By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
Baylor football offensive coordinator Jake Spavital grinned on the sidelines. The scoreboard at Milan Puskar Stadium flashed Baylor 49, West Virginia 35.
Twelve years earlier, in the teams’ first-ever matchup, Spavital stood on the opposite sideline, clad in blue and gold as Dana Holgorsen’s quarterbacks coach. Holgorsen’s Air Raid attack outdueled the Bears’ spread offense in an instant classic, 70-63. On Saturday, the Bears’ offense looked reminiscent of the great offensive clashes of yore.
“Coach Spav just makes it so easy for me, as far as my checks, my options that I can get to,” said quarterback Sawyer Robertson, who passed for a career-high 329 yards and three touchdowns. “Give it to B-Wash (Bryson Washington) on this play. If they give me this look, I can spit it out to Josh [Cameron] or Hal [Presley] or Ashtyn [Hawkins]. We got [Michael] Trigg going a little bit, too, with those little dump-offs. And he did a great job with that stuff. So, that’s all Spav right there, just being who he is and the great offensive mind he is.”
Since hiring Spavital this offseason (and moving Robertson into the starting lineup), Baylor’s offense has sped light years ahead of where it was a year ago. Jeff Grimes’ wide zone offense finished No. 101 nationally at 23.1 points per game. In less than a full season on the job, Spavital has the Bears up to No. 23 nationally and second in the Big 12 at 35.1 points per game.
That all starts with Robertson, who’s been absolutely nails since taking over for sixth-year quarterback Dequan Finn as the starter in Week 3. In just eight starts, the dual-threat quarterback is up to 2,364 total yards and 24 touchdowns to four interceptions. He leads the Big 12 in Total QBR. He’s been everything Baylor fans have been clamoring for and more.
“I think for a QB, you just get in a rhythm,” said Robertson, who completed his first 12 passes. “When I complete the first pass — honestly, the first two passes — I know I’m rolling from there on out. And with the second half, we came out and I didn’t do that. That’s kind of why we sputtered a little bit there. Obviously, the penalties hurt us a little bit. But whatever you want to call it – momentum, rhythm, whatever – completing those first few is a big deal.”
But the real lockpick on this offense has been the offensive line, which has paved a way for redshirt freshman running back Bryson Washington to emerge as a legitimate all-conference contender. Washington hadn’t handled more than a baker’s dozen carries in a game until Oct. 26 against Oklahoma State, but he’s emerged in recent weeks as one of the Big 12’s biggest scoring threats.
In four games since Baylor’s first bye week, Washington has racked up 618 total yards and 10 touchdowns, including eight over the past two weeks. He’s averaging 7.2 yards per carry behind an offensive line that has taken massive strides throughout the season.
“Man, he’s just doing his thing,” wide receiver Josh Cameron said of Washington. “He’s just doing his thing. Really, he kind of set the tone in the beginning of the game with the high-point catch. He’s making catches now over people. That just opens things up.
“When he gets going, or the running backs are going, it just opens up the offense for us and the receivers. Yeah, I’m just super happy and just really proud of him with his journey, just how far he’s come.”
Everything pivoted on the Bears’ bye week. Head coach Dave Aranda’s seat was blazing following an Oct. 5 beatdown at the hands of then-undefeated Iowa State. Baylor was 2-4, 0-4 against power-conference opponents and 1-9 in home games against current Big 12 teams since 2021. Then, backs to the walls, the Bears flipped the script.
Aranda’s squad has now won four straight since that Iowa State loss, including rivalry wins over Texas Tech and TCU and a streak-snapping Big 12 home victory against Oklahoma State. After Saturday’s win, a Baylor spokesperson informed media that Aranda would return for a sixth season in Waco.
The offense is humming. The Bears are scoring 45.8 points per game since the bye behind a running game that’s finally found its footing, jumping from 135 yards per game on 3.9 yards per carry to 259.5 yards per game on 7.0 yards per carry. A massive scheme overhaul served as an early-season speed bump, but after resetting in mid-October, the offensive line has dominated opponents.
“Oh man, [the offense] was clicking to a T,” Cameron said. “The looks that we got throughout the week matched up to what we saw in the game. And Sawyer was just putting the ball in play, and the running backs were running hard. Whenever you have a run game that opens up your pass game, we’re unstoppable, honestly.”
Behind Spavital’s revamped offense, Robertson’s ascendence and major improvements on the offensive line, the Bears are in the driver’s seat to finish with a winning record for the second time in Aranda’s tenure. They’ll have a chance to jump that hurdle on Saturday, playing former Southwest Conference foe Houston on the road for the first time since 1995.
