Baylor heads to Tempe with a simple formula and not much margin for error.
The Bears finished their three-game homestand with a win over Colorado, and now the challenge gets tougher against Arizona State in the nightcap game. Wins are not going to come easy from here, and this road trip looks like a major test for a Baylor team that still has not fully put everything together.
The biggest problem on the other side is Arizona State quarterback Cutter Boley. Through four games, the junior has piled up 736 passing yards and nine touchdowns against only two interceptions.
He has been sacked just four times, which makes him tough to rattle when he is comfortable. But when Texas A&M got pressure on him in the fourth quarter, Boley threw a pair of interceptions that the Aggie defense returned for touchdowns.
That is where Baylor’s defensive front has to matter. The Bears are tied for fourth nationally with 15 sacks, and they have the kind of line that can make life difficult if they can get home consistently. If they cannot force Boley out of the pocket, Baylor’s secondary could be in for a long night.
On the other side, Baylor’s offense may need more from the quarterback run game to stay on schedule. Lagway carried the ball only once in his return from injury against Colorado, and if he remains one-dimensional against Arizona State, the Bears could have trouble getting the offense going early. Taking away that threat makes it harder for Baylor to move the ball, even if protecting him from another injury has to be part of the plan.
The number that may decide it all is 21. Baylor’s defense has held every opponent under 20 points so far this season, so the question becomes whether the offense can do enough to match that.
The Bears scored 24 points against Arizona State last season, but that game was messy for a while. Josh Cameron had two uncharacteristic fumbles, and the matchup stayed low-scoring through three quarters before both teams found the end zone twice in the fourth.
For Baylor, the path is straightforward: get to three touchdowns and give the defense a chance to finish the job.
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The schedule shuffle comes with added urgency because the Sun Devils are also trying to move forward without senior tight end Khamari Anderson, whose season-ending injury removed another veteran presence from the lineup. Dillingham pointed to his leaders as the key to carrying the group through the rest of the season, and that responsibility feels even heavier now as Arizona State heads into an early conference test after an atypical week of rest and recovery. [Read more 🡒]