Meet Your Insider
Hey, y'all! I'm Magnolia Whitlock, Maggie to my friends, and I'm your Baylor insider at The Cover Window. I run an interior-design business in Waco, and I renovate roster weaknesses live on air. Shiplap for the secondary, new fixtures for the passing game, open concept for the run fits. I travel and live with this team, and I always pack a tape measure.
Here's my promise. I'm bubbly, but I don't fake the finishes. Every number here has a source, and when I do the math myself, I'll tell you. If I don't know something, I'll say the permits haven't come through yet. I celebrate our players as people first, I respect every opponent, and I give God thanks for this team and this town. Sic 'em.
The School in 60 Seconds
Baylor plays in the Big 12. After 64 seasons at off-campus Floyd Casey Stadium, the Bears moved into on-campus McLane Stadium in 2014. CFBD lists 45,140 seats. Talk about a glow-up.
The last five seasons have been a whole renovation show: a beautiful 12-2 in 2021, then 6-7, 3-9, 8-5 and 5-7. This year's 4-2 start has good bones.
The Coach and the Scheme
Dave Aranda has been head coach since 2020. CFBD lists his hire date as Jan. 22, 2020. Before Waco he was defensive coordinator at LSU, Wisconsin, Utah State, Hawai'i, Delta State and Cal Lutheran. He's a defense-first designer, and it shows.
This year's defense is the showpiece room. Baylor hasn't allowed more than 19 points in any game. AP says six straight games under 20 to start a season is the program's longest such run since 1966. By my math from CFBD totals, the Bears allow 14.7 points and about 327 yards per game. Opponents run for about 87 yards per game. The pass rush has 22 sacks in six games.
The offense is the room under construction. Baylor scores 30.0 points per game by my math, but it put up only six against TCU. It runs for just 3.9 yards per carry. Third downs convert at 40.2%. Against TCU, three straight first-half drives of 12 or more plays ended in field-goal tries. That's a project I can fix.
Players to Know
QB DJ Lagway: 1,116 yards, eight touchdowns, three interceptions. He went 22 of 53 for 256 yards against TCU. Two weeks earlier, he threw four touchdowns in a 55-19 win at Arizona State. Let's get him back to that.
WR Gavin Freeman: team-best 49 catches for 555 yards and two touchdowns. That's a load-bearing wall.
RB Dawson Pendergrass: team-leading 327 rushing yards on 90 carries.
S Micah Gifford: forced a fumble and intercepted a pass in the final minutes of the first half against TCU.
K Rhett Armstrong: field goals of 39 and 32 yards against TCU.
Daniel Cobbs: team-high three sacks.
Travion Barnes: team-high 36 tackles.
The Conference Picture
Baylor is 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Big 12. The Bears are 3-1 at home and 1-0 on the road, with a neutral-site game too. They opened with a 17-16 loss to Auburn at a neutral site. Then came four straight wins: 44-3 over Prairie View A&M, 36-19 over Louisiana Tech, 23-13 over Colorado and 55-19 at Arizona State. TCU ended the streak 17-6.
After Kansas, Baylor visits UCF on Oct. 30, hosts Iowa State, visits BYU, hosts Texas Tech and finishes at Houston. That's a demanding finish.
This Week: Game Preview from Both Sides
Baylor (4-2) at Kansas (2-4) · Saturday, Oct. 24, 1:00 p.m. ET · David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, Lawrence, Kan. · TNT
Last time out. TCU beat Baylor 17-6 in Waco on Oct. 17. Aranda called it "frustrating," "disappointing" and "embarrassing". Kansas lost 35-24 at Kansas State the same day.
Baylor's offense vs. Kansas' defense. By my CFBD math, Kansas allows 24.0 points and about 174 rushing yards per game. That's a window for Pendergrass and the run game. Opponents convert only 32.9% of third downs against KU, so we need efficient early downs. Lagway to Freeman is the main beam.
Kansas' offense vs. Baylor's defense. Kansas runs well, at about 207 yards per game and 5.2 yards per carry by my math. Isaiah Marshall ran for 116 yards and threw for 151 at Kansas State. Nik McMillan has 400 receiving yards. Our run defense and pass rush are built for this. Kansas also has a dangerous returner: Bryson Hayes took a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown at K-State. Kick coverage matters.
Series. CFBD shows Baylor 8-0 against Kansas from 2016 to 2025. Respect the Jayhawks anyway; streaks end.
Availability. No official conference availability report has been published. I found no confirmed Baylor injury news.
Three questions that decide it:
1. Can Baylor finish drives with touchdowns, not field goals?
2. Can the defense keep its sub-20 streak alive against Kansas' run game?
3. Can Lagway bounce back from 22-of-53?
Fitz, the Kansas insider, converts football stats into basketball points. I'll convert his points into paint colors.
Local Flavor
It's an early kickoff in Lawrence, 1 p.m. Eastern on TNT. Memorial Stadium opened in 1921 and is one of the oldest in college football. I love a classic build. Wear your green and gold, be a gracious guest and say a prayer for safe travels. Not an ad. Sic 'em.
My call: Baylor Bears 28, Kansas Jayhawks 27.