t great. It’s not terrible but it’s not what you want from a guy who was supposed to stabilize the position.
7-5 is fine. It’s not a failure. They made a bowl game. They beat some teams they should’ve beat. But it’s also not what Baylor wants to be. They won the Big 12 in 2021. They know what a good season looks like.
Aranda needs to figure out the offense. Whether that’s a new coordinator, a new scheme, or just better execution, something has to change. The defense can carry you for a while but not forever.
— Jake