'‘WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE’
9/5/2026 11:14:00 PM | Football
Bears’ defense records five sacks, three picks in 17-16 loss to Auburn
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
ATLANTA – Living up to its hype, Baylor's defense recorded five sacks and 11 tackles for loss and created enough chaos up front to force Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown into his first-ever three-interception game Saturday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
While the Bears (0-1) came up inches short on a two-point conversion pass from DJ Lagway to Matthew Klopfenstein with nine seconds left in a 17-16 loss, head coach Dave Aranda said the defense was "who we thought they were."
"In the spring and fall, that was them," Aranda said. "A lot of pressure, a lot of tackles for loss, a lot of sacks. And I think some of the pressure forced throws that were eventually picked off. I think it all starts up front for us. It was good to see the active linebackers and safeties. A few missed tackles on their sideline that I wish we could have taken back, but outside of that, I thought it was clean for the first game."
In last year's 38-24, season-opening loss at home to Auburn, the defense gave up 307 yards rushing, including 137 yards and two touchdowns by quarterback Jackson Arnold. This time, facing a Joe Klanderman defense, the Tigers netted 130 yards on the ground as a team and USF transfer QB Byrum Brown lost 23 yards on five sacks and picked up just 27 yards on 21 carries.
Brown also had a streak of consecutive games with a touchdown pass and TD run snapped at eight, finishing 26-of-35 for 259 yards and no touchdowns with three interceptions.
"It felt really good to put it all together on the field," said junior safety Micah Gifford, who had his second-career pick and first since last year's game against Samford. "We've been just putting in so much work, just been in the lab with (Klanderman). Just everyone on the defense putting in their all, doing their 1/11th. And it just felt good to be able to see it on the paper and see the results."
While Baylor's offense squandered some scoring chances with two turnovers and a missed field goal on its first three drives, the defense did its part in keeping the Bears in the game by forcing three punts and coming up with interceptions by cornerbacks Reggie Bush and Oklahoma transfer Devon Jordan to keep the score at 10-7 going into halftime.
"This team has the potential to be a really gritty team and a really tough team," Aranda said, "and the grittiest and toughest team since I've been here. You go to the locker room, and the leaders, the captains, are coaching guys up and saying all the things that I'm about to say. They're already saying it prior to me saying it. This can be a special group. We need to get a win, though."
On back-to-back plays at the start of the fourth quarter, Baylor quarterback DJ Lagway missed a fourth-down pass to Oklahoma State transfer Gavin Freeman before Gifford picked off a Brown pass over the middle and returned it six yards to the Tigers' 49-yard line.
"These guys made it really hard," said first-year Auburn coach Alex Golesh, who brought Brown and several other transfers with him from USF. "I take more blame for the picks than, to be honest with you, Byrum. That's on us as much as anybody, really on me trying to force it a little bit.
"I thought (Baylor) had a really good plan to keep it all in front of them, load the box when they had to. They weren't going to let Byrum run around, beat them at least early with his feet. They did a good job muddying up the box, (using the) twist game. It was harrier than you wanted it to be. It did look drastically different than a year ago."
Unable to sustain a drive for most of the game, the Tigers finally put one together to take a late lead with a 10-play, 75-yard drive and an 11-yard TD run by Brown.
The Bears answered with one of their own, converting twice on fourth down and going 75 yards in 14 plays, scoring on Lagway's five-yard TD pass to Freeman. But Auburn came up with arguably the biggest play of the game when safety Eric Winters stopped tight end Matthew Klopfenstein just shy of the goal line on the two-point conversion try.
"Mistakes, that's why we lost," Aranda said. "That's what I told the team. Early in the game, we had too many opportunities that we had to finish drives, to put points on the board, and we didn't do it. I take credit for that. I should have done a better job of coaching that. One of the things we talk about, more games are lost than won, especially early in the season. And I could have communicated that better, because I think we contributed to that tonight."
Linebacker Travion Barnes and safety Devin Turner had a team-high nine tackles apiece, while defensive tackle Devonte Tezino had two of the team's five sacks and edge rusher Jordan Mack had 2.5 tackles for losses.
"We're definitely going to build off this," Gifford said. "We always believe. That's one thing we've always got – we've always got belief in us. I believe in these guys. I'm 100% positive that they're going to go in and do their job, do what they've got to do. I love it."
The Bears return for the first of three-straight home games, hosting Prairie View A&M (0-1) in the 254 Game at 7 p.m. next Saturday, Sept. 12, in a game streamed by ESPN+. The Panthers opened with a 49-30 loss to Tarleton State last week and host Texas Southern (1-0) on Sunday.
Comparing this loss to the 21-16 win over Oklahoma State in the 2021 Big 12 Championship game, when the Bears stopped OSU running back Dezmon Jackson inches short on a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, Aranda said it's something the team can use in practice.
"We can say, 'Is that the type of effort that's going to be a half yard short? Or is that the type of effort that's going to get it over the line?''' Aranda said. "There's a fair amount that we can do with that. But in the moment, it sucks, for sure."
Baylor Bear Insider
ATLANTA – Living up to its hype, Baylor's defense recorded five sacks and 11 tackles for loss and created enough chaos up front to force Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown into his first-ever three-interception game Saturday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
While the Bears (0-1) came up inches short on a two-point conversion pass from DJ Lagway to Matthew Klopfenstein with nine seconds left in a 17-16 loss, head coach Dave Aranda said the defense was "who we thought they were."
"In the spring and fall, that was them," Aranda said. "A lot of pressure, a lot of tackles for loss, a lot of sacks. And I think some of the pressure forced throws that were eventually picked off. I think it all starts up front for us. It was good to see the active linebackers and safeties. A few missed tackles on their sideline that I wish we could have taken back, but outside of that, I thought it was clean for the first game."
In last year's 38-24, season-opening loss at home to Auburn, the defense gave up 307 yards rushing, including 137 yards and two touchdowns by quarterback Jackson Arnold. This time, facing a Joe Klanderman defense, the Tigers netted 130 yards on the ground as a team and USF transfer QB Byrum Brown lost 23 yards on five sacks and picked up just 27 yards on 21 carries.
Brown also had a streak of consecutive games with a touchdown pass and TD run snapped at eight, finishing 26-of-35 for 259 yards and no touchdowns with three interceptions.
"It felt really good to put it all together on the field," said junior safety Micah Gifford, who had his second-career pick and first since last year's game against Samford. "We've been just putting in so much work, just been in the lab with (Klanderman). Just everyone on the defense putting in their all, doing their 1/11th. And it just felt good to be able to see it on the paper and see the results."
While Baylor's offense squandered some scoring chances with two turnovers and a missed field goal on its first three drives, the defense did its part in keeping the Bears in the game by forcing three punts and coming up with interceptions by cornerbacks Reggie Bush and Oklahoma transfer Devon Jordan to keep the score at 10-7 going into halftime.
"This team has the potential to be a really gritty team and a really tough team," Aranda said, "and the grittiest and toughest team since I've been here. You go to the locker room, and the leaders, the captains, are coaching guys up and saying all the things that I'm about to say. They're already saying it prior to me saying it. This can be a special group. We need to get a win, though."
On back-to-back plays at the start of the fourth quarter, Baylor quarterback DJ Lagway missed a fourth-down pass to Oklahoma State transfer Gavin Freeman before Gifford picked off a Brown pass over the middle and returned it six yards to the Tigers' 49-yard line.
"These guys made it really hard," said first-year Auburn coach Alex Golesh, who brought Brown and several other transfers with him from USF. "I take more blame for the picks than, to be honest with you, Byrum. That's on us as much as anybody, really on me trying to force it a little bit.
"I thought (Baylor) had a really good plan to keep it all in front of them, load the box when they had to. They weren't going to let Byrum run around, beat them at least early with his feet. They did a good job muddying up the box, (using the) twist game. It was harrier than you wanted it to be. It did look drastically different than a year ago."
Unable to sustain a drive for most of the game, the Tigers finally put one together to take a late lead with a 10-play, 75-yard drive and an 11-yard TD run by Brown.
The Bears answered with one of their own, converting twice on fourth down and going 75 yards in 14 plays, scoring on Lagway's five-yard TD pass to Freeman. But Auburn came up with arguably the biggest play of the game when safety Eric Winters stopped tight end Matthew Klopfenstein just shy of the goal line on the two-point conversion try.
"Mistakes, that's why we lost," Aranda said. "That's what I told the team. Early in the game, we had too many opportunities that we had to finish drives, to put points on the board, and we didn't do it. I take credit for that. I should have done a better job of coaching that. One of the things we talk about, more games are lost than won, especially early in the season. And I could have communicated that better, because I think we contributed to that tonight."
Linebacker Travion Barnes and safety Devin Turner had a team-high nine tackles apiece, while defensive tackle Devonte Tezino had two of the team's five sacks and edge rusher Jordan Mack had 2.5 tackles for losses.
"We're definitely going to build off this," Gifford said. "We always believe. That's one thing we've always got – we've always got belief in us. I believe in these guys. I'm 100% positive that they're going to go in and do their job, do what they've got to do. I love it."
The Bears return for the first of three-straight home games, hosting Prairie View A&M (0-1) in the 254 Game at 7 p.m. next Saturday, Sept. 12, in a game streamed by ESPN+. The Panthers opened with a 49-30 loss to Tarleton State last week and host Texas Southern (1-0) on Sunday.
Comparing this loss to the 21-16 win over Oklahoma State in the 2021 Big 12 Championship game, when the Bears stopped OSU running back Dezmon Jackson inches short on a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, Aranda said it's something the team can use in practice.
"We can say, 'Is that the type of effort that's going to be a half yard short? Or is that the type of effort that's going to get it over the line?''' Aranda said. "There's a fair amount that we can do with that. But in the moment, it sucks, for sure."
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