Baylor’s trip to Tempe on Saturday brings a clear assignment: keep Arizona State’s game-changers from dictating the night.
The Bears head into the matchup after three straight home wins and will try to make it four in a row under the lights at Arizona State. To do that, Baylor has to deal with a Sun Devils group that can hurt teams in several different ways, starting with quarterback Cutter Boley.
At 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, Boley has the kind of frame coaches love at the position, and he has thrown for 736 yards this season while running Kenny Dillingham’s new-look offense. With Devonte Tezino out for the rest of the season injured, Baylor’s defense - including Hosea Wheeler, Kyland Reed, Travion Barnes and the rest of the unit - will be asked to slow Boley down before he can get comfortable.
The biggest downfield problem is Harris, who leads Arizona State with 374 receiving yards and serves as the team’s main deep threat. He also checks in at 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, giving Boley a big target with reliable hands. Baylor’s secondary will have to either get pressure on Boley before the throw or keep Harris from getting loose in coverage.
Arizona State can also lean on Kyson Brown, who leads the Sun Devils with 227 rushing yards. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound back will try to establish himself on the ground, and Baylor has been vulnerable against the run at times this season. That means the Bears need to close off lanes early and keep Brown from turning routine carries into something bigger.
Owen Long is another name Baylor can’t ignore. The 6-foot-1, 225-pound defender leads Arizona State with 25 tackles and has a habit of showing up around the football. The matchup with DJ Lagway should be an interesting one, and Baylor’s best answer may be the quick-passing game and tempo it has leaned on to limit Long’s impact.
Up front, C.J. Fite may be the toughest obstacle of all.
A preseason All-Big 12 defensive anchor, the 6-foot-2, 310-pound lineman is built to clog the middle and disrupt the run game. Baylor’s offensive line and running backs will have to account for him, and the Bears will likely look to avoid running straight at his side whenever possible.
In Other News...
Baylor Is Turning McLane Stadium Into A Fan Experience Unlike Usual
McLane Stadium is set to take on a different kind of buzz later this month, with Topgolf bringing its Topgolf Live Stadium Series to Baylor University from Oct. 29 through Nov. 1. The setup will turn the football venue into a golf and fan entertainment space, complete with hitting bays, a watch party for the Baylor-UCF game, VIP football experiences and hospitality options that lean into the stadium atmosphere in a new way.
For Baylor, the event is part of a broader push by Topgolf to take its entertainment platform into college stadiums while supporting collegiate athletics and NIL programs. It gives the Bears another way to showcase McLane beyond game day, blending sport and social experience in a setting that is usually reserved for football first and everything else second. [Read more 🡒]
Dave Aranda Just Framed Baylors Biggest Competitive Problem
College footballs money race keeps getting harder to ignore, and Dave Aranda put Baylors place in it into plain terms this week. The Bears are investing heavily in their roster, but Aranda acknowledged there is still a gap between Baylor and the biggest spenders in the sport, a reality that shapes the margins on Saturdays and the kind of talent-rich opponents the program has to chase.
Arandas point was not just about dollars, though. He framed toughness as the trait Baylor has to lean on to keep competing when the financial terrain tilts the other way, a reminder that resource disparities are now part of the competitive math in college football. For Baylor, the challenge is not simply keeping up, but finding ways to win anyway. [Read more 🡒]
Dave Aranda Just Bought Himself Real Time At Baylor
Dave Aranda went into the season with plenty of questions hanging over him, but four games in, Baylor has given him something he badly needed: breathing room. The Bears are 3-1, a start that has outpaced expectations and put Aranda in a better spot than he was entering his seventh season in Waco. The broader picture still shows a coach with a slightly above-.500 record at Baylor, but the early returns matter, especially with the defense looking sharper under new coordinator Joe Klanderman.
Arandas situation also stands out because he is not alone in changing the conversation around his job. Wisconsins Luke Fickell, another coach who had been viewed as vulnerable, has also opened 3-1 and just picked up an upset win over Penn State that earned him Coach of the Week honors for week four. For Baylor, the immediate issue is less about long-term judgment and more about whether this early momentum can hold once the season settles into its tougher stretches. [Read more 🡒]