By Foster Nicholas | Sports Editor
Embracing brotherhood built on competition, associate head coach Khenon Hall’s running back room is ready to take the next steps to lead Baylor football to a Big 12 Championship game in 2025.
Shattering the school record for freshman rushing yards with 1,028 in 2024, redshirt sophomore running back Bryson Washington is looking to build on his breakout campaign with NFL aspirations. Washington established himself as the starter in fall camp a year ago, forcing him into a leadership role early in spring.
“He’s a guy that’s aiming to potentially try to go pro next year, so he’s got a lot of work to do,” Hall said. “He came in and put on 10 pounds of muscle, and he [has] been working extremely hard on that pad leverage, just working on that burst and working on making guys miss in the open field … I’m really, really excited about him.”
Junior Dawson Pendergrass, who rushed for 671 yards and six touchdowns, has also worked into a leadership role with Washington. Pendergrass and Washington were the only teammates in the nation to record over 1,000 and 600 rushing yards in 2024. As a two-year contributor with the green and gold, the transition to being an upperclassman has come quickly for Pendergrass.
“It’s kind of weird being one of the oldest guys in the room now, I’m used to being the young buck,” Pendergrass said. “But, you know, yeah, I just got to kind of lead the freshmen in the right way. Make sure they’re doing everything right.”
Without a senior in the room, the explosive running back pair is not letting their youth get in the way of making other players better and earning respect in the locker room.
“There’s no age limit on leadership, and I’m one of the youngest guys on the team, but I still have to step up and be a leader,” Washington said. “Me and Dawson are basically the second and third coach behind coach Khenon. We’re just working to get each other better.”
After senior Richard Reese opted to enter the transfer portal before spring camp, the Bears will lean on a young trio to fill in the holes left by the fan favorite.
“I feel really good and very optimistic for next year,” Hall said. “Usually you want to carry around six running backs. Right now, we’re at five, and then when Mike Turner gets here, we’ll be fine. We just need to make sure we take care of those guys during the spring, make sure they get through healthy, but we have dynamic backs coming in, and we’re very, very excited about those guys.”
Four-star freshman Michael Turner and Caden Knighten highlight the youth in the room with a chance to make an impact in 2025. Hall said he’s also seen a jump from redshirt freshman Joseph Dodds, a former four-star recruit who missed the 2024 season with an injury. With so much young talent, Hall feels any of them could step into the No. 3 spot on the depth chart.
“It’s a revolving door right now, it’s going to be very competitive,” Hall said. “All of them are built the right way. They have the right mindset. They’re physical. They got they check all the boxes what you’re looking for in the running back. They’re very competitive, but they compete with each other, not against each other and that’s just how the room is with the brotherhood in there.”
With the team utilizing a running back by committee approach, Hall said they will all have a chance to filter into games with the opportunity to boost their stock. Hall said Knighten and Turner play like powerful elusive backs packs and are pretty much “an extension of Bryson and Dawson.”
“We fought hard for them,” Hall said. “Those guys, they just have a different gear, a different element — a mindset, a want to and a drive that when you are recruiting a big time running back, that’s what you want to see. You want to see alphas and they are definitely that.”
Collectively racking up 2,324 rush yards en route to a Texas Bowl appearance, the goals for the team are higher than before and Hall has embraced that mentality within the running back room.
“I tell them all my time, ‘Y’all created a standard,’” Hall said. “Now the standard is a standard expectation. Now you understand what it takes to exceed those expectations. Not knocking what we did last year, but that’s not our standard anymore.”
The Bears will practice again on Thursday as they work their way toward the Baylor Blitz on April 26 at McLane Stadium.
