No. 22 BYU and Baylor meet with both looking to move past drastically different Big 12 openers

WACO, Texas — BYU coach Kalani Sitake and Baylor's Dave Aranda had similar tasks this week coming off drastically different results going into another Big 12 game.

Both have to make sure that their teams, who meet Saturday, move past what happened in their league openers.

For the Bears (2-2, 0-1 Big 12), it was an overtime loss at Colorado after a “Hail Mary” completion on the last play of regulation and then a fumble in overtime that turned Aranda into a counselor as much as a coach.

“When you’re cut wide open, you sit down, you bleed a little bit, and it’s important to rise up and fight again,” Aranda said. “We’re a resilient bunch. The guys fight for what they believe in. I know they believe in us.”

The No. 22 Cougars (4-0, 1-0) were unranked before scoring touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams for the first time since 1996 in a 38-9 win at home over then-No. 13 Kansas State, one of league's preseason favorites. They scored 17 points in the final 2 1/2 minutes of the first half, then turned an interception right after halftime into a TD before a 90-yard punt return for a score.

“Looking at the landscape of college football, teams have big wins and then it has this everlasting effect even into the next week,” Sitake said. “We have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Allowing FGs, not touchdowns

BYU has played two power conference teams so far, and neither has scored a touchdown against the Cougars.

K-State got into the red zone three times, and got only three field goals. That was after BYU won 18-15 at ACC newcomer SMU, which was held to five field goals after a nine-game home winning streak when the Mustangs had averaged more than 53 points a game.

The Cougars have allowed just 12.8 points and 269 total yards per game overall this season.

Martin still missing

Cougars running back LJ Martin, their leading rusher as a freshman last season, will miss his third consecutive game since an apparent leg injury in the first half at SMU on Sept. 6.

BYU has an open date after the Baylor game.

“I think we are counting on him taking advantage of the extra time that we can get and hopefully get him back by the sixth game,” Sitake said. “We’ve got to make the best decision and take advantage of the extra time of healing for him.”

Freshman Sione Moa led the Cougars in rushing against Kansas State with 76 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.

On opposite sides

Right tackle Campbell Barrington is in his second year as a starter since transferring from BYU to Baylor to play there last season with older brother Clark, who had also previously been with the Cougars.

BYU backup quarterback Gerry Bohanon was the Baylor starter three years ago in Waco, when he threw for 231 yards and a touchdown for the Bears in a 38-24 win.

Bohanon lost the Baylor starting job during spring practice in 2022. He then transferred to South Florida and started seven games before a shoulder injury that required surgery, and missed all of last season before joining BYU this year.

Blake Shapen, who supplanted Bohanon and was the Baylor starter the last two years, transferred to Mississippi State and was the Bulldogs' starter before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in their SEC opener last week.

Extra points

The Cougars had a 2-7 conference record in their Big 12 debut, and will try to match that win total in their second league game this season. ... Baylor has lost nine consecutive games against Top 25 teams since the end of 2021, when their Sugar Bowl victory over Mississippi made them 5-1 against ranked teams that season.