The Baylor Bears are fresh off a devastating overtime loss to the Colorado Buffaloes last Saturday.
Colorado scored first in overtime making it 38-31. The Baylor Bears went all the way down to the 2-yard line and then Dominic Richardson fumbled while crossing the goal line.
Baylor comes into this week's game against No. 22 BYU with a 2-2 record with losses to Colorado and Utah and wins over Tarleton State and Air Force.
Last season, the Bears finished 12th in the Big 12 with a 3-9 overall record and 2-7 record in the Big 12.
The Bears are coached by Dave Aranda, who came to Baylor in 2020 after winning the 2019 national championship with LSU as associate head coach and defensive coordinator.
Outside of winning the conference in 2021 and finishing with a 12-2 overall record that season, Aranda's time at Baylor hasn't been all that successful. Since he took over, the Bears are only 25-27. For reference, in that same time span, Kalani Sitake is 38-16.
This is the fifth matchup all-time between the Cougars and the Bears. Most recently, BYU bested Baylor at home 26-20 in a thrilling double-OT win in Provo in 2022. The year prior, Baylor came out on top at home 38-24 led by none other than Gerry Bohanon, who is now the second-string quarterback for the Cougars.
For the Bears, quarterback Dequan Finn started the first two games, however, since then, transfer QB Sawyer Robertson has taken over. He has completed 32 of 50 passes for 463 yards and three touchdowns. Robertson also has 12 carries for 87 yards and two touchdowns.
Here's what Coach Aranda had to say about Robertson earlier this week: "I'm excited about Sawyer. I'm really confident in him and I think he's getting better with each start."
Similar to BYU, Baylor is a running back-by-committee type of offense. It has four backs with over 20 carries and 100 yards. These backs include Bryson Washington, Dawson Pendergrass, Richard Reese and Dominic Richardson.
The Baylor offense is averaging 29 points, 364 yards, 197 passing yards and 167 rushing yards per game. They are ranked 94th in the nation in passing offense and 65th in rushing offense.
Notably, on the other side of the ball, Baylor is ranked 14th in sacks, 20th in passing yards allowed, 27th in total defense, and 36th in third down conversion defense.
A pair of linebackers lead the Bears in total tackles. Matt Jones has 38 tackles on the year and Keaton Thomas has 34.
The game in Waco will kick off at 10 a.m. MDT. It will be televised on FS1.