Baylor will have cornerback Kyler Beaty back on the field Saturday when the Bears host Iowa State for Homecoming.
Beaty, who had been listed as probable earlier in the week, was removed from the availability report Saturday morning. That gives Baylor another body in the secondary after cornerback Jamarion Richardson and safety Jacob Redding were among the five players ruled out again, the same group unavailable against UCF.
The Bears are coming off a 41-9 win at UCF in interim head coach Joe Klanderman’s first game. At 5-3 overall and 3-2 in Big 12 play, Baylor can become bowl eligible with a victory and still have three games left on the schedule. Saturday will be Klanderman’s first home game in charge.
Beaty’s return matters because Baylor needs depth behind Devon Jordan and LeVar Thornton Jr. He also handled work on Baylor’s punt coverage unit in the final six games last season.
The matchup with Iowa State brings its own challenge. Jaylen Raynor passed for 309 yards against Oklahoma State, while Jamal Polite piled up 171 receiving yards. Their 33-yard connection on the final drive helped set up Iowa State’s winning field goal.
Baylor’s defensive formula will look familiar after what it did at UCF. The Bears held the Knights to 215 passing yards and limited them to just two third-down conversions on 15 tries. Repeating that kind of control could hinge on how well Baylor handles Flora on early downs and forces Raynor into obvious passing situations.
Offensively, Baylor showed it can move the ball without Tone and Jones, who remain out for Homecoming. The Bears rolled up 503 yards at UCF, with DJ Lagway throwing for 319 yards and four touchdowns and the ground game adding 184 yards.
Oklahoma State’s numbers against Iowa State also point to where Baylor may try to attack. The Cowboys ran for 210 yards, with Caleb Hawkins responsible for 194 on 25 carries, and also threw for 323 yards.
Ryelan Morris led Baylor with 82 rushing yards against UCF, and the Bears went 7 of 16 on third down. His 26-yard run in the third quarter set up Lagway’s 21-yard touchdown pass to Tony Livingston.
Getting Morris and the other backs involved early could help Baylor stay ahead of the chains and keep Lagway out of long-yardage situations.
Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CT at McLane Stadium, with the game airing on FS1.
In Other News...
Iowa State May Have Found The Identity This Team Will Lean On
Iowa States home season opener offered a pretty clear snapshot of what this group wants to be, and it started on the defensive end. In an 83-57 win over Southern Miss, forward Taj Manning made his presence felt with a career-high four blocks and the kind of active, disruptive work that can change the tone of a game without ever showing up in the box score the same way points do.
Coach T.J. Otzelberger pointed to Mannings defensive impact while also stressing rebounding and defense as the areas that have to keep driving this team forward. On the other end, Northwestern transfer Tre Singleton supplied the scoring punch with a career-high 28 points and led the Cyclones in rebounds, giving Iowa State a glimpse of the balance it may lean on as the schedule gets tougher. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa State Let A Promising Start Turn Into Another Frustrating Finish
Iowa State looked ready to seize control early against Baylor, jumping out to a 10-0 lead and giving the home crowd reason to think this one might follow a different script. Aiden Flora provided much of the spark for the Cyclones, piling up 182 rushing yards and a touchdown, while Hunter Dekkers kept the offense moving with 22 completions on 37 attempts for 256 yards and two scores.
Then the game flipped. A muffed punt by Flora became the opening Baylor needed, and the Bears turned that break into points before taking the lead for good on the way to a 42-31 win. For Iowa State, it was another frustrating reminder that a strong start only matters if it survives the middle stretches, and this one slipped away in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Tre Singleton Just Gave Iowa State The Bounce-Back It Needed
After a rough opener, Iowa State finally found some rhythm in an 83-57 win over Southern Miss, and Tre Singleton was at the center of it. He powered the Cyclones with 28 points and nine rebounds, giving them the kind of interior production and energy they had been missing while helping the team settle in on both ends.
The bigger takeaway was the response. Iowa State looked sharper defensively than it did against Memphis, a sign the group was ready to clean up some early-season issues before the schedule keeps moving. The Cyclones now head home to face Southern, where theyll try to build on a performance that felt more like the version of this team they expected to see. [Read more 🡒]