By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Editor
Excitement filled the air in Waco heading into the weekend. Football season kicked off against Auburn in the Aflac Kickoff Game and volleyball looked to continue its hot start against No. 17 Florida at the Ferrell Center. The weekend did not go quite as planned for the Bears.
Football loses a heartbreaker at the goal line
Baylor looked to start the season on the winning end of a dogfight against Auburn in Atlanta. Head coach Dave Aranda decided to go for two to win the game with nine seconds remaining, but senior tight end Matthew Klopfenstein fell inches short of the goal line to seal the 17-16 win for the Tigers.
Saturday was the first opportunity for head coach Dave Aranda and company to finally shed some light on the bombardment of offseason questions. The defense made the biggest statement against the Tigers. The unit forced three interceptions against Byrum Brown as well as generating five sacks and 11 tackles for loss against the high-paced Auburn offense.
The offense still has some unanswered questions heading into the home opener. Junior quarterback DJ Lagway had some electrifying moments, including his 28-yard dart to fifth-year wide receiver Gavin Freeman on fourth-and-10 during the final drive. Lagway also had some early miscues with a fumble and interception in the first two drives, but he did not seem to reach his true potential with a sprained ankle that hobbled him the whole game. Freeman shined in his Baylor debut with 12 receptions for a career-high 154 yards and a touchdown.
Saving Private Redding
News broke less than two hours before Baylor football’s season opener that senior safety Jacob Redding tore his ACL and is out for the entirety of the 2026 season. Redding broke out as a junior with a team-leading three interceptions, including a pick-six against Kansas State last year.
The blow to the secondary forced fifth-year safety Devin Turner and senior safety Micah Gifford to pick up the slack, and that is exactly what they did on Saturday.
Turner recorded nine tackles against Auburn, tied for the team best with fifth-year linebacker Travion Barnes. Gifford caught his second career interception, picking off Brown to start the fourth quarter.
Volleyball falls in top-20 clash
No. 20 Baylor volleyball came into the weekend with a 4-0 record, only the fourth time the Bears have done that under head coach Ryan McGuyre.
They were fired up for their first major test of the season, facing off against Florida. It was all Gators from the start. Baylor struggled to clean it up on the attack, finishing the match with a season-low .046 hitting percentage, committing 20 attack errors to 24 kills.
The Bears also struggled from the service line. They recorded eight service errors as they grew more frustrated as Florida ran away with the match. The Gators swept Baylor in three sets by a score of 25-13, 25-23 and 25-19.
The Bears have another test as they head to Lincoln, Nebraska, to compete against No. 1 Nebraska, Georgia Tech and New Mexico.
While it turned out to be a rough weekend for Baylor Athletics, it’s a new week, and isn’t that what we all need sometimes? Football returns home to take on Prairie View A&M on Saturday and soccer hosts Marquette at 7 p.m. Thursday at Betty Lou Mays Field.
Onto the next.
— Jeffrey Cohen
