• Baylor hosts BYU Saturday at McLane Stadium for the 97th Homecoming game in school history.
• Baylor's Homecoming parade (8 am Saturday) is the nation's largest. BU held its first Homecoming in 1909, the nation's first of its kind, with a parade, bonfire and pep rally centered around a football game.
• Baylor is 1-1 all-time vs. BYU with a 40-36 win in Waco (1983) and a 47-13 loss in Provo (1984).
• Baylor is 5-1 or better at the halfway point for the 6th time in the last 9 seasons (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2021). Prior to that stretch, the last time BU was 5-1 or better after six games was 1994.
• BU rolled up 525 yards of offense on its way to a 45-20 win over West Virginia on Saturday, bouncing back from its only loss of the season at now-No. 12-ranked Oklahoma State (Oct. 2).
• BU beat No. 14 Iowa State on Sept. 25 for its first ranked win since 2015. Saturday's game against No. 19 BYU will be the third top-20 opponent the Bears will have faced in the last four weeks.
• Baylor leads the Big 12 in turnover margin (+1.0), most interceptions (8) and fewest interceptions thrown (0). Baylor and Ole Miss are the nation's only teams to not throw an interception this season.
• Baylor is 1 of 3 Power-5 teams ranked top-25 nationally in scoring offense and scoring defense (BU, Georgia, Michigan). BU is 22nd in scoring defense (17.8) and 17th in scoring offense (38.3).
• Baylor ranks 5th nationally with 11 fourth-down conversions, including 6 times in its own territory.
• Baylor's offense leads the Big 12 and ranks 6th nationally, averaging 7.32 yards per play.
• BU is 16th nationally (10th in P5) with 227.6 rushing ypg after ranking 123rd last season (90.3 ypg).
• Baylor ranks 12th nationally in both pass efficiency (168.31) and pass defense efficiency (108.50).
• Six different Baylor players have intercepted passes this season, accounting for a Big 12-best 8 INTs.
• BU's defense ranks 7th in the Power-5 with only 175.0 passing yards allowed per game.
• BU has forced twice as many turnovers (27) as it has allowed (13) in 15 games under Dave Aranda.
• Baylor's O-Line has allowed only 1.0 sacks per game, which ranks 12th nationally (5th in Power-5).
• Gerry Bohanon and Matt Corral are the nation's only QBs with 1,000+ passing yards and 0 interceptions.
• Bohanon is 1 of 3 players (Matt Corral, Malik Willis) with 6+ rushing TDs and 10+ passing TDs.

ADDITIONAL STORYLINES
• This is only the third time Baylor has faced a non-conference opponent for Homecoming – 1977 (38-7 win vs. Air Force) and 1992 (31-27 win vs. Georgia Tech).
• Baylor is 48-44-4 all-time in Homecoming games, including 9-1 in Homecoming games since 2010.
• Baylor is seeking its second win over a ranked opponent this season – it would mark the first time BU has defeated two ranked teams in the first 7 games of a season since 1985 (at No. 3 USC, at No. 16 SMU).
• Baylor returned 17 of 22 starters and 54 of 68 letterman from last season's team.
• The Bears welcomed four new assistant coaches for 2021 – Jeff Grimes (Offensive Coordinator/TEs), Eric Mateos (Offensive Line), Chansi Stuckey (Wide Receivers) and Kevin Curtis (Cornerbacks).
• The Bears added a pair of experienced O-Line transfers with Jacob Gall (13 starts at Buffalo) and Grant Miller (16 starts at Vanderbilt). Four members of the O-Line now have a combined 99 career starts.
• BU returned 7 starters on offense, led by OL Connor Galvin and Xavier Newman-Johnson now with 29 starts apiece.
• Baylor's defense returned 10 starters from a unit which allowed only 203.0 passing yards per game last season, second-best in the Big 12. BU has allowed 175.0 passing ypg in 6 games this year (16th-fewest in FBS).
• Baylor's five starting defensive backs have a combined 205 career games played and 105 career starts. CB Raleigh Texada has a team-high 35 career starts, including each of the last 29 games.
• BU is playing its 120th season of football and holds a 614-585-44 (.512) all-time record. Baylor has scored in a school-record 180-straight games - doubling the previous record of 89 games from Dec. 31, 1979 - Oct. 23, 1987.

BAYLOR SET FOR 97TH HOMECOMING CELEBRATION
• Baylor plays its 97th Homecoming game Saturday, marking the 112th anniversary of its first Homecoming in 1909.
• Baylor holds the nation's largest Homecoming Parade and has a claim as the nation's first school to celebrate Homecoming. Historians differ on the Homecoming definition, but Baylor held a two-day event in November 1909 that included a bonfire, pep rally and parade centered around a football game, the nation's first of its kind.
• The Homecoming event became annual in 1924 when the name was changed from "Good Will Week."
• The Bears are 48-44-4 in Homecoming contests, including a 12-12 record in the Big 12 era. Baylor's first Homecoming game was a 6-3 win over TCU in 1909, and TCU is the most common opponent (35 games).
• Baylor has played a Homecoming game every season since 1924, with the exception of two years during World War II when BU didn't field a team (1943-44) and when the 2020 game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

GRIMES BRINGS RVO TO WACO
• Offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes has brought RVO to Waco - "Reliable Violent Offense" - an attacking, multiple-formation offense that runs a few plays a lot of ways with as much misdirection as any team in the country.
• Under Grimes, Baylor's offense leads the Big 12 in yards per play (7.31), yards per rush (6.01) and fewest sacks allowed (1.0/game) and ranks 3rd in the league in total offense (461.3 ypg) and rushing offense (227.5 ypg).
• Baylor and Ole Miss are the nation's only teams which haven't thrown an interception this season.
• Grimes' 2020 BYU offense finished 3rd nationally in scoring (43.5 ppg) and 7th in total offense (522.2 ypg).
• Joining Grimes in making the move from Provo to Waco was offensive line coach Eric Mateos, who spent the past two seasons at BYU. Mateos' offensive line ranked 8th nationally in 2020 with 1.0 sacks allowed per game, and the Bears currently rank tied for 12th nationally with only 1.0 sacks allowed per game in 2021.

FOURTH DOWN SUCCESS
• Baylor leads the Big 12 with 11 fourth-down conversions, three more than any other team in the league (WVU-8).
• BU is 11-of-14 on fourth downs (79%), the nation's 4th-best conversion rate among teams with 10+ attempts.
• BU's only failed fourth-down attempts were 4th-and-17 at Texas State and 4th-and-4 and 4th-and-10 at OSU.
• BU has gone 6-for-7 on 4th downs in its own territory, converting 4th-and-1 (own 34) at TXST, 4th-and-3 (own 37) vs. TXSO, 4th-and-3 (own 46) at KU, 4th-and-2 (own 45) at OSU, 4th-and-1 (own 34) vs. WVU and 4th-and-1 (own 37) vs. WVU. The only failed attempt in its own territory was 4th-and-4 (own 36) at OSU.
• Of the 7 fourth-down attempts in its own territory, the six conversions have led to 31 points for Baylor's offense, while the BU defense forced a 3-and-out punt immediately after the lone failed attempt.

BEARS HAVE 5-1 RECORD AT HALFWAY POINT
• Baylor is 5-1 or better at the halfway point for the 6th time in the last 9 seasons. BU won 5+ games in the first half in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2021. Prior to that stretch, the last time the Bears did so was 1994.
• Baylor has also won at least 3 of its first 4 Big 12 games for the 6th time in the last 9 seasons. Prior to 2013, BU was 3-1 or better in Big 12 play only twice in the league's first 17 seasons (2006, 2010).

RANKED IN 9 OF LAST 12 SEASONS
• With its No. 21 ranking in the Sept. 26 AP Top 25, Baylor has now been ranked in the AP Top 25 in 9 of 12 seasons since 2010, after going 17 years between national rankings (1993-2010).
• The Bears climbed from receiving no votes in the AP poll in any of the first three weeks to No. 21 after their win over No. 14 Iowa State on Sept. 25. The win was Baylor's first over a ranked opponent since 2015.
• Baylor is listed third among others receiving votes (28th) in the most recent AP Top 25.