By Bennett Parker | Sports Writer
Baylor was riding high through the bye week. It rolled into the matchup against TCU on a four-game win streak capped off with a rout of Arizona State. Head coach Dave Aranda was calling out the doubters, and the offense found its groove, but the confidence quickly came crashing down.
Baylor (4-2, 2-1 Big 12) suffered a 17-6 loss to rival TCU over the weekend as the offensive shortcomings were ’embarrassing,’ but the Bears have no choice but to turn their attention to what is ahead. Aranda and his players are taking responsibility and focusing on the upcoming road trip.
“[We’re] moving on from the disappointment Saturday night,” Aranda said. “It’s been a lot of work to look at the film and identify stuff that has to get fixed.”
The loss tainted the hot start to the season, but the Bears still have six games ahead of them with plenty of chances to prove themselves down the stretch.
“It’s absolutely challenging,” fifth-year defensive end Kyler Jordan said. “It’s more about looking forward, fixing the things that we didn’t do right, but also still putting a foot forward. … We’ve got to go into Saturday playing with confidence; we can’t let it beat us down.”
Baylor had two weeks to prepare for the crucial rivalry game, but the offense came up short, getting shut out for three of the four quarters and failing to reach the endzone.
The stagnant play stunned the Bears, but fifth-year wide receiver Jayden McGowan said the group is ready to right those wrongs before it hits the road.
“Our offense, we’re going to bounce back,” fifth-year wide receiver Jayden McGowan said. “We really don’t know what happened. We just got to do better; maybe we got a little complacent over the bye week. … We’re going to make sure that we can have great days back-to-back and that we’re going to fix this stuff.”
One of the most notable issues was the offensive line. The unit was overhauled in the offseason and has struggled to catch its footing throughout the season, but it reached a new low against TCU.
The run game never got established, mustering 1.6 yards per carry. The pocket also quickly collapsed on junior quarterback DJ Lagway for four sacks, making it difficult to move the ball up the field. However, the Bears still have faith in their teammates.
“Our offensive line and run blocking and pass blocking are the key contributors,” Aranda said. “A lot of our offensive linemen really struggled in the game. … I take responsibility for our offensive front not being where they need to be. You go back to spring and just the issues there. It’s something that is of great urgency to get fixed.”
The offensive line knows that its performance has not been up to par, but the offense still puts its confidence in that unit to turn things around.
“We have so much confidence in our O-line,” McGowan said. “They worked hard today at practice. Everyone feels like they let each other down … so we trust them, and we know they’re going to do what they have to do.”
While the loss to the Horned Frogs exposed multiple gaps in the Bears’ game, they are still confident in what they have accomplished so far, including their best start since 2021.
“Ever since I’ve been here for the last five years, it’s still the best start to a season that we’ve had,” Jordan said.
Baylor heads north to take on Kansas with a noon kickoff Saturday at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas.
