Garrick Ponder kept surfacing during Baylor’s media availability on Monday and Tuesday, and the message around him was pretty clear: the Bears think they’ve got something special.
Dave Aranda talked about Ponder as a player who takes practice seriously and shows it every day.
"Yeah, I think he does a great job at intentional practice. He really focuses on the Tuesdays and the Wednesdays.
He's one of the best guys at working his technique. All right, I'm gonna be on purpose to get better at this.
There's some high strung stuff to him in terms of like, I'm gonna succeed. I'm gonna get this done.
I'm gonna do all that. So when it doesn't happen, you kind of have to, at times, take him off the side.
"Get him to breathe a little bit and come back down and then go back into the fight, so to speak. But I think that's part and parcel of why he's successful.
Because he knows what he's doing and he knows why he's doing it. And so I think the best is to come for him.
I think he is feeling more and more comfortable in the defense. I think Joe and Carson have a good idea of how to use him.
And he's probably gonna be moved around a little bit more here coming up."
Aranda’s words match what Ponder has already shown on the field. He blocked a punt against PVAM, had a couple of quarterback sacks and a fumble recovery against LA Tech, and he leads Baylor with four tackles for loss.
With more football ahead and a bigger role seemingly on the way, there’s plenty of reason to think Ponder’s impact could keep growing if the Bears keep finding ways to use him.
Travion Barnes made it clear he feels the same way about him.
"That's my guy. I feel like, see, words can't even explain it.
I don't even know how to explain it. He's a special guy.
He's one of those guys you feel like, I feel like I can always count on. I look out there and see him, we look at each other, nod our head.
I know if I'm not there, he's gonna be there. That's what type of guy he is."
Barnes also pointed to one play that stuck with him and showed exactly why Ponder has become such an energy piece for the defense.
"Yeah, just like seeing him, I remember playing Auburn. I wanna say on their sideline, he shot out the field and swiped on the quarterback leg, made a play like, that type of stuff get a defense energy and juice. So just seeing that, he's like, yeah, he gets us fired up."
That kind of praise from both a head coach and a teammate says plenty. Baylor sees Ponder as a player whose effort, technique and fire can lift the defense, and the Bears sound convinced there’s even more coming.
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