Baylor RB Dawson Pendergrass ruled out for season with foot injury

By Jackson Posey | Sports Editor

Baylor junior running back Dawson Pendergrass suffered a season-ending foot injury during fall camp and will undergo surgery, head football coach Dave Aranda confirmed to reporters Saturday.

“It’s going to take a majority of the season to come back from it,” Aranda said. “We were hoping for better news.”

Pendergrass has racked up 1,311 career all-purpose yards and 14 touchdowns across two seasons in Waco, including 671 yards rushing and seven total touchdowns on 5.5 yards per carry in 2024. He was Baylor’s primary change-of-pace back alongside Freshman All-American Bryson Washington, who set the Bears’ freshman rushing record with 1,028 yards last season.

The pair was widely considered one of the top returning running back tandems in the nation. Now, the depth chart is in flux.

“I feel good about our depth behind him,” Aranda said. “We’ve got some young players that are now going to be pressed into playing a little bit earlier than maybe they were thinking.”

With Pendergrass out, Baylor returns virtually zero production alongside Washington. Richard Reese (1,519 career yards), who previously held the Bears’ freshman rushing record, transferred to Stephen F. Austin. Former Oklahoma State transfer Dominic Richardson (1,767 career yards) is off to New Mexico State.

That leaves redshirt sophomore Joseph Hagman (three career games, 16 yards) as the only other halfback on Baylor’s roster with game experience.

Joseph Dodds, the Bears’ third-ranked recruit in the 2024 class, could push for snaps after missing his freshman season with an injury. He’ll compete with a pair of four-star freshmen, Michael Turner and Caden Knighten, for the primary change-of-pace role. Aranda singled out the latter Saturday for his performance in fall camp.

“I thought Caden played well,” Aranda said. “There’s a couple cuts he made. There’s one where I think the ref said that we (the defense) got him — I don’t know if we got him though. And so he had a really good run, [and] I think his pass protection is improving.”

Pendergrass will redshirt this season while recovering from surgery. He will have two remaining years of eligibility after 2025.