By Dylan Fink | Sports Writer
Homecoming is upon us.
Last touches are being put on floats, students are fighting to remember pigskin dances, bonfires are being built and former NoZe Brothers are dusting off their old Groucho Marx glasses.
All these traditions and more are part of what makes Baylor Homecoming so famous. As students and alumni alike get caught up in all the noise of the oldest homecoming tradition in the nation, the football team has a much different approach to the weekend.
“I would say from a team’s perspective, it was always just another week,” former Baylor wide receiver Chris Platt said. “But at the end of the day, we always expect a good crowd.”
Platt, ranked 11th on the Bears’ all-time receiving yards leaderboard, donned the green and gold from 2014 to 2019. The former wide receiver finished his career with a then-team record 57 games played. (The record was surpassed last season by linebacker Matt Jones, who shared the field with Platt in 2019.)
The team’s performance stands at the center of homecoming weekend; it’s the grand event that all the other festivities circle. Higher pressure and expectations are bound to come with preparation for the game.
“It can go one of two ways,” Platt said. “Sometimes it’s really motivating. You want to do well in front of the fans, and ideally, for homecoming, there should be a good crowd. It can also be very distracting with all the festivities going on. Like I said, definitely one of two ways.”
Platt, who was one of the few players to stick with the program through the three-year coaching transition from Art Briles to Jim Grobe to Matt Rhule, had the opportunity to participate in a multitude of different homecoming experiences.
“I remember one year, Coach Briles brought us all to the bonfire and seeing everyone there was awesome,” Platt said. “I don’t know if Coach Rhule ever brought anybody with him; I think he might have, but it was probably just a few players.”
The Bears went 5-1 in homecoming games during Platt’s time at Baylor, including two particularly notable performances. A double-overtime thriller against Texas Tech in 2019 was capped off with a last-second field goal, giving the Bears the edge, 33-30.
In 2015, the No. 2-ranked Bears improved to 7-0 with a 45-27 win over Iowa State, 45-27, but the victory was bittersweet, as Heisman front-runner Seth Russell broke his neck in the fourth quarter.
“One of the most distracting was 2015 against Iowa State,” Platt said. “It was raining really bad, and that was a big concern for a lot of people. Nobody showed up, and that really created mixed emotions towards the game for us on the team. At the end of the day, though, we knew what we needed to do to go out there and execute.”
Platt has been active on social media for the past few seasons, criticizing Baylor fans’ low game attendance and other game-day issues that have plagued the program recently.
“That was one of the things that, when I was a recruit, made me want to come to Baylor,” Platt said. “The crowd back then was electric. Now we can’t even sell out McLane for homecoming.”
Throughout all the other festivities going on during homecoming, Platt found game attendance to be the most distracting aspect of the weekend.
“Everybody wants to go to Pigskin, the bonfire and the parade,” Platt said. “It’s always disheartening to the team when those events are packed and sell out, but we can’t get our home stadium full for homecoming.”
Baylor’s Homecoming game will kick off against UCF at 11 a.m. Saturday at McLane Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
