• Baylor travels to Lawrence to face Kansas in both teams' Big 12 opener at 2:30 pm CT Saturday.
• The Bears are 16-4 all-time vs. the Jayhawks, including 11-straight wins by an average of 48-12.
• Baylor is 7-1 in Big 12 openers since 2013 and 11-14 all-time in Big 12 openers.
• BU is coming off a 66-7 win over Texas Southern, the Bears' most points in a game since 2015.
• Baylor looks to start 3-0 for the 8th time in 11 seasons since 2011 (2011-16, 2019).
• Baylor's defense had its streak of games with an INT snapped at 6-straight, but the Bears have averaged 1.4 interceptions per game under head coach
Dave Aranda and DC
Ron Roberts.
• BU has had 3 players combine for 5 100-yard rushing performances over the first two games.
Abram Smith and
Trestan Ebner have both rushed for 118+ in each of the first two games.
•
Taye McWilliams had 102 rushing yards Saturday, giving BU 3 100-yd rushers for the first time since 2015.
• Ebner leads all active FBS running backs with 1,295 receiving yards. He is the first player in program history with both 1,000 career rushing yards (1,136) and 1,000 career receiving yards (1,295).
•
JT Woods has scored TDs for BU's defense in each of the first two games. He had a 20-yard Pick-6 for the Bears' first points of the season, then had a school-record 97-yard fumble return TD vs. TXSO.
• Baylor ranked 16th nationally in turnover margin (0.89) last season. The Bears have 21 takeaways in 11 games under Aranda (15 INTs, 6 FRs) and have committed only 10 turnovers (8 INT, 2 FUM).
• The Bears' 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 138.0 passing ypg in 2 games this year.
• The Bears' five starting defensive backs have a combined 187 career games played and 87 career starts. CB
Raleigh Texada leads all BU returners with 31 career starts (25-consecutive).
• 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 have a combined 83 career starts.
• Baylor ranks 2nd in the FBS with 28 college graduates on its 2021 preseason roster (Illinois-29).
• Baylor has 80 wins since 2011, 3rd-most in the state of Texas behind only A&M (86) and TCU (82).
ADDITIONAL STORYLINES
• 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).
• BU returned 7 starters on offense, led by OL
Connor Galvin and Xavier-Newman Johnson with 25 starts apiece.
• 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.
• BU has averaged 550 ypg in its first two games under Grimes, including 714 yards vs. TXSO, its most since 2015.
• 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 is 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.
• BU is playing its 120th season of football and holds a 611-584-44 (.511) all-time record. Baylor has scored in a school-record 176 straight games - the previous record was 89 games from Dec. 31, 1979 - Oct. 23, 1987.
LOOKING TO START 3-0 FOR 8TH TIME IN LAST 11 SEASONS
• Baylor looks to start 3-0 for the 8th time in 11 seasons since 2011. BU started 3-0 in 2011-16 and 2019.
• Prior to starting 3-0 in 7 of the last 10 seasons, BU started 3-0 only twice in the Big 12's first 15 seasons.
• In the nine seasons since 1996 when the Bears started 3-0, they posted a combined 77-37 record. In the 16 seasons when BU lost at least one of its first three games, the Bears combined to go 51-134 record.
OFFENSE PUTS UP BIG NUMBERS IN WIN OVER TEXAS SOUTHERN
• Baylor won 66-7 over Texas Southern on Sept. 11, scoring the most points for a BU team since Oct. 10, 2015.
• The Bears' 419 rushing yards on 43 carries gave them their highest yards-per-carry (9.74) since Sept. 12, 2008.
• Baylor's 714 total yards tied the 12th-most in program history and were the most since Dec. 29, 2015.
•
Gerry Bohanon accounted for five TDs, the most by a Baylor QB since Seth Russell on Dec. 3, 2016.
MILESTONES TO WATCH
•
Trestan Ebner needs 109 all-purpose yards to tie Tevin Reese (3,261) for 10th on Baylor's all-time list.
• Ebner also needs 5 receiving yards to become the 25th player in program history with 1,300+ receiving yards (first RB) and 64 rushing yards to become the 36th BU player with 1,200+ career rushing yards.
• Two Baylor receivers are racing to become the 21st player in program history with 100+ career receptions – RJ Sneed needs 5 receptions and
Tyquan Thornton needs 9 receptions.
•
Tyquan Thornton needs 57 receiving yards to become 19th player in BU history with 1500+ receiving yards.
•
Terrel Bernard needs 1 sack to become the 13th player in program history with 11.0+ career sacks.
•
Gerry Bohanon needs 32 rushing yards to move into the top-10 on Baylor's career rushing yards by a QB list.
TWO-FOR-ONE IN TURNOVER BATTLE
• BU has forced more than twice as many turnovers as it has allowed in 11 games under head coach
Dave Aranda.
• The Bears have 21 takeaways (15 INTs, 6 FR) and only 10 giveaways (8 INTs, 2 FL) in 11 games under Aranda.
• BU has scored defensive TDs in consecutive games for the first time since 2013 –
JT Woods had a 20-yard Pick-6 in the season-opener at Texas State, then had a school-record 97-yard fumble return TD vs. Texas Southern.
BEARS LEADING BIG 12 IN PASS DEFENSE
• The Bears lead the Big 12 in 2021, allowing 138.0 passing yards per game and 84.7 pass defense efficiency.
• Baylor's defense has allowed only 191.2 passing yards per game in 11 games under head coach
Dave Aranda.
• Three Baylor DBs picked off passes in the Sept. 4 win at Texas State –
JT Woods,
Jalen Pitre and
Jairon McVea.
• The Bears held Texas Southern to 120 passing yards, the second-fewest in a game in two years under Aranda.
BOHANON STEPS INTO STARTING ROLE
• Baylor fourth-year junior QB
Gerry Bohanon (2020 graduate) made his career-first start in the season opener.
• Bohanon joined Bryce Petty (2013) as the only Baylor QBs in the last 20 years to make their career-first starts and lead the Bears to a win in a season opener. Bohanon went 15-of-24 for 148 passing yards in his debut.
• In his second career start, Bohanon accounted for 5 TDs, going 17-of-23 for 247 passing yards and 3 TDs and adding 27 rushing yards and 2 TDs on 5 carries. He's also avoided taking a sack in either start.
TRIO OF 100-YARD RUSHERS
• Baylor has had three different running backs combine for five 100-yard rushing efforts in its first two games, after not having any 100-yard rushers during the 2019 season.
• The Bears have rushed for 657 yards through two games, only 156 yards shy of last season's total (813).
•
Abram Smith (126),
Trestan Ebner (125) and
Taye McWilliams (102) all posted career-high rushing yardages in the Sept. 11 win over Texas Southern. It was Baylor's first game with three 100-yard rushers since Sept. 12, 2015.
• Ebner (120) and Smith (118) both opened the season with 100-yard games at Texas State on Sept. 4.
