Baylor heads to Kansas in Week 8 looking to steady itself after the swing from a dominant Week 5 win over Arizona State to an embarrassing home loss to TCU in Week 7. The matchup gives the Bears a chance to get back in the win column, but they’ll need a more complete performance on the road.
On the Baylor on SI staff’s over/under board, the biggest consensus leaned toward Dawson Pendergrass having a bounce-back day. Kansas owns the Big 12’s worst rushing defense, and the Jayhawks just gave up 350 rushing yards, so this looks like a spot where Baylor can lean on the ground game.
Pendergrass has gone over 61 yards in three of six games this season, but his workload has dipped lately, with just eight and nine touches in Baylor’s last two games. Still, the thinking here is that the softer matchup should help him push past the number, even if the Bears keep spreading carries among four backs.
One prediction went with the OVER and said it would be disappointing if Pendergrass still couldn’t establish himself. Another noted Kansas is allowing 174.3 rushing yards per game after surrendering 287 to Utah and 359 to Kansas State, and liked Pendergrass to clear 60.5 yards despite the shared workload.
The story on Baylor’s passing game was more mixed. Kansas has only 10 sacks as a team, but Baylor’s offensive line has had plenty of issues, and DJ Lagway has taken too much pressure already this season.
That led one pick to lean toward Lagway being sacked twice, with the belief that Baylor’s offensive line still needs major improvement. Another view went the other way, saying the Bears haven’t given up that many sacks overall and that Lagway should stay off the turf against Kansas, even while that pick came with some caution.
A third opinion landed in between, arguing that two sacks is very possible because Baylor has allowed 12 through six games, including four against TCU, while Kansas has also produced 10 sacks of its own. The hope there was that a stronger run commitment would keep the Bears out of obvious passing situations, but the protection issues against TCU made it hard to trust Baylor to stay under two sacks.
Gavin Freeman drew strong support on the receiving side. Kansas is ranked right behind TCU in the Big 12 in passing defense, but the view among the staff was that Baylor should still find more room through the air than it did last week.
Freeman’s 76 yards against TCU were specifically cited as proof that DJ Lagway will keep looking his way, and Kansas was described as less talented than the Horned Frogs. One projection liked Freeman to top 80.5 receiving yards and expected his usual 10-12 targets, while another said Baylor’s recent distribution among multiple receivers shouldn’t stop one player from breaking out against Kansas.
The reasoning was simple: with Lagway likely having more time and the receivers working more comfortably in space, the Bears should be able to throw the ball more effectively than they did a week ago.
On Kansas’ side, Isaiah Marshall was the player most likely to test Baylor’s discipline. Marshall sits as the Jayhawks’ No. 2 runner behind Dyland Edwards, by three yards, and he has posted rushing totals of 110 and 117 yards in two of his last three games.
That makes him the kind of dual-threat option that can stress a defense if Baylor loses its gap integrity. Even so, the staff leaned under on his total.
Baylor has been strong against the run all year and held TCU to 33 rushing yards in its most recent game. One prediction pointed out that Baylor had already handled its lone true dual-threat challenge this season, limiting Byrum Brown from Auburn to 21 yards.
Another said Marshall can hurt defenses with his legs, but that his two big outings have inflated his average and that he has managed just 36.3 yards in his other four games. With Kansas’ offensive line described as inconsistent, the Bears were viewed as capable of disrupting Marshall before he could get loose.
In Other News...
Baylor's Guards Could Expose Illinois In A Way Fans Notice
Illinois has already shown some early cracks against dynamic perimeter scorers, and Baylors backcourt is the kind of group that can turn those issues into a bigger talking point. In exhibition play, Cincinnatis Tylen Riley piled up 31 points and 13 assists against the Illini, while Baylor guard Kayden Mingo went for 31 in an overtime win over Florida, a reminder of how much damage a confident, high-volume guard can do when the defense struggles to stay in front.
For Baylor, that creates an opening worth watching whenever these teams meet. The Bears do not need a perfect offensive night to stress Illinois if their guards can get downhill, create space and force the kind of reactions that have already given the Illini trouble. The bigger question is whether Illinois has the personnel to keep that from becoming a recurring problem once the games count. [Read more 🡒]
Baylors Offense Is Back Under Pressure Heading Into Kansas
Baylors offense has quickly become a focal point again after a rough showing against TCU left the Bears looking out of sync in all the places they can least afford it. The run game never found footing, the line had trouble creating space, and the passing attack did not provide enough relief, leaving Dave Aranda and offensive coordinator Jake Spavital with plenty to sort out before Kansas comes to town.
The concerns stretch beyond one bad afternoon because the issues were spread across the operation, from the protection up front to the way the receivers created separation and the accuracy from quarterback DJ Lagway. With Kansas next, Baylor does not just need a cleaner script - it needs a response that shows the problems were a one-game setback and not a deeper trend. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor May Have A Maryland Opportunity Worth Watching Closely
Marylands coaching search has already created a situation worth monitoring from Waco, even before any player makes a move. Once the Terps hire a permanent head coach, their roster will get a 15-day window for players to enter the Transfer Portal, and Baylor is the kind of program that could be in the mix if some familiar names decide they want a fresh start.
Among the players tied to that possibility are Malik Washington, Zion Elee and Darrell Carey, each of whom could make sense for Baylor in different ways based on what the Bears need and what their current staff values. None of it is real until those decisions are made, but with no Maryland players in the portal yet, it is the sort of recruiting subplot Baylor fans will want to keep an eye on as the coaching dominoes keep falling. [Read more 🡒]