By Foster Nicholas | Sports Editor
The jitters are gone for Baylor football after sprinting into the season with a dominant victory. Lingering around the corner, though, is a road test against No. 11 Utah, which offers the Bears a chance to storm back into the national limelight. Kickoff is slated for 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.
Since marching the green and gold to a Big 12 Championship and Sugar Bowl victory in 2021, head coach Dave Aranda has been unable to take down a ranked opponent. Despite its 21-7 win over No. 8 Ole Miss on January 2, 2022, Baylor has lost their last eight games against ranked foes.
“I want to be good,” Aranda said. “[Week 1] was, in a lot of ways, probably the first scrimmage of fall camp, on both sides, I would think, with just the inventory of plays being run. And so while there were clean things, it needs to be a whole lot cleaner, and communication needs to be better from the ones to the twos. I think there’s too big of a drop-off right now.”
The Bears (1-0) and Utes (1-0) faced off for the first time in program history in 2023, when injury-riddled Utah beat Baylor 20-13 at McLane Stadium. Because the home and away matchups were set prior to Utah joining the Big 12, Saturday’s battle will not count as a part of conference records and will be treated as a non-conference matchup.
For Aranda and the returning Bears, it doesn’t matter whether the game counts for the conference standings. They just want one more chance to take on a ranked opponent, and the opportunity to see a team they nearly beat a year ago makes the storybook possibilities even sweeter.
“We played hard last week but we didn’t really execute. I feel like if we play hard and execute, we’ll do really well,” senior wide receiver Ketron Jackson Jr. said. “[We’re] really looking forward to this trip. Obviously, from last year, I feel like it’s another chance that we get to knock them out.”
The green and gold were able to keep the game in Waco close, but allowed 17 unanswered second-half points. Keeping the game in Salt Lake City close, or even beating Utah, will take more discipline as the Utes have lost at home only three times since 2018.
“I have a lot of respect for them, their physicality and that home environment. It’s a tough place to play; it’s gonna be loud. We’ve had some game twos in tough places to play and this will be one of them,” Aranda said. “We’ve got something to prove. I think that we got a bunch of guys that want to win and want to achieve and want to be that team, and we know that the team we’re playing is kind of that team. And so we have to be able to show up with our best.”
Throughout the week, Aranda preached of the importance of defensive leadership and elevating the level of play with Utah senior quarterback Cam Rising on the opposing sideline. Junior safety Devyn Bobby is one of the defensive leaders who is expected to take on a bigger vocal role.
“We’ve definitely got a chip on our shoulder,” Bobby said. “It’s a revenge tour. We’re ready to step it up and we know it’s going to be a physical game. It’s going to take all four quarters but we’re prepared.”
Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium, with the game being broadcast on FOX.
