Baylor gets homecoming in Waco on Saturday, and the Bears will do it with Joe Klanderman on the sideline again as the interim head coach. It’s his second game in that role after Baylor moved on from Dave Aranda following the loss to Kansas two weeks ago.
Klanderman, Baylor’s defensive coordinator, is still in audition mode. He’d like the permanent job, and this matchup with Iowa State gives him another chance to make his case while the Bears try to keep the momentum from last weekend’s win in Orlando over UCF.
The challenge is a Cyclones team that just pulled off a 51-49 upset of Oklahoma State. Iowa State has not been a consistent offense this season, but it does have a clear engine in running back Aiden Flora. The Cyclones are averaging 370 yards per game, which ranks second-worst in the Big 12, while Baylor sits eighth in the league at 434 yards per game.
That edge in production could matter, especially up front. Iowa State is last in the Big 12 with 10 total sacks, and the Bears have a chance to keep DJ Lagway clean if the Cyclones can’t generate pressure. Baylor has shuffled its offensive line combinations this season, but this matchup could offer a cleaner look for that group.
The main problem for Baylor is Flora. He leads the Big 12 with 117 rushing yards per game and just gashed Oklahoma State for 221 yards on the ground last week. If the Bears can slow him down, the next step is forcing quarterback Jaylen Raynor to carry the load.
Raynor has thrown 10 touchdown passes this season, but he’s also been intercepted five times. Baylor’s path is pretty clear: make Iowa State throw, and make Raynor win it through the air.
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 🡒]