With Baylor at the midpoint of its 2026 season, the Bears are sitting at 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Big 12 - and the mood around the program has shifted fast. What could have been a clean-looking progress report has turned into a warning sign after a painful loss to TCU, leaving Baylor with more questions than answers heading into Week 8.
The biggest change for the Bears has come on defense. Joe Klanderman’s unit has taken the clearest step forward on the roster, and the numbers back it up.
In his first season as defensive coordinator, Baylor has already topped last year’s production in sacks, with 22 so far after finishing with 12 in 2025. The same is true for tackles for loss, where the Bears have 52 already after posting 48 a year ago.
Interceptions are trending up too, with six on the board now and a chance to pass last season’s total of nine.
The offense has shown stretches of life, but they’ve been scattered rather than steady. The run game has struggled badly, aside from the explosive runs in the ASU game, and no back has truly claimed the job. Ryelan Morris and Caden Knighten bring speed, but without much push up front, there has been little room to work inside, and the outside lanes are not always there either.
The passing game has its own issues. Too often, Baylor’s routes seem to blur together from snap to snap.
Gavin Freeman has been a major weapon, but the Bears cannot keep leaning on the same kind of vertical shot over and over. The offense needs more variety - more screens, slants, wheel routes and quicker hitters - instead of a diet made up almost entirely of deep chances or throwaways.
The TCU loss, though, is the one that changed the temperature around everything. More than 40,000 fans were in McLane Stadium for Blackout on the Brazos, and the scene felt more like a wake than a celebration. That game hit especially hard because it exposed how fragile Baylor’s season can look when things go wrong.
Dave Aranda is not calling the plays on either side; that work belongs to Coach Spavital on offense and Coach Klanderman on defense. But Aranda still owns the bigger picture, and that’s where the pressure sits.
The players have consistently spoken well of him when asked, but the fan base is looking for results, not just approval. After Saturday, Aranda’s record against TCU stands at 1-6, and that number hangs over the conversation now.
In Other News...
Baylor Has A Special Teams Weapon Getting National Attention
A Baylor special teams standout is drawing national notice in a place teams usually hope never to think about much: the punters role. Senior Palmer Williams has been named to The Sporting News Midseason All-America Second Team, another sign that his leg has become one of the more reliable weapons in the country and a steady asset for the Bears as they move through the season.
Williams is currently leading the nation with a 51.4-yard punting average and is on pace to top the Big 12 for the third straight season, which helps explain why he has already picked up multiple preseason All-America honors and landed among the finalists for the Ray Guy Award. For Baylor, having that kind of field-position edge matters in tight games, and Williams keeps giving the Bears something every opponent has to account for. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Heads To Baylor With One Problem Fans Can't Ignore
Kansas is heading into its Big 12 matchup at Baylor still trying to clean up the issues that showed up in its loss to Kansas State, where Lance Leipold pointed to a lack of physicality and too many missed tackles. The Jayhawks were gashed for 359 rushing yards and never found much rhythm offensively, which makes this trip even more important as they try to steady things against another conference opponent.
Baylor arrives with some questions of its own after a loss to TCU, and the Bears have had their own offensive line concerns to sort through. For both teams, this is more than just another league game on the calendar. It is a chance to show whether the problems from last week were a one-game setback or something deeper that still needs fixing. [Read more 🡒]
Jalen Pitre Update Gives Baylor Fans A Reason To Exhale
Baylors NFL contingent had a mixed Week Six, with several former Bears dealing with the usual wear and tear of a long season while still finding ways to make an impact. The cleanest update came on Jalen Pitre, who came away with a non-severe AC joint and shoulder injury and is expected back soon, which should ease any concern for Baylor fans tracking the health of one of the programs most reliable pros.
There was less encouraging news elsewhere, though, as Tyquan Thornton remains sidelined after ankle surgery. Even so, Baylor alums continued to show up around the league, with Josh Cameron, Terrel Bernard, James Lynch, Ross Mastick and Jon Weeks all turning in notable contributions or steady work in their respective games, a reminder that the Bears NFL pipeline still has plenty of life in it. [Read more 🡒]