Baylor’s win over LA Tech gave Dave Aranda plenty to like, but not nearly enough to feel settled.
In a postgame session that lasted about eleven minutes, the Bears’ head coach moved through the full range: encouragement, annoyance, and a clear sense that this team still has work to do before Big 12 play tightens the screws. Aranda said Baylor opened well, pointing to “some positive runs in there, some big conversions,” but he also made it plain that the early stretches were a sorting-out process on defense.
“I thought defensively, it was to start the game, it was what offense are we going to see? You know, is third down really third down?
Are they going to throw it? Are they going to run it?
Are they going to run it with the quarterback? You know, what's the offense going to be?
"And so I think there's kind of a feeling out period there that we had to kind of rebound and respond to. And I thought for a moment there in the game, we did, you know, was really hoping for a much cleaner game.
I'd really been coaching to try to achieve that. Really wanted to have the errors and the mental mistakes and the, you know, Baylor beating Baylor stuff behind us moving into Big 12 play.
And unfortunately, we're still carrying it with us. And so there's a lot to improve on in that area.
"You know, I think despite that, though, there's a lot of, I mean, there's guys cramping out, off to the side, going back in. Guys hurt, off to the side, going back in.
Just really incredible efforts of guys that just wouldn't lay down and wouldn't give in. And so we have to match that type of stuff with doing smart stuff all the time.
And I think we add those two stuffs together, it'll be good. But that's still a work in progress."
Aranda also made sure to give credit where it was due. He said the team’s effort stood out, especially with players battling through cramps and injuries and still finding their way back onto the field. But the message underneath the praise was unmistakable: effort alone won’t clean up the mistakes.
That theme came through even more clearly when Aranda turned to quarterback Nate Bennett.
"You know, it's huge. I think for, you know, when I see Nate, I see his family.
I see, like, their pride. I see his joy.
I see, like, belief. If you have a goal and you work real hard and you treat people right and you do right, good things will happen.
I see that. I see, like, there's a lightness that comes when that stuff is true.
There's almost, like, a heaviness when you don't know if that's true. And so I think he's just better off for it.
We're better off for it. So thankful for Nate."
Bennett’s role has mattered, and Aranda’s comments made that obvious. He’s been a steady presence, and the trust factor is part of what has kept Baylor moving.
Aranda then shifted back to the offense as a whole, and that’s where the frustration really sharpened. He said Baylor hit some explosive plays - “haymakers,” in his words - but he’d rather see the Bears string together longer, more punishing drives.
"You know, I thought that offensively we were able to hit on some, I think, in the radio talk I just had, I used like haymakers. We were able to connect on some haymakers and knock the guy down, so to speak. I think, ideally, in the build of this team, we'd like to be able to hit body blows and keep cracking at the ribs and keep throwing at the ribs and keep hitting the body and keep hitting the body.
"That would play out as longer drives. That would play out as time off the clock.
That would play out as we're kind of grinding them out and all that. We either went backwards and were 3 and out, or we scored.
And it was so fast, the defense was on the field. By the time the end of the third quarter came, we were worn out.
And so we have to play better complementary football there. And third quarter on offense is something that we have to improve on."
That was the clearest snapshot of where Baylor stands right now: capable of striking fast, but not yet built the way Aranda wants. The offense either stalled or finished quickly, and the defense paid for it.
Later, Aranda laid out the identity he wants this group to own: “Tough, smart, and dependable.” He said he feels good about the toughness, pointed to the way players have fought through injury and disappointment, and said the team understands that nothing comes easy. He also said the dependable part is there, noting that Baylor can count on players to make plays in key moments.
The middle piece, though, is still the issue.
"The smart part, I feel like we're not there yet. There's a lot of work to be done there.
We want to be hard to kill. And right now, we're struggling to do that.
The dependable part, I feel, that we have. I think we can depend on guys to make plays when we need plays to be made.
I feel like in critical moments, I think you've seen that. And so I think that's our identity.
We're still working on that middle piece."
That “smart” part - the penalties, the timing errors, the little self-inflicted hits - is the part Aranda clearly wants cleaned up before the schedule gets tougher. Baylor has the potential to contend, but the Bears still have to make the running game a true strength and stop handing away momentum with avoidable mistakes.
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