Baylor gets its home opener Saturday night with Prairie View A&M coming to McLane Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff in Waco.
The matchup brings in the defending SWAC champions and sets up the first meeting between the programs. It also begins a three-game homestand for the Bears, who will follow this one with Louisiana Tech and Colorado.
The game will air on ESPN+ and the Baylor Sports Media Network. Mark Neely and Barrett Brooks will handle the ESPN+ broadcast, while John Morris, Geff Gandy and Bryson Jackson will be on the Baylor Sports Media Network call. Central National Bank is the presenting sponsor, and the game is being billed as 254 Night, with Baylor fans selecting the uniform combination the Bears will wear.
Baylor comes in at 0-1 after a wild opener in Atlanta against Auburn. The Bears pushed the game to the edge, even getting a shot at a winning two-point conversion with nine seconds left, but Matthew Klopfenstein was stopped inches short of the goal line and Auburn escaped with a 17-16 win.
DJ Lagway was at the center of that rally, playing through an injury he suffered early in the game and helping Baylor climb back late. He connected with Gavin Freeman for his 12th catch of the night to set up the final sequence, and Baylor also got big moments from Freeman and Jadon Porter in the passing game.
Freeman finished with 12 catches for 154 yards, both career highs, while Porter had five receptions for 77 yards. Lagway threw for 333 yards and found Freeman and Louis Brown IV for touchdowns.
Dawson Pendergrass added 88 rushing yards on a career-high 25 carries.
Baylor’s defense also held its own against Auburn’s fast-moving attack under first-year coach Alex Golesh. The Bears limited the Tigers to 389 yards of total offense while piling up 436 of their own.
Prairie View A&M arrives at 1-1 overall and 1-0 in the SWAC, with the Panthers already showing both sides of their profile in the first two weeks.
They opened the season Aug. 29 at Tarleton State and lost 49-30, but the offense still produced 519 total yards in that game, including 331 through the air. Tevin Carter completed 25 of 40 passes for 309 yards and added 130 rushing yards and a score on 14 carries.
Chase Bingmon had 15 rushes for 36 yards and a touchdown, while Damien McDaniel caught four passes for 75 yards and Rodny Ojo had five receptions for 74 yards. Bingmon also led the team with six catches for 40 yards.
Defensively, Damani Maxson finished with nine tackles.
The Panthers followed that with a much cleaner performance in their home and conference opener Sunday, rolling past Texas Southern 52-14. Prairie View A&M jumped out early, led 45-7 after three quarters and finished with 318 yards of total offense.
Carter went 16 of 22 for 217 yards and four touchdowns, Bingmon ran for 60 yards and a score, and Ojo caught three passes for 68 yards while Bingmon added four catches for 59 yards and another touchdown. Kamrin Canterbury had 11 tackles and Malachi Williams recorded three sacks.
Prairie View A&M’s offense is built around Bingmon, the 2025 SWAC Freshman of the Year, who put up 980 yards of total offense and eight touchdowns last season. The Panthers return four starters on the offensive line after allowing just eight sacks a year ago.
Calvin McMillon is back after earning first-team all-conference honors at wide receiver, and Travon Jones, a 6-foot-7 tight end, had three catches in the opener. Ojo, who posted 30 receptions for 427 yards and three touchdowns last year, is also back as the Panthers work to replace 1,000-yard receiver Jzyaiah Rockwell.
Carter went 2-1 in relief of UTSA transfer Cam Peters last season, and the defense brings back key pieces as well. Eric Zachery led the Panthers with 13 pass breakups last year, Malik Gucake had 42 tackles and 10.5 tackles for loss, and Molik Mason returns to help anchor the front.
Prairie View A&M is led by Tremaine Jackson, now in his second season. Jackson went 7-1 in conference play last year to earn SWAC Coach of the Year honors after previously building a strong résumé at Valdosta State, where he was named the AFCA National D2 Coach of the Year and led the Blazers to the national championship game against Ferris State.
He is 40-11 overall as a head coach and 30-8 at Valdosta State. He also had a 10-3 season at Colorado Mesa and has coached at Texas State, Abilene Christian and Sioux Falls.
Jackson’s staff includes Trent Early as associate head coach and co-defensive coordinator, Darrell Colbert as assistant head coach, Christopher Buckner as offensive coordinator, Brandon Anderson as defensive coordinator and Jackson Hadley as special teams coordinator. Anton Goff has been the athletic director at Prairie View A&M since August 2023.
In Other News...
Dave Aranda Just Put Baylors Biggest Preseason Concern Back In Focus
Dave Aranda spent part of his latest injury update doing what coaches at this point in the season usually do: sorting out who can go, who is close, and who is still waiting for a little more time. DJ Lagway is day-to-day and was available for a walkthrough, while Kaden Sieracki, Kolton Sieracki and Jadon Porter are also listed as day-to-day with lower leg injuries. For a Baylor team still trying to settle into a rhythm, the health of that group matters because every practice rep and every available body starts to carry a little more weight once September gives way to the games that count most.
Aranda also addressed the loss of safety Jacob Redding, who was lost for the season with a torn ACL before it even began, and it is the kind of setback that keeps a preseason concern from ever really going away. He stressed the need to keep stacking wins in the upcoming stretch and said he believes in what this team can become, but the broader picture is still easy to see: Baylors margin for error depends heavily on how quickly those injured players can return and how much stability the Bears can regain on that side of the ball. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor's Week 2 Suddenly Hinges On DJ Lagway's Mobility
DJ Lagways right ankle injury turned Baylors Week 1 into a much different kind of game than the Bears likely expected, and now the ripple effects are carrying straight into Week 2. Head coach Dave Aranda called the quarterback day-to-day after Lagway was limited in his mobility for the rest of the contest, a situation that immediately changed how Baylor could operate on offense.
The biggest concern is less about the label attached to the injury than what it means for the Bears game plan if Lagway still cant move freely. Baylor had to cut back on running plays that depend on his legs, and Aranda said the team will keep evaluating him throughout the week before deciding how much of the offense it can fully open up again. [Read more 🡒]
Aranda's Gamble Just Fueled A Bigger Baylor Debate
Dave Aranda kept leaning into the same trait that has defined plenty of his biggest calls in Waco: he trusts aggression over caution. Against Auburn, Baylor put itself in position to leave with a tie, and Aranda opted for the more daring path late instead of settling for the extra point. It fit a pattern that has shown up before, whether on fourth down or in short-yardage moments, and it once again put the Bears in a spot where one decision became the story.
The play itself moved Baylor close enough to make the building hold its breath, with the pass to Matt Klopfenstein finished but not quite reaching the line Baylor needed. From there, the rest became familiar and frustrating for a team that has lived through the consequences of these gambles before. The onside kick failed, Auburn escaped 17-16, and the bigger debate around Aranda's instincts only got louder. [Read more 🡒]