Lagway Stars in 55-19 Rout at Arizona State

Saturday, October 3

Tempe, Ariz.

9:30 p.m.

Baylor

4-1 , 2-0

Arizona State

2-2 , 1-1

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Baylor	14	10	21	10	55
Arizona St.	3	10	3	3	19

Game Book (PDF)Postgame Notes

Louis Brown IV celebrates in at Arizona State win

Lagway Stars in 55-19 Rout at Arizona State

10/3/2026 11:24:00 PM | Football

Box Score Game Book (PDF)Season Stats (PDF)Baylor Notes (PDF)

TEMPE, Ariz. -- DJ Lagway threw for a career-high four touchdowns and rushed for another, as Baylor football won its fourth straight game in a rout at Arizona State, handing the Sun Devils just their third loss in the last 15 games, in front of 54,063 on Saturday night at Mountain America Stadium.

Baylor (4-1, 2-0 Big 12 Conference) won its fourth straight, this time in dominating fashion, cruising past Arizona State (2-2, 1-1 Big 12) with a prolific offensive attack and a traditionally stingy defensive effort.

The Bears built an early 21-6 lead, owning a 24-13 margin in a halftime, before exploding for a 45-16 lead in the middle of the third quarter. A pair of TDs sandwiched a couple of ASU field goals as the Bears extended the lead to the final margin, 55-19.

Got the job done 🙌 #SicEm https://t.co/7NK5raU7lt
— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) October 4, 2026

It marked just the third loss for ASU at home in its last 15 games, and stretched Baylor's win streak to four straight, with its lone loss coming in an attempted game-winning, two-point conversion attempt in the Aflac Kickoff Game in Atlanta vs. Auburn.

The Bears rolled to 564 yards, including 320 passing and 244 rushing. Baylor threw for four TDs and rushed for three, while holding ASU to just 409 yards of total offense, including 99 rushing. Baylor's 55 points marked the most for BU in a conference game since a rout at Texas Tech in 2024.

With five straight foes held to 20 points or less, it marked the longest such streak to open the season since 1966, when the Bears held six straight to 20 or less to open the year. This also marked the longest streak of consecutive games holding an opponent to 20 points or less since 1986.

Lagway, a native of Willis, Texas, was 25-for-40 for 306 yards with four TDs, adding an 11-yard rushing TD in the second half. He found four different receivers for TDs, including Louis Brown IV, Jadon Porter, Tony Livingston and Hawkins Polley.

Dimes. @DerekLagway ➡️ @PorterJadon #SicEm https://t.co/xyanHgE3lz
— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) October 4, 2026

He found the nation's leading receiver, Gavin Freeman, seven times for 115 yards, the third game Freeman has gone over 100 yards in 2026. Brown IV had six catches for 68 yards and a TD, with Porter adding three grabs for 52 yards and a score.

On the ground, freshman Ryelan Morris and sophomore Caden Knighten collected lengthy touchdown runs, with Morris punching it in from 63 yards out, as part of nine carries for 84 yards, and Knighten taking one 75 yards, adding six carries for 84 yards. Michael Turner had 51 yards on the ground and Dawson Pendergrass added eight carries for 29 yards.

The Baylor defense was its usual stingy self, totaling three sacks and six TFLs after entering the game ranked in the nation's top six in each category. Cornerback Devon Jordan had a career-best 11 tackles and a pass break-up, while Kaleb Burns chipped in a career-best seven tackles. Daniel Cobbs and Travion Barnes each had sacks, with Traevon Mitchell and Ryan Davis each adding half a sack. A native of Phoenix, Ariz., Davis picked off his first career pass and finished with two tackles. Tyler Turner forced a fumble, one of two that the Bears recovered, including recoveries from Barnes and Stilton McKelvey.

"YEAHHHHHH, WOOOOOOOO!" - CDA https://t.co/AZCIeYL5hk
— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) October 4, 2026

The nation's best punter, Palmer Williams had three boots for a 62.7-yard average, including a 72-yarder. Kicker Rhett Armstrong was 2-for-3 with makes from 36 and 23.

Baylor will return to action on Oct. 17, hosting TCU at McLane Stadium.

The teams traded stops on their first drive and ASU opened the scoring on its second chance, getting a 46-yard field goal from Carson Smith to cap a nine-play, 57-yard drive that featured a 29-yard pitch-and-catch from Cutter Boley to Cardae Mack.

Baylor answered on its next possession, using a 63-yard TD run from Ryelan Morris on its second play to take a 7-3 lead with 9:13 left in the first quarter. It was a career-long rush for Morris and his first career TD.

The Bears stretched the lead to 14-3 on a Lagway find to Livingston from three yards out. It capped a nine-play, 72-yard drive with 3:01 left in the first.

The lead grew to 21-3 with 14:10 left in the second quarter after Lagway capped a 64-yard drive with a 10-yard scoring strike to Brown.

ASU cut the lead to 21-6 on a 32-yard field goal with 9:59 left in the half, as the Baylor defense stiffened to force a field-goal attempt.

The Sun Devils cut the lead to 21-13 with 1:51 left in the second quarter on a Cutter Boley TD strike to Omarion Miller.

Baylor drove 57 yards on 10 plays to end the half on a Rhett Armstrong 36-yard field goal, taking a 24-13 lead into the half. The Bears held a 299-238 margin in yards in the first half, including a 116-45 mark in rushing yards. ASU had 193 yards passing to BU's 183. The Bears were 6-of-9 in the first half on third downs.

The Bears immediately took the opening kickoff in the second half and marched 77 yards on nine plays to take a 31-13 lead. Lagway found Hawkins Polley for his first TD catch of the year on a three-yard strike.

Baylor's Ryan Davis picked off a Boley pass on the following drive, setting it up on the ASU 40-yard line. This led to a TD drive over five plays, with Lagway finding Porter from eight yards out for his second TD of the year.

RYAN DAVIS, THE HOMETOWN KID, COMES UP WITH THE INT 💥 https://t.co/VNulrc9yB0
— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) October 4, 2026

A 36-yard field goal from Smith cut the lead to 38-16 with 4:48 left in the third.

Baylor responded with a 75-yard TD rush from Caden Knighten on its first play on the ensuing drive. That made the lead 45-16 with 4:31 left in the third quarter and marked the second rushing TD of the year for Knighten, a sophomore out of Pauls Valley, Okla.

Coming atcha 👀 https://t.co/CbShgENGIr
— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) October 4, 2026

Smith hit a field goal from 40 yards out to cut the lead to 46-19 with 11:36 left.

Lagway added an 11-yard TD run in the fourth quarter, capping a 49-yard drive, and Armstrong drilled a 23-yarder with 3:50 left for the final margin.

- BaylorBears.com -

Post-Game Press Conference Quotes

Baylor Head Coach Dave Aranda Postgame:
On what progress he saw from the offensive line and the overall run game:
"I thought they played confident. They played with an edge. I thought that Arizona State was a pretty static front prior to this game, a lot of movement. Every team we're playing was moving, twisting, and stunning. That was the majority of our issues. So to play a team that was more static allowed us to get some confidence. We were able to pick it up better and the confidence helped."

On the team's first Big 12 road game win since 2024 season:
"It's a good win. The guys are excited in that locker room, so we just have to handle success. So that's a whole different thing from handling negative stuff."

On what the win means for them with a bye next week:
"I keep feeding them the negative stuff because I think that's just that's energy. I think there's so many dudes in there that have just been doubted their whole life. We've got receivers that are undersized that play tough. We got Slug (Traevon Mitchell) who's undersized that plays tough. the whole group is like that. In the past, I probably didn't use the negative stuff enough. I would just kind of absorb it and carry it, but turning it into energy is something that we're doing and the guys are feeding into it."

On what (P) Palmer Williams does for the defense:
"He had some moonshots. We were close as a pin. I think he mis-hit one, and it rolled. That's when you know you're good, when you mis-hit it and it still rolls forward, you get the yardage on the punt. He is a weapon, and he's confident, and he's really feeling it. That gives us the ability to be aggressive when we're backed up, because we know that we can flip the field if it doesn't work out."

On if his words during halftime motivated the team going into the second half:
"We talk about how the scores are distractions, no matter what the score is. If you're focused on the score, you're not present in the moment. You're at your best when you're present in the moment. So we've talked about that from the very beginning. I think prior to this game, we've kind of have not been so great at that. We've looked at the score. We've learned from those times because this group right here was very much into the game. I would start to walk over and they would know what I was going to say, and they would say it to me. It's almost like you have to go through that to get to this."

Baylor Defensive End Ryan Davis
On how it felt getting an interception in his hometown:
"It was surreal. I grew up with a Pat Tillman jersey hanging in my living room, and grew up a huge ASU fan. So to be playing in that stadium, it was nuts. And then to be able to get a pick, God's blessed me."

Baylor Safety Tyler Turner
On how the defense approaches a short break off the field:
" We approach it like anything else. You know that balls to the walls. I don't know if I could say that, but we go hard no matter what. We're just giving effort. That's how we're coached. That's how we're going to play. No matter how many plays that were out, how many plays that were off, it's just going to play hard. It's our goal."

Baylor Quarterback D.J. Lagway
On how the run game impacted the offense
"I feel like offensively we played complementary football. We ran the ball well. We threw the ball well. We blocked well. We played good on situational downs. It was just all around good football. I'm just blessed to be around amazing guys, amazing coaches. It's just a blessing to be here."

Baylor Wide Receiver Gavin Freeman
On if Baylor came into this game with something to prove
"Every week we have something to prove. Everybody's always got something to say. We just have to play for ourselves because that's all we're doing. Play for our teammates, and if we do that, we're gonna be really successful. That's the only thing it comes down to at the end of day, playing for each other."