By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Writer
After Dawson Pendergrass’ season-ending foot injury, Baylor looked to rely more on redshirt sophomore running back Bryson Washington.
Washington rushed for a Baylor freshman record 1,028 yards in 2024, but fell flat in the team’s season opener against Auburn, rushing for 54 yards on 14 attempts in the 38-24 loss. The rest of the roster combined for 10 yards on 10 carries, raising questions about the Bears’ effectiveness in the ground game.
Washington bounced back and answered those questions, rushing for over 100 yards in the next three games for Baylor (2-2, 0-1 Big 12).
When Washington gets to work, he gives Baylor a lift. The Bears’ offense gets a boost when he finds his way around a defense and breaks off long runs.
“Bryson does a spin move and gets loose — when he does stuff like that, you get like a whole new level,” head coach Dave Aranda said. “When that happens, that’s impactful to your team.”
That impact especially encourages the offensive line, which has emphasized the need to create holes for Washington and give him the space to run downhill.
“There’s an energy that comes from that, and there’s a belief up front, whether it was Bryson and making a jump cut and spinning and making three guys miss, the guys up front think they did it,” Aranda said. “There’s juice with them, and they play harder.”
Redshirt junior right tackle Kaden Sieracki said the offensive line focused on improving the run game by creating “really good double teams” to give Washington room to work after the Bears’ 48-45 victory over SMU.
Seeing improvement on the ground has continued to be a focal point for the offense. It took the unit until week three against Samford to reach the 200-yard rushing mark, which the Bears achieved five times in 2024.
“We’ve been harping on being able to run the ball,” Washington said after Baylor’s 42-7 win over Samford. “Surpassing that 200-yard mark this game, it really solidified a lot of things in our room.”
The Bears are still trying to find the momentum and power they had in the run game last season.
The Bears started slow, as Washington’s 106 yards in a 31-3 victory over Air Force in Week 3 marked the team’s first 100-yard rushing performance. None of their running backs eclipsed 50 yards over their next three games despite Washington’s breakthrough.
Baylor picked it up in the second half of the season, boasting at least one 100-yard rusher in each of their last six games of the regular season. Washington reached the mark five more times, and Pendergrass did so twice.
“Kind of like last year, we got better as the year got going,” Washington said of the offensive line. “I see them taking big steps in the run game.”
The Bears have had to lean on Washington with Pendergrass out for the season. His 415 yards rushing make up 75% of Baylor’s production on the ground.
True freshmen Caden Knighten and Michael Turner have seen limited action, with Knighten tallying 94 yards on 27 runs and Turner with 36 yards on 6 attempts. Washington praised their preparation for each game despite occasionally getting the ball.
“What stands out most about them is the way they fight and prepare going into each and every week,” Washington said. “Knowing they might not get the chance to play, but they still prepare like they expect to play the game.”
Baylor will head to Stillwater, Okla., to take on Oklahoma State at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
