KEEPING THE FAITH
9/28/2024 11:32:00 PM | Football
Second-half comeback shows the Bears still have plenty of fight
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – Even after two gut-wrenching, shaken-to-your-core losses, Dave Aranda hasn't lost faith or confidence in a Baylor football team that he believes has "talented guys."
After letting one slip out of their grasp in a 38-31 overtime loss at Colorado, the Bears (2-3, 0-2) nearly pulled off a miracle of their own Saturday afternoon at McLane Stadium, coming back from a pair of 21-point deficits against 22nd-ranked BYU (5-0, 2-0) to give themselves a couple chances in the final minutes of the game.
But quarterback Sawyer Robertson missed on a couple passes from the Cougars' 24-yard line to turn it over on downs and then was picked off by safety Crew Wakley on a deep sideline pass intended for Ashtyn Hawkins as the Bears dropped another heartbreaker, 34-28.
"There's a lot of faith in the locker room," Aranda said. "There are a lot of leaders in there, guys that believe, guys that put everything into this. We have a lot of staff and support staff that I see their families every Sunday. And I just know how much they sacrifice and how much it means to them and how special this opportunity is. They fight for that.
"Just to be around your people, you feel empowered by them, and you feel that energy, and that helps propel you through the hard times."
Saturday's game certainly qualified.
Already missing 10-12 players because of a mix of injuries and "off-the-field discipline issues," Baylor lost senior cornerback Lorando "Snaxx" Johnson to an injury on one of the first plays of the game.
"What I would say is, it's next man up," Aranda said. "We've got good players on this team. You've been wanting to play, here's your opportunity to play. I think all of it comes down to execution. I look at BYU, they're missing guys, too, and they executed better than we did."
Missing as many as five starters, the Baylor defense in particular struggled early, giving up touchdowns on BYU's first three series and getting torched for 154 yards in the first quarter. Quarterback Jake Retzlaff was 5-of-6 for 81 yards and two touchdowns in that opening period and also scored on a 17-yard TD run.
"Very frustrating," Aranda said. "In the prep for it, there was a concern for just how familiar they were with everything. . . . For us to be able to have to adjust and call this and call that and call these other things and kind of outsmart the fox, that's always a part of it. But we've got to be able to play our base, regardless of what comes. I'm disappointed we were not able to do that in the first half."
Making it look easy on a seven-play, 75-yard drive, BYU took the early 7-0 lead on Retzlaff's 26-yard TD pass to Miles Davis.
"That was a great start," said BYU head coach Kalani Sitake. "We're capable of doing all those things. We've just got to keep the momentum going. I don't think we have to be perfect. We just have to be efficient as an offense and defense. And when we start playing together, good things happen."
The Cougars' defense made "good things happen" on Baylor's first offensive play of the game, with nose tackle John Nelson batting a Robertson pass that was picked off by defensive tackle Blake Mangelson at the 20-yard line.
Four plays later, receiver Chase Roberts scored from two yards out on a toss back from Retzlaff, pushing the lead to 14-0 just 6 ½ minutes into the game.
The Bears put together a nice drive, moving from their own 25 down to the Cougars' 29, but redshirt freshman running back Bryson Washington was dropped for a two-yard loss by linebacker Isaiah Glasker on fourth-and-one.
The offense put together a nice drive, moving from its own 25 down to the Cougars' 29, but linebacker Isaiah Glasker dropped Bryson Washington for a two-yard loss on fourth-and-one for a turnover on downs.
Other than some designed runs and scrambles by Robertson, Baylor struggled to run the ball all day. Washington and Dominic Richardson combined for just 34 yards on 16 (2.1-yard average).
"That's something we pride ourselves on, being able to run the ball in heavy boxes," tight end Gavin Yates said. "That's something we have to fix and we have to work on this week in practice. That's our responsibility as tight ends that we need to block better in heavy boxes Especially when we see it coming, too."
Safety Caleb Parker broke up an end-around pass from Parker Kingston to tight end Keanu Hill, but BYU stretched its lead to 21-0 one play later on Retzlaff's 17-yard keeper around the left end.
Robertson, who completed 27-of-48 passes for a career-high 324 yards and two touchdowns, put the Bears on the board with a 20-yard run up the middle and then connected with Josh Cameron on a one-yard TD pass that made it a two-score game, 28-14, with a little over two minutes left in the half.
In what amounted to a six-point swing – ultimately the difference in the game – BYU got a 54-yard field goal by Will Ferrin and Baylor freshman Connor Hawkins missed a 50-yarder on the last play of the half, leaving the score at 31-14.
"All the negative things that happened, there was always that belief that we're going to win," Aranda said. "I thought halftime was a great response. There was a lot of truth-telling there."
Baylor opened the second half with an impressive 13-play, 66-yard drive – twice converting on fourth down – and scored on a 15-yard TD pass from Robertson to Ashtyn Hawkins that made it a 10-point game, 31-21.
The Cougars answered with a 13-play drive of their own but had to settle for another Ferrin field goal when the defense stiffened. After piling up 286 yards and averaging 7.5 yards per snap in the first half, BYU had just 81 yards on 31 plays in the second half for a 2.6-yard average.
"I thought Baylor played a lot more assignment-sound and created some turnovers, and they made things really tough on us," Sitake said. "I think you have to give them a lot of credit for that. But I think we made some mistakes along the way, too."
After Ferrin missed a 49-yard field goal attempt, the Bears drove 68 yards in just six plays and made things really interesting when Cameron toe-tapped the sideline on a 23-yard TD grab from Robertson. Cameron finished with career highs for catches (seven), yards (125) and touchdowns (two), while Hal Presley hauled in a career-high eight passes for 82 yards.
"He showed that he's a leader on the field with his play and with his leadership," Yates said of Cameron, "and he was a big spark for the special teams, too. He's an easy person to rally around, and everyone does rally around him."
The Bears' rally came up short with two missed chances in the last two minutes, failing to capitalize on defensive lineman Elinus Noell III's first-career interception and then Robertson getting picked off after a costly holding penalty that wiped out a nine-yard pickup.
"How do we move forward?" Parker said. "I think we put it on tape and see who we are when we are going full speed. We just need to start that way. And I think one thing, too, is finishing the game. That's two weeks in a row where it's come down to the last drive, and we haven't finished."
Baylor will go back on the road to face 18th-ranked Iowa State (4-0, 1-0) at 6:30 p.m. next Saturday, Oct. 5, at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames. The Cyclones remained unbeaten with a 20-0 road victory over the Houston Cougars.
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – Even after two gut-wrenching, shaken-to-your-core losses, Dave Aranda hasn't lost faith or confidence in a Baylor football team that he believes has "talented guys."
After letting one slip out of their grasp in a 38-31 overtime loss at Colorado, the Bears (2-3, 0-2) nearly pulled off a miracle of their own Saturday afternoon at McLane Stadium, coming back from a pair of 21-point deficits against 22nd-ranked BYU (5-0, 2-0) to give themselves a couple chances in the final minutes of the game.
But quarterback Sawyer Robertson missed on a couple passes from the Cougars' 24-yard line to turn it over on downs and then was picked off by safety Crew Wakley on a deep sideline pass intended for Ashtyn Hawkins as the Bears dropped another heartbreaker, 34-28.
"There's a lot of faith in the locker room," Aranda said. "There are a lot of leaders in there, guys that believe, guys that put everything into this. We have a lot of staff and support staff that I see their families every Sunday. And I just know how much they sacrifice and how much it means to them and how special this opportunity is. They fight for that.
"Just to be around your people, you feel empowered by them, and you feel that energy, and that helps propel you through the hard times."
Saturday's game certainly qualified.
Already missing 10-12 players because of a mix of injuries and "off-the-field discipline issues," Baylor lost senior cornerback Lorando "Snaxx" Johnson to an injury on one of the first plays of the game.
"What I would say is, it's next man up," Aranda said. "We've got good players on this team. You've been wanting to play, here's your opportunity to play. I think all of it comes down to execution. I look at BYU, they're missing guys, too, and they executed better than we did."
Missing as many as five starters, the Baylor defense in particular struggled early, giving up touchdowns on BYU's first three series and getting torched for 154 yards in the first quarter. Quarterback Jake Retzlaff was 5-of-6 for 81 yards and two touchdowns in that opening period and also scored on a 17-yard TD run.
"Very frustrating," Aranda said. "In the prep for it, there was a concern for just how familiar they were with everything. . . . For us to be able to have to adjust and call this and call that and call these other things and kind of outsmart the fox, that's always a part of it. But we've got to be able to play our base, regardless of what comes. I'm disappointed we were not able to do that in the first half."
Making it look easy on a seven-play, 75-yard drive, BYU took the early 7-0 lead on Retzlaff's 26-yard TD pass to Miles Davis.
"That was a great start," said BYU head coach Kalani Sitake. "We're capable of doing all those things. We've just got to keep the momentum going. I don't think we have to be perfect. We just have to be efficient as an offense and defense. And when we start playing together, good things happen."
The Cougars' defense made "good things happen" on Baylor's first offensive play of the game, with nose tackle John Nelson batting a Robertson pass that was picked off by defensive tackle Blake Mangelson at the 20-yard line.
Four plays later, receiver Chase Roberts scored from two yards out on a toss back from Retzlaff, pushing the lead to 14-0 just 6 ½ minutes into the game.
The Bears put together a nice drive, moving from their own 25 down to the Cougars' 29, but redshirt freshman running back Bryson Washington was dropped for a two-yard loss by linebacker Isaiah Glasker on fourth-and-one.
The offense put together a nice drive, moving from its own 25 down to the Cougars' 29, but linebacker Isaiah Glasker dropped Bryson Washington for a two-yard loss on fourth-and-one for a turnover on downs.
Other than some designed runs and scrambles by Robertson, Baylor struggled to run the ball all day. Washington and Dominic Richardson combined for just 34 yards on 16 (2.1-yard average).
"That's something we pride ourselves on, being able to run the ball in heavy boxes," tight end Gavin Yates said. "That's something we have to fix and we have to work on this week in practice. That's our responsibility as tight ends that we need to block better in heavy boxes Especially when we see it coming, too."
Safety Caleb Parker broke up an end-around pass from Parker Kingston to tight end Keanu Hill, but BYU stretched its lead to 21-0 one play later on Retzlaff's 17-yard keeper around the left end.
Robertson, who completed 27-of-48 passes for a career-high 324 yards and two touchdowns, put the Bears on the board with a 20-yard run up the middle and then connected with Josh Cameron on a one-yard TD pass that made it a two-score game, 28-14, with a little over two minutes left in the half.
In what amounted to a six-point swing – ultimately the difference in the game – BYU got a 54-yard field goal by Will Ferrin and Baylor freshman Connor Hawkins missed a 50-yarder on the last play of the half, leaving the score at 31-14.
"All the negative things that happened, there was always that belief that we're going to win," Aranda said. "I thought halftime was a great response. There was a lot of truth-telling there."
Baylor opened the second half with an impressive 13-play, 66-yard drive – twice converting on fourth down – and scored on a 15-yard TD pass from Robertson to Ashtyn Hawkins that made it a 10-point game, 31-21.
The Cougars answered with a 13-play drive of their own but had to settle for another Ferrin field goal when the defense stiffened. After piling up 286 yards and averaging 7.5 yards per snap in the first half, BYU had just 81 yards on 31 plays in the second half for a 2.6-yard average.
"I thought Baylor played a lot more assignment-sound and created some turnovers, and they made things really tough on us," Sitake said. "I think you have to give them a lot of credit for that. But I think we made some mistakes along the way, too."
After Ferrin missed a 49-yard field goal attempt, the Bears drove 68 yards in just six plays and made things really interesting when Cameron toe-tapped the sideline on a 23-yard TD grab from Robertson. Cameron finished with career highs for catches (seven), yards (125) and touchdowns (two), while Hal Presley hauled in a career-high eight passes for 82 yards.
"He showed that he's a leader on the field with his play and with his leadership," Yates said of Cameron, "and he was a big spark for the special teams, too. He's an easy person to rally around, and everyone does rally around him."
The Bears' rally came up short with two missed chances in the last two minutes, failing to capitalize on defensive lineman Elinus Noell III's first-career interception and then Robertson getting picked off after a costly holding penalty that wiped out a nine-yard pickup.
"How do we move forward?" Parker said. "I think we put it on tape and see who we are when we are going full speed. We just need to start that way. And I think one thing, too, is finishing the game. That's two weeks in a row where it's come down to the last drive, and we haven't finished."
Baylor will go back on the road to face 18th-ranked Iowa State (4-0, 1-0) at 6:30 p.m. next Saturday, Oct. 5, at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames. The Cyclones remained unbeaten with a 20-0 road victory over the Houston Cougars.
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