By Blake Vines | Reporter
Coming out of Week 7, Baylor football was able to catch a breather during its first bye week of the season. Now, Baylor (4-2, 2-1 Big 12) will take on TCU (4-2, 1-2 Big 12) in Fort Worth — and players believe the week off was exactly what they needed to regain some energy and keep the win streak alive.
“Everybody’s playing faster now,” senior safety Devyn Bobby said. “Everybody’s got their recovery, got their bodies back a little bit, so we’re ready to explode.”
Playing through six weeks of football can take a large physical and mental toll on players.
“I think the whole team, we definitely needed this break,” senior wide receiver Kobe Prentice said. “We had a lot of guys banged up, but a lot of guys healing up with that off week, and it’s really been good and beneficial to us.”
With extra energy and plenty of recovery time, the Bears are looking forward to this rivalry matchup against the Horned Frogs. But strong emotions come with a feud that has lasted over 125 years.
“Just try to stay level-headed — you can’t get too high when it’s a rivalry game, that’s where things can go left,” Bobby said. “Just trying to stay level-headed, try to stay at the same pace throughout the whole game, and I feel like we’ll be fine.”
Staying levelheaded and keeping the foot on the gas is a bit of a theme to Baylor’s season thus far. Even when the team is down by multiple scores, everyone on the field continues to play their role and get to work until the final whistle blows. With a rivalry matchup that comes with a trophy like The Bluebonnet Battle, it feels like there is more at stake than just another conference win.
“There’s going to be a lot of talking, but we got to do a good job of focusing on us and not really worrying about what the other team says,” Prentice said. “We expect those extra tugs after the play and all the disruptiveness, but we just worry about us.”
The mental stability that is preached to every member of the team has played a large part in the team’s ability to win, whether at home or on the road, and keeping this mental stability has been a large focus through this bye week for the Bears.
“We just worry about attacking every day with the same mindset,” Prentice said. “We don’t feel like we have accomplished anything yet, just attacking tomorrow with a 1–0 mindset, just like today, just bring that energy. That’s what we really focus on.”
With a recovery week behind them and a century-old rivalry a few days ahead, the Bears continue to stay confident in each other’s abilities as they prepare for the Bluebonnet Battle on the road.
Baylor football will play TCU at 11 a.m. Saturday at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
