Four games remain on Baylor’s schedule, and this weekend gives the Bears a chance to start sorting out what the back half of the season might look like. Baylor has already lived through a strange stretch: a defensive rebound from last year, thanks in no small part to Joe Klanderman, back-to-back losses to TCU and Kansas that led to Dave Aranda’s firing, and the rise of Gavin Freeman into one of college football’s premier and most productive wide receivers. Now the Bears are staring at a closing run that includes three of the Big 12’s highest-ranked teams.
The first stop is a home matchup with ISU, and Baylor may enter that one as the favorite. The bigger question is what the Bears can actually show on the ground.
Baylor’s offensive line will be under the microscope if it can’t help drive the run game against an ISU defense that has been giving up more than 200 rushing yards per game in Big 12 play this season. The expectation is that Baylor’s backs, along with DJ Lagway, will have room to work against that front.
ISU will have its own test on offense, with Aiden Flora trying to find running lanes against Baylor’s defense. The question is whether the Bears can make that ground game look more like what TCU and UCF have done against them, or whether Kansas’ success will be the better comparison. That answer won’t come until Saturday.
The day also features a big matchup in Salt Lake City, where BYU and Utah meet in the Holy War. AP No.
3 Utah is trying to stay unbeaten, while AP No. 9 BYU is chasing another upset of a ranked, undefeated team after knocking off Notre Dame a few weeks ago.
With LJ Martin still not in the starting line up for BYU, Bear Bachmeier, Legend Glasker and the rest of the Cougars will try to spoil Utah’s run. On the other side, Devon Dampier and the Utah offense, paired with a defense riding a 14-game winning streak, will try to keep the streak going and protect the home field.
Cincinnati and Houston are also in the mix as both teams try to gain ground in the Big 12 standings with the regular season winding down. Houston, led by Conner Weigman, needs points to keep its Big 12 Championship hopes alive.
The Cougars already lost to Texas Tech earlier this season, while Cincinnati just beat Texas Tech recently, which makes this one a useful measuring stick. The Bearcats will try to duplicate that result on the road, while Houston looks to hand Cincinnati a loss and keep its own path open.
Later in the day, No. 15 Texas Tech heads to West Virginia for a Big 12 night game in Lubbock.
At 7-1, the Red Raiders are trying to bounce back from last week’s loss to Cincinnati by attacking a West Virginia defense that looks far less sturdy on paper. Texas Tech will also be aiming to repeat last year’s 49-0 win over the Mountaineers.
This one may not turn into another blowout, but West Virginia still enters as the underdog. Texas Tech doesn’t have room for a slip if it wants to keep its Big 12 Championship and CFP hopes intact, so the Red Raiders will need to stay sharp from start to finish to avoid letting the Mountaineers turn the night into a spoiler opportunity.
In Other News...
Why G.J. Kinne Feels Like Baylors Biggest Coaching Gamble
G.J. Kinne has built a reputation as one of the more intriguing young coaches in the Texas football landscape, first by turning Incarnate Word into a 12-2 team in 2022 with an offense that piled up points, then by helping Texas State string together three straight bowl wins. Those results, paired with his deep Texas roots and family connections to Baylor, make him an easy name to keep in the conversation as the Bears sort through their next move after firing Dave Aranda.
For Baylor, the appeal is obvious: Kinne brings regional familiarity, a track record of quick offensive turnaround and a profile that fits the state as well as the job. The uncertainty is just as obvious, though, because there has been no official hiring reported, leaving the Bears weighing whether a coach with limited power-conference experience is the right swing for a program trying to reset. [Read more 🡒]
Baylors Next Coaching Decision Just Got Even More Important
Dave Arandas next move is already shaping up to be one of the more interesting subplots in Baylors coaching search. After being fired following a 4-3 start, Aranda is reportedly working toward a return to LSU in an analyst-type role, a reminder of how closely his career remains tied to the program where he once built his reputation as one of the sports top defensive minds.
For Baylor, the timing only adds another layer to an already important decision. Joe Klanderman is guiding the Bears on an interim basis while the school looks for a permanent head coach, and Arandas possible landing spot underscores just how much the Bears are trying to reset after a season that never fully stabilized. The search now carries even more weight, because the next hire will have to define what comes after Aranda, not just replace him. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa State Just Raised A Bigger Question Than Last Week's Collapse
Iowa States offense has been doing enough to keep the Cyclones in the thick of the Big 12 conversation, and that alone has changed the feel of the league race in a hurry. Colorado finally found its first conference win, Baylor steadied itself after a coaching change with a significant victory, and the conference suddenly looks a lot less predictable than it did a week ago.
For Baylor, the timing matters because the Bears are trying to turn one strong response into something more durable while the rest of the league keeps shifting around them. Oklahoma States defensive issues only add to the uncertainty, and the next stretch will tell whether Baylors bounce-back was a one-off or the start of a real climb in a conference that is already forcing new questions every Saturday. [Read more 🡒]