• Baylor hosts Iowa State at 2:30 pm CT Saturday in the Bears' first Big 12 home game this season.
• Saturday's game matches the Big 12's top two teams in scoring defense and total yardage defense.
• The Bears are 10-9 all-time vs. the Cyclones, including a 6-3 mark in Waco.
• Baylor looks to start 4-0 for the 6th time in 9 seasons since 2013 (2013-16, 2019).
• BU's defense limited Kansas to 166 yards of total offense, the fewest yards allowed by the Bears in a conference game since a 34-3 win over Arkansas in 1990 Southwest Conference play (125 yards).
• BU's defense has held consecutive opponents to single-digit scoring for the first time since 2014.
• Baylor's defense has held 3-straight opponents below 300 yards for the 2nd time since 1996 (2019).
• Baylor has rushed for 964 yards and 11 TDs, already passing last season's totals (813 yards, 8 TDs).
• BU has rushed for 300+ yards in consecutive games for the first time since 2015.
• Abram Smith is the first BU player with 3-straight 100-yard rushing games since Shock Linwood (2015). BU has had 3 players combine for six 100-yard rushing performances over the first 3 games.
• Trestan Ebner leads all active FBS running backs with 1,295 receiving yards. He ranks 16th among active FBS players (6th in Power-5) with 3,286 career all-purpose yards (10th-most in BU history).
• Baylor ranked 16th nationally in turnover margin (0.89) last season. The Bears have 22 takeaways in 12 games under Dave Aranda (15 INTs, 7 FRs) and have committed only 12 turnovers (8 INT, 4 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 111.0 passing ypg in 3 games this year.
• The Bears' five starting defensive backs have a combined 192 career games played and 92 career starts. CB Raleigh Texada leads all BU returners with 32 career starts (26-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 87 career starts.
• Baylor ranks 2nd in the FBS with 28 college graduates on its 2021 preseason roster (Illinois-29).
• Baylor has 81 wins since 2011, 3rd-most in the state of Texas behind only A&M (87) 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 26 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 559 ypg in its first 3 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 612-584-44 (.511) all-time record. Baylor has scored in a school-record 177 straight games - the previous record was 89 games from Dec. 31, 1979 - Oct. 23, 1987.

BATTLE OF BIG 12'S TOP DEFENSES
• Baylor and Iowa State are the Big 12's top two defenses in both scoring defense and total yardage defense.
• Baylor leads the Big 12 in scoring defense (11.3 ppg), while Iowa State is 2nd (13.3 ppg).
• Iowa State leads the league in total yardage defense (192.7 ypg), while Baylor ranks 2nd (227.3 ypg).
• BU leads the league in pass defense (111.0 ypg), while Iowa State ranks 2nd (143.3 ypg).
• BU also leads the league in pass efficiency defense (85.7) and opponent 3rd-down conversion percentage (29.0).
• ISU has the Big 12's top rushing defense (49.3 ypg), while Baylor has the Big 12's top rushing offense (321.3 ypg).

LOOKING TO START 4-0 FOR 6TH TIME IN LAST 9 SEASONS
• Baylor looks to start 4-0 for the 6th time in 9 seasons since 2013. BU started 4-0 in 2013-16 and 2019.
• BU went 22-straight seasons without starting 4-0 (1991-2012) before starting 4-0 in 5 of the last 8 seasons.
• Baylor is also looking to start 2-0 in Big 12 play for the 6th time in the last 9 seasons since 2013. BU started 2-0 in Big 12 Conference play only once in the league's first 17 seasons (1996-2012).

FOURTH DOWN SUCCESS
• Baylor leads the Big 12 with 6 fourth-down conversions this season. The Bears are 6-of-7 on fourth downs, and the only failed fourth-down attempt was on 4th-and-17 in the final minutes of the win at Texas State.
• The Bears have gone 3-for-3 on fourth downs in their own territory, converting once in each game – 4th-and-1 from own 34 at TXST, 4th-and-3 from own 37 vs. TXSO and 4th-and-3 from own 46 at Kansas.
• BU has punted only once when facing 4th-and-5 or less this season, and that was when facing 4th-and-3 from its own 43 while leading 24-13 in the 4th quarter at Texas State.

BEARS AMONG BIG 12'S BEST DEFENSES
• Baylor's defense leads the Big 12 in scoring defense (11.3 ppg), passing defense (111.0), pass efficiency defense (85.7), 3rd-down conversion percentage (29.0) and defensive touchdowns (2).
• Baylor's defense has allowed only 180.0 passing yards per game in 12 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 Kansas to 57 passing yards, the 2nd-fewest by a BU defense in Big 12 play in the last 20 seasons, eclipsed only by the 54 passing yards allowed to Texas in the 2013 de-facto Big 12 Championship game.

DEFENSE SHUTS DOWN KANSAS IN BIG 12 OPENER
• Baylor's defense turned in a record-breaking performance in the Bears' 45-7 win at Kansas on Sept. 18.
• BU's defense allowed only 166 yards of total offense, its fewest in 211 all-time Big 12 Conference games.
• BU led 14-7 at halftime, then out-scored Kansas 31-0 and allowed only 66 yards in the 2nd half.
• The Bears limited back-to-back opponents to single-digit scoring for the first time since 2014 and held 3-straight opponents below 300 yards of total offense for the second time in the Big 12 era (since 1996).

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.

TWO-FOR-ONE IN TURNOVER BATTLE
• BU has forced nearly twice as many turnovers as it has allowed in 12 games under head coach Dave Aranda.
• The Bears have 22 takeaways (15 INTs, 7 FR) and only 12 giveaways (8 INTs, 4 FL) in 12 games under Aranda.
• BU 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.

MILESTONES TO WATCH
• Trestan Ebner needs 217 all-purpose yards to tie Antwan Goodley (3,533) for 9th on Baylor's all-time list.
• Ebner needs 92 rushing yards to become the 34th BU player with 1,300+ career rushing yards.
• Ebner (1,295) and R.J. Sneed (1,251) are racing to become BU's 25th player with 1,300 career receiving yards.
• Tyquan Thornton needs 6 receptions to become the 22nd player in program history with 100+ career receptions, joining teammates Ebner (104) and Sneed (101).
• Thornton needs 26 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 59 rushing yards to tie Cody Carlson (424) for 9th-most rushing yards by a QB in BU history.

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.
• The Earle, Ark., native leads the Big 12 in pass efficiency (176.11) and is 2nd in the league in total offense TDs (8).
• In his last 2 games, Bohanon has combined to go 36-of-46 for 516 passing yards and 5 passing TDs.
• The offensive line has kept Bohanon off the ground, not allowing any sacks on his 70 pass attempts this season.

POTENT GROUND ATTACK
• Baylor leads the Big 12 with 321.3 rushing yards per game, 80 yards more per game than any other team. BU also leads the league in yards per rush (7.25) and is tied for the league lead in rushing TDs (11).
• The Bears have rushed for 964 yards and 11 TDs, already passing last season's totals (813 yards, 8 TDs).
• Baylor and Auburn are the nation's only teams with two players averaging 100+ rushing yards per game. Abram Smith ranks 2nd in the Big 12 with 122.0 rush ypg, while Trestan Ebner is 4th in the league with 105.7 rush ypg.
• Smith is top-10 nationally in rushing yards (10th, 366), rushing yards per carry (9th, 7.8) and rushing TDs (9th, 5).
• Three BU running backs have combined for six 100-yard rushing efforts in its first 3 games, after not having any 100-yard rushers during the 2020 season.
• Smith (122) had his 3rd-straight 100-yard rushing game at Kansas on Sept. 18, becoming Baylor's first player with 3-consecutive 100-yard rushing games since Shock Linwood in 2015.
• Smith (126), 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.

EBNER AN ALL-PURPOSE WEAPON
• Baylor fifth-year senior do-everything-back Trestan Ebner has been an all-purpose weapon throughout his BU career whether on the ground, through the air or on special teams. He was 4th in the Big 12 in APY/gm (116.3) last season.
• Ebner has 3,286 career all-purpose yards, trailing only JD Spielman (TCU - 4,035) among active Big 12 Conference players, and ranking 16th among active FBS players (6th in Power-5 conferences).
• In 2020, Ebner had 1,047 all-purpose yards and a team-high 6 touchdowns. Ebner was third on the team with 26 receptions and second with 299 receiving yards. His 6 TDs came rushing (1), receiving (3) and on kick returns (2).
• The senior ranks first in BU history among running backs in receiving yards (1,295) and receiving touchdowns (10) and second in receptions (104). He trails only Brandon Whitaker (120 receptions, 2003-07) in receptions by a RB.