Baylor is preparing for a Colorado offense that forces a defense to make choices, and Dave Aranda knows exactly where the pressure starts: before the snap.
Aranda said Monday that Baylor has a healthy respect for offensive coordinator Brennan Marion and the variety Colorado can throw at a defense. The Buffaloes’ alignment, with multiple backs and tight ends moving into different roles, is the kind of thing that can clutter the picture for a defense in a hurry.
“We got a lot of respect for him and his schemes,” Aranda said Monday. “There’s some unusual back sets, and there’s option, triple option looks coming out of the backfield. A lot of runs, a lot of gas created.”
Marion is in his first season at Colorado after coaching Sacramento State in 2025. Baylor’s game preview also noted that his Go-Go offense took shape during his two seasons as UNLV’s offensive coordinator. Aranda said those looks create extra problems because they force defenders to sort out more gaps than usual.
“There’s three backs there, and a lot of tight ends,” Aranda said. “So the tight ends acting as running backs, as lead blockers. And so a lot of gaps are created there.”
The run game is not a side issue for Colorado, either. The Buffaloes have averaged 181 rushing yards over their last three games, according to the school’s official statistics, and they also ran for 180 yards at Evanston. That is why Aranda isn’t viewing this as a matchup where Baylor can simply wait around for quarterback Julian Lewis to beat it through the air.
The real danger, from Baylor’s perspective, comes when the Bears bring extra bodies toward the line of scrimmage. Aranda said Marion’s offense is designed to make safeties step up, and that can turn into trouble fast if Colorado gets the look it wants on the outside.
“And then because of that, they force, like we talked about earlier, those safeties to come down,” Aranda said. “And then you’ve got your one-on-ones on the outside.”
“For them, establish the run, try to hit on the big plays,” he said.
That’s the balancing act Baylor has to manage on Saturday when it opens Big 12 play against Colorado. The Bears can’t just crowd the box and call it a win, because Colorado has already shown it can spread the ball around with multiple backs and punish defenses when Lewis gets a receiver loose downfield.
Aranda brought up Weber State as an example of what can happen if the secondary is left exposed. Colorado struck twice for touchdown passes of more than 60 yards in the first quarter of that game, one to DeAndre Moore Jr. and one to Joseph Williams.
“I think, look at Weber State, some of the games they played, they were able to hit on some of those big plays,” Aranda said.
The assignment for Baylor is clear: slow the run, keep the safeties involved, and don’t let the explosive plays take over the game.
“And so for us to be able to limit the run game, and then have help on top with safeties to help with the explosives, the pass game that’s going to come off of the run game, critical for us,” Aranda said.
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