By George Schroeder | LTVN Executive Producer
Baylor football notched its fourth consecutive homecoming win on Saturday, sending the the University of Kansas home 35-23 while winning the first of many games crucial for a chance to play for the Big 12 title.
Calling it a comeback? You may want to hold off on that, Baylor fans.
After the Bears’ (4-3, 2-2 Big 12) 13th consecutive win against the Jayhawks, fifth-year senior linebacker Dillon Doyle said despite an explosive first half, a rough third quarter exposed flaws as the team finds itself deep in conference play.
“Definitely some things there that we need to look at and improve upon if we want to go where we want to go,” Doyle said. “We have a lot of big games ahead of us, and the work isn’t done.”
Kenneth Prabhakar | Photographer
Doyle is right. To find themselves back in Arlington this year, the Bears would need to run the table and get some help along the way. Winning out would give Baylor a great shot at tying for second in the conference and winning the tie-breaker.
Conference play has been a steep journey for Baylor this season. After a tough loss at West Virginia University and falling 1-2 in Big 12 play, the team rebounded in a big way leading up to homecoming, according to head coach Dave Aranda.
“[It was] really the best week of practice that we’ve had since I’ve been at Baylor,” Aranda said. “In terms of just effort and finish and the energy, having a real energy and not something that’s forced upon, or, we’re doing it just because there’s an expectation. I thought all of it was real.”
Practice doesn’t always make perfect, but Doyle said the Bears’ resiliency was evident.
“We feel like we have really good weeks of practice and sometimes that doesn’t show up on Saturdays,” Doyle said. “It showed up today.”
Baylor has struggled with slow starts this season, and a lack of consistency across halves has cost them. Freshman running back Richard Reese salvaged Baylor’s second half Saturday, as he rushed for 186 yards on 31 attempts with two touchdowns in his first career start.
“He played physical, he played with an edge,” Aranda said. “I thought he was he was violent.”
Fifth-year senior tight end Ben Sims mirrored Aranda’s praises of the young running back.
“He just did kind of his own Richard Reese things,” Sims said. “Since he started playing against Albany, we knew he was special. He shows in practice every week. What he did today wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for him.”
Kenneth Prabhakar | Photographer
Reese helped the Bears outlast 20 unanswered points from Kansas, but Baylor will need more standout performances like his if it wants to have a shot at a conference title. Aranda said his team has taken its losses to heart.
“The ability for us to learn a really hard lesson and then win, is a successful thing,” Aranda said. “Because we’ve learned some hard lessons and have taken losses. This is the first time we can do it and say we’ve won.”
That first time can’t be the last time for the Bears, as they need a perfect run to even have an opportunity — and it won’t come easily. Next, they face Texas Tech University in Lubbock and the University of Oklahoma in Norman back-to-back. Then Baylor faces two current top-three teams in the conference, Kansas State University and TCU, both in Waco, before a trip to Austin the day after Thanksgiving to take on the University of Texas.
