By Bennett Parker | Sports Writer
Baylor was one yard away from glory on Saturday against Auburn. Devastation still lingers for fans, but the Bears are fueled up for the road ahead of them.
While one might expect the disappointment from a loss of such caliber to carry over into the next week, Baylor has its sights set on week two.
“We feel determined,” fifth-year cornerback Reggie Bush II said. “I feel like this is different than any team I’ve been on. I’ve never felt so connected after a game that didn’t turn out how we hoped for it to happen. We are all determined to get better … there were no heads down [in the locker room]. Nobody was feeling down; you could feel the energy. We knew who we could be.”
The Bears (0-1) are set to play Prairie View A&M (1-1) for their home opener and second game of the season. While the Panthers might not bring the same prowess as Auburn to the football field, the mindset is still the same.
“I think the key is having the same mentality as Auburn,” senior tight end Hawkins Polley said. “It’s a nameless, faceless opponent. It doesn’t matter where they come from, what conference they’re in … we get to go play college football on Saturday, so we’re just as excited about Auburn as we are about Prairie View.”
The excitement for the game is important, but there are still tangible challenges left over from the week one loss. The forefront of which are the injuries: senior Jacob Redding will miss the season with an ACL tear, while junior quarterback DJ Lagway, junior wide receiver Jadon Porter, offensive linemen fifth-year Kaden and junior Koltin Sieracki are all on a day-to-day basis per head coach Dave Aranda.
“[Lagway] will go through the walkthrough, and so he’s going for today … right now DJ is a day-to-day guy. We want to play him,” Aranda said. “Kaden Sieracki, we’re looking at him. Koltin Sieracki, we’re looking at him. Jadon Porter, they both got lower leg injuries that we’re looking at. I would consider those guys day-to-day as well.”
Injuries are the worst part of football, but they have a paradoxical way of firing up a team even more than before.
“It’s just super encouraging to know that’s the type of fight we have on this team,” Polley said. “We know, ‘Hey, if you can push through [injury], I can push through whatever I’ve got going on physically and mentally.’”
The Bears had plenty to hang their hat on in the one-point loss. Fifth-year Gavin Freeman had a career game at wide receiver, Lagway threw a pair of touchdowns on one leg and Bush II notched his first career interception, a goal he set for himself over the summer.
“Trying to keep it going,” Bush said when asked if he had a new goal for the season. “I’m trying to get to at least three. I want to see the whole corner room get a pick; I want to see the whole defense make plays. It’s just a love for the team. I want to see everyone make a play. I got mine. I’m trying to see everybody get theirs.”
The Bears will host Prairie View A&M at 7 p.m. Saturday in McLane Stadium.
