[BAYLOR FOOTBALL] Baylor Football Ventures to Face Defending Big 12 Champs

Mon Nov 6 13:23:43 CST 2023

BAYLOR ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS – Nov. 6, 2023

Baylor Football Ventures to Face Defending Big 12 Champs
Bears to face off with Cats on Saturday at 2 p.m.

For more information contact: Brent Ingram; 210-845-8651, brent_ingram at baylor.edu<mailto:brent_ingram at baylor.edu> or Max Calderone; 254-265-1639, max_calderone at baylor.edu<mailto:max_calderone at baylor.edu> or Colin Pirtle; 940-564-0351, colin_pirtle1 at baylor.edu<mailto:colin_pirtle1 at baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas -- Baylor football will look to improve to 3-0 on the road in 2023, traveling to face the defending Big 12 Conference Champions, Kansas State, with kickoff on Saturday slated for 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and the Baylor Sports Media Network.

The ESPN+ crew will include Noah Reed (play-by-play), Barrett Brooks (analyst) and Tori Petry (sideline). The Voice of the Bears, John Morris (play-by-play), and former Bears JJ Joe (analyst) and Ricky Thompson (sideline) will call the game on the Baylor Sports Media Network.

Baylor (3-6, 2-4 Big 12) will hit the road for the third time on the year, facing a stout test in Kansas State (6-3, 4-2 Big 12) in Manhattan. The Bears are coming off a 25-24 overtime loss to Houston in a matchup of former Southwest Conference foes, while the Cats are coming off an overtime loss at No. 7/6 Texas in Austin last weekend.

Baylor has won two straight in Manhattan in the series with K-State, with the Wildcats looking for their first win over BU at home since 2017. Last year, K-State posted a 31-3 win in Waco, snapping a three-game winning streak in the series for the Bears.

STORY LINES

• Baylor opens a two-game road swing with a matchup at the defending Big 12 Champions, Kansas State on Saturday in Manhattan, Kan.

• The Bears are coming off a 25-24 loss in overtime to Houston, in the first meeting of the former Southwest Conference foes since 1995. BU rallied to tie the game on a heroic late-game drive led by QB Blake Shapen and scored on the first possession of OT, but Houston scored a TD on their drive and went for two to complete the win.

• BU is looking for its third straight win over Kansas State in Manhattan, also winning in 2019 and 2021.

• Baylor posted a 32-29 win over Cincinnati to improve to 2-0 on the road in 2023. BU got 316 yards passing from Shapen and a career-high 130 yards receiving from Ketron Jackson Jr. in the win.

• The Bears rallied from down 35-7 late in the third quarter to post a 36-35 win at UCF. It marked the largest comeback in program history and the largest for an FBS program since 2019.

• Baylor got a third interception on the year from CB Caden Jenkins vs. Houston, which ties him for the NCAA lead among freshmen. Jenkins also had a fumble return for a TD in the historic comeback win over UCF in Orlando.

• RB Dawson Pendergrass ranks tied for fifth among NCAA freshmen in touchdown rushes. He has three TD rushes in his last three games, including two vs. Iowa State.

• Baylor played a bevy of freshmen in the matchup with Houston, including starts by CB Caden Jenkins, S Carl Williams IV, DL Brendan Bett, OL Coleton Price and OL Alvin Ebosole. Freshmen Armani Winfield, Reggie Bush, Corey Gordon Jr., LeVar Thornton, Carmello Jones, DJ Coleman, Dawson Pendergrass, Jeremy Evans, Hawkins Polley, Kaian Roberts-Day, George Maile, Kaden Sieracki, Kyler Jordan, Trey Wilson, Dylan Schaub, and Palmer Williams all saw action.

• Of the 54 players who played vs. UH, 35 were underclassmen, making up 64.8 percent, nine were seniors+ (16.7%), & 19 were upperclassmen (35.2%). By comparison, in the 10th game of the season in the championship season of 2021, vs. No. 4 Oklahoma, Baylor played 17 of 55 players who were underclassmen, or 30.9 percent, 24 were seniors+ (43.6%), 38 were upperclassmen (69.1%).

• In a win over Cincinnati in the Queen City, sophomore kicker Isaiah Hankins drilled four field goals to tie the school record, hitting from 43, 45, 46 and a career-long 54 yards. He was named Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week and Lou Groza Award Star of the Week.

• Baylor ranks tied for the nation’s lead with five freshmen on its offensive line depth chart two-deep. Three freshmen have started 17 games on the offensive line in 2023, the third-most in the nation.

• Coach Dave Aranda is in his fourth year at the helm of the program in Waco and with a 23-22 record owns the best 44-game record since Chuck Reedy went 23-22 in 1993-95. Aranda led the Bears to the 2021 Big 12 Conference Championship, the 2022 Sugar Bowl title and a No. 5 national ranking to conclude the 2021 season.

• The Bears were ranked or receiving votes in 10 of 16 polls in 2022 and have been ranked in 10 of the last 13 seasons.

• In the state of Texas, Baylor has the fourth-most wins in the state since 2011, behind only Houston, TCU and Texas A&M.

• The Bears added defensive coordinator/safeties coach Matt Powledge, assistant head coach/running backs coach AJ Steward and linebackers coach Christian Robinson to the staff in 2023.

• Since 2011, combined with football, and men’s and women’s basketball, Baylor leads the nation in wins, owning 58 more wins than the next closest program (Notre Dame), and owns 174 more wins than the next closest previous program in the Big 12, Texas, who ranks No. 22.

• Defensive lineman Siaki Ika was picked in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft following the season, giving the Bears seven draft picks in the last two years.

• Baylor welcomed 13 additions via the transfer portal, including instant-impact players in BYU offensive lineman Campbell Barrington and Clark Barrington, Liberty linebacker Mike Smith, wide receiver Ketron Jackson Jr., Utah State linebacker Bryon Vaughns, Oklahoma State running back Dominic Richardson, Maine defensive lineman Justin Sambu, Oregon defensive lineman Treven Ma’ae, Miami cornerback Isaiah Dunson, Mississippi State quarterback Sawyer Robertson, Michigan State kicker Jack Stone and North Texas tight end Jake Roberts.

• Richard Reese set a freshman program record with 972 rushing yards in 2022, earning Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and Freshman All-America honors. He totaled 14 rushing TDs, the fourth-most in program history.

• Baylor’s offense had the 10th most total yards in program history in 2022 and seventh in rushing TDs.

SCOUTING THE CATS

• A year after claiming the Big 12 Championship, the Wildcats are again at the top of the conference, sporting a 4-1 record in league play with a 6-2 mark overall. K-State is 5-0 at home in 2023. In non-league play, the Cats won vs. SEMO and Sun Belt power Troy, falling at Missouri on a walk-off field goal. K-State earned wins over UCF, Texas Tech, TCU and Houston, falling vs. Oklahoma State. The Cats will travel to face Kansas and host Iowa State to conclude the regular-season slate.

• The Wildcats are led by head coach Chris Klieman, who is in his fifth year after taking over the program from legendary head coach Bill Snyder. Klieman came to K-State after a decorated career at the FCS level, leading North Dakota State from 2014-18, which included four FCS national titles in his five years at the established powerhouse school. He led K-State to the 2022 Big 12 Championship with a 10-4 season and a berth in the Sugar Bowl, and wins in the 2019 Liberty Bowl and the 2022 Texas Bowl. His career began at his alma matter, Northern Iowa, in 1991 and has seen him coach at Western Illinois, Kansas, Missouri State, Loras College (Iowa), Northern Iowa a second time and North Dakota State, where he was the DB coach and defensive coordinator for three years before taking over the helm.

• Klieman is assisted by assistant head coach Van Malone, who is the cornerbacks and passing-game coordinator. He served as the SMU defensive coordinator from 2015-17, also working at Oklahoma State, Tulsa, Texas A&M, Western Michigan and North Dakota State. Joe Klanderman is the defensive coordinator, who came with Klieman from North Dakota State, where he coached DBs from 2014-18 after opening his career at Minnesota State. Collin Klein is the offensive coordinator/QB coach and he coached QBs in 2017 and was co-offensive coordinator under Snyder in 2018 before staying on with Klieman.

• Gene Taylor is in his seventh year as the AD at Kansas State. He was named the 2022-23 Cushman & Wakefield FBS AD of the Year, is on the CFP Selection Committee and the LEAD1 Board of Directors. He graduated from Arizona State in 1980 and earned his master’s degree from St. Thomas (Fla.) University. He worked in the ticket office at SMU, before time at Navy, which included time as the commissioner of the 5-team Collegiate Sprint Football League that included Army, Navy, Penn, Princeton and Cornell. He was the AD at North Dakota State for 13 years before time as the Deputy AD at Iowa, starting in 2014. His wife Cathy has a daughter, Casey and son, Jared.

BEARS VS. COUGS

• Baylor fell in its first overtime game of the 2023 season in a matchup with old Southwest Conference foe Houston at McLane Stadium, 25-24.

• The Bears rallied late in the game to force overtime on the strength of a heroic drive from QB Blake Shapen but after scoring on the first possesion of overtime, the Bears saw Houston drive from the BU 40-yard line and finish off the win with a two-point conversion.

• Baylor got two TDs, 263 yards passing and 21 yards rushing from Shapen, who had a key 27-yard scramble on fourth and 17 on the game-tying drive in the final two minutes. Shapen was 29 of 37 in the air and completed his first 10 passes of the second half.

• TE Drake Dabney had 76 yards receiving and a TD, while freshman TE Hawkins Polley had a TD catch to tie the game on his third collegiate snap.

SERIES HISTORY

• This will mark the 21st all-time meeting in the series with Kansas State, with the two teams meeting each year since 2006. The series is even 10-10, with the Wildcats holding a 5-4 lead in the meetings in Manhattan.

• The Bears had a four-game winning streak in the series snapped with a 31-3 loss to the Cats last year in Waco. Baylor has won eight of the last 11 meetings in the series.

• Baylor has won two straight in Manhattan, including a 20-10 win in 2021 and a 31-12 win in 2019.

LAST MEETING

• In the 2022 meeting, Kansas State posted a 31-3 win over Baylor to snap a three-game BU winning streak in front of the ninth-largest crowd in McLane Stadium history.

• The Wildcats scored the first 17 points of the game and held complete control of the contest following an interception on Baylor’s first drive of the game. Baylor cut the lead to 17-3 with a field goal from John Mayers to end the first half but couldn’t muster anything the remaining 30 minutes as the Wildcats scored TDs in each quarter for a 28-point win.

• Kansas State held the football for 37:37 in the game and had the ball for over 11 minutes in the first and fourth quarters. The Wildcats rolled to 184 yards on the ground and threw for 221 yards as backup QB Will Howard replaced Adrian Martinez in the first quarter and threw for 196 yards and three TDs. Deuce Vaughn had 25 carries for 106 yards and added eight grabs for 50 yards and a TD.

• Baylor freshman Richard Reese led the offense with nine carries for 54 yards, with Blake Shapen throwing for 203 yards. Monaray Baldwin set a new career high with eight grabs, while Josh Cameron had career highs in catches (six) and yards (83).

LAST MEETING IN MANHATTAN

• Baylor posted a 20-10 win last year in Manhattan, improving to 9-2 and 6-2 in league with the win over Kansas State.

• The Bears got a strong performance from QB Blake Shapen off the bench as the freshman stepped right in for injured Gerry Bohanon and threw for 137 yards and rushed for 44 to help No. 11 BU to a pair of key field goals in the win. Bohanon strained his hamstring with 59 seconds left in the first half after going 9 of 14 for 76 yards and a TD, also rushing for 38 yards. Shapen came in and threw passes in five of his first six plays, connecting on a 32-yarder to Drew Estrada that led to an Isaiah Hankins 21-yard field goal to end the half with a 17-7 lead.

• After getting a key fourth-down stop to open the second half, K-State went 43 yards on five plays to make it a three-point game with 8:24 left in the third. Shapen then went to work on the ensuing drive, connecting on 6 of 9 passes for 32 yards, including a 28-yard run, that capped a 13-play, 72-yard drive with a Hankins field goal for a 20-10 lead.

• Al Walcott picked off a fourth-quarter pass in BU territory, and the Bears ran out the last three minutes to secure the win.

HIGH MARKS FOR FRESHMEN DBs

• Baylor’s freshmen defensive backs Caden Jenkins and Carl Williams IV are among the best freshmen in the nation. The pair have earned high marks from Pro Football Focus in overall defensive grade and coverage grades.

• Among freshmen power-5 defensive backs, the pair lead the nation in both categories.

DISCIPLINE SHOWS IN PENALTY AVOIDANCE

• Under Coach Dave Aranda, the Bears have consistently been one of the best teams in the nation in avoiding penalties. In 2023, the Bears lead the Big 12 in fewest penalty yards per game and rank fourth nationally.

• This has come after committing nine penalties for 45 yards in the season opener vs. Texas State.

• Baylor was whistled for 10 false starts in the first two games of the year while working in a new offensive line, including six in the season opener. Since, Baylor has just six false starts called in the last seven games.

• The Bears rank second in the nation in fewest penalty yards allowed per game.

• Baylor ranks fourth in the Big 12 in terms of fewest penalty yards per game since 2020 and third among teams that have been in the Big 12 all of those seasons.

• Baylor has ranked first or second in penalty yards per game over the last two seasons.

WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE

• Baylor has forced considerably more turnovers than it has allowed in 45 games under head coach Dave Aranda.

• BU has 78 takeaways (51 INTs, 26 FR) and 52 giveaways (33 INTs, 19 FL) in 45 games under Aranda.

• Baylor has scored 13 non-offensive touchdowns in 423 games under Aranda – three kickoff returns (Ebner x 3), five interception returns (Pitre x 2, McCarty, Walcott, Woods), one punt return (Holmes) and four fumble returns (Vaughns, Jenkins, Hall, Woods).

ARANDA THROUGH 45 GAMES IN BAYLOR HISTORY

• Dave Aranda is 23-22 in his first 45 games as the Baylor head coach, which is the best record through that stretch since Chuck Reedy went 23-22 from 1993-95. Only John D Bridgers (1959-63), George Sauer (1950-54), Morley Jenkins (1926-30), Frank Bridges (1920-24) and Charles P. Mosely (1914-19) has more wins through the first 45 games of their BU head coaching career.

BEARS IN NATIONAL STAT RANKINGS

• Baylor ranks among the nation’s top 40 leaders in 10 categories, including ranking No. 30 in the nation in passing offense.

• Baylor leads the Big 12 in blocked kicks, defensive TDs, fewest penalty yards, penalty yards per game and fumbles recovered.

• Individually, Isaiah Hankins ranks 11th in the nation in field-goals per game, while Caden Jenkins ranks 25th in the nation in interceptions.

JENKINS TIED FOR NCAA FRESHMEN LEAD IN INTERCEPTIONS

• Cornerback Caden Jenkins is tied for the nation’s lead among freshmen with three interceptions. He is tied with Cameron Epps (Oklahoma State), Charles McCatherens (Buffalo) and Dillon Thieneman (Purdue).

UP NEXT

• Baylor will travel to face TCU on Nov. 18 in Fort Worth.

- BaylorBears.com -

--
Brent Ingram | Assistant AD for Communications
Men’s Tennis Sport Program Administrator
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 210-845-8651

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