2023 Baylor Bears football team

2023 Baylor Bears football
2023 Baylor Bears football
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Record	3–9 (2–7 Big 12)
Head coach	Dave Aranda (4th season);
Offensive coordinator	Jeff Grimes (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Matt Powledge (1st season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	McLane Stadium
Uniform
	Seasons ← 2022 2024 →

The 2023 Baylor Bears football team represented Baylor University in the Big 12 Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bears were led by Dave Aranda in his fourth season as their head coach.

ConferenceBig 12 Conference

Record3–9 (2–7 Big 12)

Headcoach

Dave Aranda (4th season)

OffensivecoordinatorJeff Grimes (3rd season)

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2023 Big 12 Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 3 Texas y$^	8	–	1	12	–	2
No. 16 Oklahoma State y	7	–	2	10	–	4
No. 15 Oklahoma	7	–	2	10	–	3
Iowa State	6	–	3	7	–	6
No. 18 Kansas State	6	–	3	9	–	4
West Virginia	6	–	3	9	–	4
Texas Tech	5	–	4	7	–	6
No. 23 Kansas	5	–	4	9	–	4
UCF	3	–	6	6	–	7
TCU	3	–	6	5	–	7
Houston	2	–	7	4	–	8
BYU	2	–	7	5	–	7
Baylor	2	–	7	3	–	9
Cincinnati	1	–	8	3	–	9
Championship: Texas 49, Oklahoma State 21
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

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Baylor was picked sixth out of 14 teams in the preseason media poll of the conference. It was not ranked in the national top 25 polls of media or coaches, though the team did receive some votes.

The Bears played eight of their 12 regular season games at home, the largest number in school history^[1] and the most home games in the NCAA FBS this year, along with Penn State, Arizona State and Mississippi State.^[2]

This was the first season with Big 12 membership at 14 teams, after the realignment upheaval of the preceding years, which saw the league add four teams (BYU, UCF, Houston and Cincinnati). Consequently, the football schedule was no longer a "round robin" in which every team plays every other team, as was the practice when the league had 10 teams. The league continued to play nine intra-conference games; therefore, the Bears in 2023 did not play BYU, Kansas, Oklahoma State or Oklahoma, which (along with Texas) was in its final year with the league before moving to the SEC. The Bears played three of the four newcomers.

Five Baylor players were named to national preseason watch lists for the following awards:

Richard Reese, Maxwell Award, Doak Walker Award and Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award
Gabe Hall, Bronko Nagurski Trophy
Clark Barrington, Rimington Trophy
Blake Shapen, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award
Alonzo Allen, Wuerffel Trophy

The Bears played their home games at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas, its 9th year of hosting play. The Bears failed to qualify for a bowl game and suffered their first losing season since 2020 following their loss to Kansas State.

The Baylor Bears football team drew an average home attendance of 43,388 in 2023, down from 45,463 in 2022.

[1]

[2]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:00 p.m.	Texas State*	McLane Stadium Waco, TX	ESPN+	L 31–42	44,945
September 9	11:00 a.m.	No. 12 Utah*	McLane Stadium Waco, TX	ESPN	L 13–20	43,732
September 16	11:00 a.m.	LIU*	McLane Stadium Waco, TX	ESPN+	W 30–7	43,732
September 23	6:30 p.m.	No. 3 Texas	McLane Stadium Waco, TX (rivalry)	ABC	L 6–38	49,165
September 30	2:30 p.m.	at UCF	FBC Mortgage Stadium Orlando, FL	FS1	W 36–35	44,005
October 7	7:00 p.m.	Texas Tech	McLane Stadium Waco, TX (rivalry)	ESPN2	L 14–39	44,620
October 21	11:00 a.m.	at Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	ESPN+	W 32–29	38,193
October 28	2:30 p.m.	Iowa State	McLane Stadium Waco, TX	ESPN+	L 18–30	43,528
November 4	2:30 p.m.	Houston	McLane Stadium Waco, TX (rivalry)	ESPN+	L 24–25 ^OT	41,180
November 11	2:00 p.m.	at No. 25 Kansas State	Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium Manhattan, KS	ESPN+	L 25–59	51,790
November 18	2:30 p.m.	at TCU	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX (The Revivalry)	ESPN+	L 17–42	42,621
November 25	6:00 p.m.	West Virginia	McLane Stadium Waco, TX	FS1	L 31–34	36,200
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll (and CFP Rankings, after November 2) - Released prior to game All times are in Central time

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Texas State	14	14	7	7	42
Baylor	6	7	11	7	31

Statistics	Texas State	Baylor
First downs	20	22
Plays–yards	69–441	76–524
Rushes–yards	39–143	32–108
Passing yards	298	416
Passing: comp–att–int	22–30–0	27–44–1
Turnovers
Time of possession	26:12	33:48

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Texas State	Passing	T. J. Finley	22–30, 298 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Ismail Mahdi	6 carries, 83 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Joey Hobert	6 receptions, 105 yards, 1 TD
Baylor	Passing	Blake Shapen	21–31, 303 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Dominic Richardson	16 carries, 84 yards
	Receiving	Drake Dabney	6 receptions, 101 yards, 2 TD

Statistics	Utah	Baylor
First downs	20	14
Plays–yards	73–377	57–339
Rushes–yards	47–224	29–121
Passing yards	153	218
Passing: comp–att–int	12–26–1	12–28–2
Turnovers
Time of possession	36:17	23:43

2023 Baylor Bears football team

Schedule

Game summaries

vs. Texas State

vs. Utah

vs. LIU

vs. Texas

at UCF

vs. Texas Tech

at Cincinnati

vs. Iowa State

vs. Houston

at Kansas State

at TCU

vs. West Virginia

Personnel

Roster

References

Related Articles

Timelines

Top Qs

Fact Checks

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Utah	Passing	Nate Johnson	6–7, 82 yards
	Rushing	Ja'Quinden Jackson	19 carries, 13 yards
	Receiving	Mikey Matthews	4 receptions, 48 yards
Baylor	Passing	Sawyer Robertson	12–28, 218 yards, 1 INT
	Rushing	Dominic Richardson	14 carries, 81 yards
	Receiving	Ketron Jackson, Jr.	4 receptions, 72 yards

Statistics	LIU	Baylor
First downs	10	26
Plays–yards	43–143	75–391
Rushes–yards	29–143	48–270
Passing yards	40	121
Passing: comp–att–int	6–14–1	13–27–0
Turnovers
Time of possession	23:36	36:24

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
LIU	Passing	Chris Howell	4–10, 41 yards, 1 INT
	Rushing	Jaden Dawkins	1 carry, 42 yards
	Receiving	Aviyon Smith Mack	1 reception, 35 yards
Baylor	Passing	Sawyer Robertson	10–22, 113 yards, 1 TD
	Rushing	Dawson Pendergrass	21 carries, 111 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Ketron Jackson, Jr.	2 receptions, 29 yards

Statistics	Texas	Baylor
First downs	24	19
Plays–yards	59–503	84–365
Rushes–yards	34–75	31–60
Passing yards	328	305
Passing: comp–att–int	19–25–0	29-53-1
Turnovers
Time of possession	26:30	33:30

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Texas	Passing	Quinn Ewers	18-23, 293 yards, 1 TD
	Rushing	Jonathon Brooks	18 carries, 106 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Ja'Tavion Sanders	5 receptions, 110 yards
Baylor	Passing	Sawyer Robertson	20-35, 203 yards, 1 INT
	Rushing	RJ Martinez	3 carries, 22 yards
	Receiving	Monaray Baldwin	3 receptions, 81 yards

Statistics	Baylor	UCF
First downs	22	18
Plays–yards	77–446	61–469
Rushes–yards	43–153	35–235
Passing yards	293	234
Passing: comp–att–int	21–34–0	13-26-1
Turnovers
Time of possession	35:31	24:29

Statistics	Texas Tech	Baylor
First downs	19	17
Plays–yards	68–366	68–341
Rushes–yards	42–186	30–17
Passing yards	180	324
Passing: comp–att–int	19–26–1	22–38–0
Turnovers
Time of possession	30:04	29:56

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Texas Tech	Passing	Behren Morton	19–26, 180 yards, 1 INT
	Rushing	Tahj Brooks	31 carries, 170 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Myles Price	10 receptions, 90 yards
Baylor	Passing	Blake Shapen	22–38, 324 yards, 1 TD
	Rushing	Dominic Richardson	9 carries, 26 yards
	Receiving	Monaray Baldwin	5 receptions, 126 yards

Statistics	Baylor	Cincinnati
First downs	22	21
Plays–yards	70–396	74–450
Rushes–yards	28–80	43–288
Passing yards	316	162
Passing: comp–att–int	25–42–0	19-31-0
Turnovers
Time of possession	31:13	28:47

Statistics	Iowa State	Baylor
First downs	19	17
Plays–yards	66–400	66–306
Rushes–yards	35–162	25–67
Passing yards	238	239
Passing: comp–att–int	19–31–1	24–41–1
Turnovers
Time of possession	33:33	26:27

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Iowa State	Passing	Rocco Becht	19–31, 238 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Eli Sanders	14 carries, 90 yards
	Receiving	Jaylin Noel	8 receptions, 76 yards
Baylor	Passing	Blake Shapen	24–41, 239 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Dawson Pendergrass	8 carries, 37 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Monaray Baldwin	6 receptions, 117 yards, 1 TD

Statistics	Houston	Baylor
First downs	21	22
Plays–yards	59–366	72–413
Rushes–yards	32–130	35–150
Passing yards	236	263
Passing: comp–att–int	21–27–2	29–37–1
Turnovers
Time of possession	26:39	33:21

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Houston	Passing	Donovan Smith	21–27, 236 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Donovan Smith	20 carries, 66 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Samuel Brown	9 receptions, 86 yards, 1 TD
Baylor	Passing	Blake Shapen	29–37, 263 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Dominic Richardson	11 carries, 51 yards
	Receiving	Drake Dabney	4 receptions, 76 yards, 1 TD

Statistics	West Virginia	Baylor
First downs	23	17
Plays–yards	59–519	62–334
Rushes–yards	37–250	37–119
Passing yards	269	215
Passing: comp–att–int	16–25–0	17–20–0
Turnovers
Time of possession	28:55	31:05

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
West Virginia	Passing	Garrett Greene	16–25, 269 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Jahiem White	17 carries, 133 yards
	Receiving	Hudson Clement	4 receptions, 80 yards
Baylor	Passing	Sawyer Robertson	17–19, 215 yards, 1 TD
	Rushing	Richard Reese	6 carries, 42 yards
	Receiving	Ketron Jackson Jr.	3 receptions, 88 yards, 1 TD