By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Editor
It’s a new age for Baylor football. Athletic Director Doug McNamee announced Sunday morning that head coach Dave Aranda was fired following the Bears’ 24-25 loss to Kansas. Despite the turbulent weekend for football, soccer hit the road to Arizona and volleyball played two home matches this weekend. Let’s get into it
Baylor fires Dave Aranda following Kansas loss
The announcement came less than 24 hours after Baylor lost on the road to Kansas. Both sides of the ball looked lethargic against the Jayhawks. The offense scored only three times after pulling together six points against TCU a week prior.
The Bears held a 21-10 lead in the third quarter, but Kansas wore down Baylor’s defense, putting up points in four of its final five drives to go ahead with less than two minutes left.
The Bears set up for a game-winning field goal from sophomore kicker Rhett Armstrong, but his kick was blocked to hand Baylor its first loss to the Jayhawks since 2007.
Multiple players said the Bears’ loss to TCU could be attributed to complacency, and the team’s performance against Kansas dealt with similar issues, especially on offense.
Aranda’s seven-year tenure finishes with a 40-40 record and only two seasons with a record above .500. Defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman was promoted to interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
SOC remains tied atop the Big 12
No. 9 Baylor soccer fought in a back-and-forth affair with Arizona Sunday. Senior forward Callie Conrad scored 26 seconds in to give the Bears a 1-0 lead. The Wildcats answered quickly, scoring back-to-back goals in the 16th and 18th minutes. Junior defender Sydney Miller sent a line drive to the back of the net to tie the match at two heading into halftime.
Both offenses calmed down in the second half. Senior forward Lauren Omholt scored the lone goal in the half to lift Baylor over Arizona 3-2. The win keeps the Bears in a tie for first in the Big 12 with No. 14 Texas Tech.
VB splits pair of five-set thrillers
No. 24 Baylor volleyball found its four-match win streak in jeopardy, trailing Houston 2-0 Friday night. The Bears stormed back to defeat the Cougars in five sets behind a surge of energy from freshman middle blocker Lacy Tinnell and junior outside hitter MJ McCurdy.
Baylor was in the opposite position against No. 17 Kansas Sunday afternoon. The Bears took a two-set lead, winning five sets in a row going back to the beginning of the weekend. The Jayhawks spread out their attack in the third set. Baylor struggled to adjust to the balanced attack and dropped the final three sets to split the weekend doubleheader.
Coming up this week…
- FB travels to UCF for first game under Klanderman at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Orlando
- SOC clashes with No. 14 Texas Tech for first in the Big 12 at 7 p.m. Friday in Lubbock
- VB has rematch with No. 13 TCU at 7 p.m. Friday at the Ferrell Center
- XC heads to Stillwater, Oklahoma for the Big 12 Championship Saturday
- MTEN competes in the M25 Norman, OK Tournament throughout the week
- WTEN hosts the H-E-B Invitational Thursday through Sunday at the Hurd Tennis Center
The biggest news of the fall broke this weekend. Baylor football is under new management with its future still uncertain but many around Waco have hope that McNamee will make the right decision for the program. All that’s left is to ask, “How will Klanderman do at the helm?” and “Who will be Baylor’s next head coach?“
— Jeffrey Cohen
