WACO, Texas -- Baylor football opens its 2023 season on Saturday, playing host to Texas State at 6 p.m. at McLane Stadium.
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+, with Pete Sousa (play-by-play) and LaDarrin Mclane (analyst) calling the action. Fans can also hear the game on the Baylor Sports Network, with the Voice of the Bear, John Morris (play-by-play), and Baylor greats J.J. Joe (analyst) and Ricky Thompson (sideline) on the call.
STORY LINES
• Baylor has a program-record and nation-leading eight home games, including the first four to open the year.
• The Bears advanced to their 11th bowl game in the last 13 years in 2022.
• The Bears return 11 starters, including five on offense and four on defense, with two specialists, while also returning 36 letterwinners.
• Coach Dave Aranda is in his fourth year at the helm of the program in Waco and with a 20-16 record owns the best 36-game record since Chuck Reedy went 21-15 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.
• Baylor is receiving votes in the 2023 preseason USA TODAY Coaches Poll.
• 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.
• Baylor is 12-5 under Aranda at McLane Stadium and have gone 10-3 over the last two seasons at home.
• In the state of Texas, Baylor has the third-most wins in the state since 2011, behind only Houston and TCU.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
SERIES HISTORY WITH THE BOBCATS
• Baylor and Texas State will be meeting for the 10th time in series history, in a series that dates back to 1909.
• Baylor has won all previous meetings in the series, including the eight played in Waco.
• Last year, the Bears claimed a week 3 win over Texas State, 42-7 in Waco.
• The Bears opened up a 14-0 lead through the early stages of the second quarter in the meeting last year and after allowing a 54-yard scoring drive late in the half, took a 21-7 lead into the break. Baylor then scored 28 straight to end the game to secure the win. Richard Reese rushed for three TDs and 156 yards, while Blake Shapen threw for 184 yards on 15-of-26 passing with 42 rushing yards and a score. Gavin Holmes finished with three grabs for 46 yards and a TD. Layne Hatcher threw for 186 yards with a TD on 24-of-36 passing for Texas State, while Calvin Hill rushed for 41 yards on 12 totes and Ashtyn Hawkins had 13 catches for 114 yards and a score.
BEARS IN SEASON OPENERS
• Baylor owns an 81-36-4 all-time record in season lid-lifters.
• The Bears are 91-26-4 in home openers.
• Baylor is 4-0 in season openers in matchups with Texas State.
• Under Coach Dave Aranda, the Bears are 3-0 in season lid-lifters and 3-0 in home openers.
BROTHER VS. BROTHER
• Baylor wide receiver Landry Kinne is the brother of first-year Texas State head coach G.J. Kinne.
• Landry Kinne made the switch from quarterback – the position he played in his first season on campus in 2022 – to wide receiver in the spring of 2023. It was a similar move that G.J. made in 2015 with the Philadelphia Eagles.
• Landry is in his second year after playing the two seasons at Tyler Junior College as a QB in 2020-21. He prepped locally at La Vega High School, leading his team to the state championship game in 2019.
• The father of Landry and G.J., Gary Joe – played linebacker at Baylor from 1986-89 and later served on the coaching staff.
CONNECTING THE TEAMS
• Just a couple hours away from each other, and with coaching units that have been in the state of Texas, there are several connections between the two teams, none more notable than Texas State head coach G.J. Kinne being the son of former Baylor linebacker Gary Joe Kinne and the brother of current BU wide receiver Landry.
• Baylor third-year offensive line coach Eric Mateos coached the 2017 and 2018 seasons as the offensive line coach with the Bobcats.
• Coach Dave Aranda served on the same Hawaii staff in 2008 as Texas State's Craig Stutzmann, who is the passing-game coordinator and wide receivers coach for the Bobcats. Aranda was the defensive line coach in 2008 for Hawaii.
SCOUTING THE CATS
• Texas State is under first-year head coach G.J. Kinne, who came to the Cats after a 12-win season in his lone year as a head coach at UIW. Kinne prepped as a coach at SMU (2017), Arkansas (2018), Philadelphia Eagles (2019), Hawaii (2020) and UCF (2021) before getting the head job in downtown San Antonio.
• Kinne replaces Jake Spavital for third-year athletics director Don Coryell and credits UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor, his high school coach at Gilmer High School in Gilmer, Texas, as his lead mentor. Kinne and Traylor face off in week 2. Kinne led UIW to the FCS semifinals in his lone year as a head coach, falling at powerhouse North Dakota State in Fargo, N.D., which followed a thrilling 66-63 win over second-ranked Sacramento State in the quarterfinals.
• Kinne brought his offensive coordinator, Mack Leftwich, and his defensive coordinator Jonathan Patke from UIW. Leftwich spent the 2018-22 seasons at UIW under multiple head coaches, while Patke served as the linebackers coach/special teams coordinator at Miami from 2018-21 before joining the UIW staff.
• Texas State looks poised to use former Arkansas QB Malik Hornsby as its signal caller in 2023, with wide receiver Ashtyn Hawkins, who had seven TDs and 587 receiving yards last year, set to lead the offense. RB Calvin Hill rushed 76 times for 333 yards and a score during the 4-8 TXST season in 2022. Defensively, Jordan Revels had 70 tackles, 11 for a loss, and 4.5 sacks as a junior for the Cats. The Bobcats will run a likely wide-open offense, with the passing game coordinated by Craig Stutzmann, who was the offensive coordinator at Utah Tech and led an offense dubbed the "Spread-N-Shred". The defense under Patke will likely feature a base 4-2-5 alignment.
• Coryell is in his third year as the AD after spending 19 years in the athletics department. He leads a 16-sport department in the Sun Belt Conference and in 2021-22 the Cats won the Bubas Cup, given to the best program in the Sun Belt. A 1998 graduate of Lamar who played basketball for the Cardinals and played a season overseas professionally, began his career as the Assistant AD for Development at Lamar before joining the Bobcats staff in an external role. Travis Comer is the sport administrator for football and has been with TXST since 2008, currently serving as the Executive Senior Associate AD for Development and Administration.
PRESEASON HONORS
• The Bears have had a bevy of honors in the preseason, including members of several watch lists, including safety Alfonzo Allen (Wuerffel Trophy), offensive lineman Clark Barrington (Rimington Trophy), defensive lineman Gabe Hall (Bronko Nagurski Trophy) and running back Richard Reese (Maxwell Award, Doak Walker Award).
• In addition, the College Football Network named Baylor the Preseason Big 12 Offensive Line of the Year.
STAFF ADDITIONS
• Baylor added several key members to its coaching and support staff in the offseason.
• The Bears have added new defensive coordinator Matt Powledge, who will also coach safeties, after Powledge spent the 2022 season as the co-defensive coordinator at Oregon. A native of Huntsville, Texas, Powledge spent two seasons as the safeties and special teams coordinator at Baylor in 2020-21 before joining the staff at Oregon.
• AJ Steward has been tabbed as the assistant head coach and running backs coach for the Bears after spending the last two seasons as the running backs coach at Oregon State. He previously had stops at Arizona (2020), BYU (2018-19) – where he coached with Jeff Grimes and Eric Mateos – and Rice (2012-17). A native of St. Louis, Mo., Steward helped Oregon State to a 10-3 record last year.
• Baylor also added Christian Robinson as the coach of the inside linebackers, with Robinson joining the staff after coaching linebackers at Auburn in 2022, which followed four seasons in the same role at Florida. Robinson, a native of Norcross, Ga., has also had coaching stops at Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Georgia, where he played for a pair of SEC Eastern Division Championship teams.
BALDWIN, HALL ON 'FREAKS' LIST
• Baylor has a pair of players represented on The Athletic's list of "Freaks" in college football, put together annually by Bruce Feldman.
• Junior WR Monaray Baldwin earned the No. 42 spot on the list of 100, a year after leading the Bears with 33 catches, with 565 yards and four TDs. He hit 22.8 MPH on the GPS during a TD catch vs. Oklahoma State, which marked the fastest player in college football in 2022. A 5-foot-9, 170-pounder, Baldwin bench presses 405 pounds, squats 550 pounds and power cleans 300.
• Senior defensive lineman Gabe Hall checked in No. 45 on the Freaks list. A 6-6, 296-pounder, Hall bench presses 500 pounds, squats 565, cleans 365 and did a 750-pound trap bar deadlift. He has also hit 19.9 MPH on the GPS.
REESE SETS FRESHMAN RUSHING RECORD
• Baylor's offense was spearheaded in 2022 by the emergence of running back Richard Reese, who shattered the program record for rushing yards (972) by a freshman.
• Reese ranked fourth in the nation among freshmen rushers in 2022 and second with 14 rushing TDs, which also ranked fourth in program single-season history.
• Reese enters the 2023 season on the Maxwell Award and Doak Walker Award Watch Lists, and has earned preseason first-team All-Big 12 honors from Athlon Sports, the Big 12 media and Pro Football Focus.
HEAVY ON GRADUATES
• The Bears boast eight graduates on the 2023 roster, including five graduate transfers.
• Returning graduates include Jacoby Clarke, TJ Franklin and Bryson Jackson, while Clark Barrington (BYU), Treven Ma'ae (Oregon), Justin Sambu (Maine), Mike Smith (Liberty) and Byron Vaughns (Utah State) joined the Bears after completing their undergraduate degrees.
• The Bears are coming off a strong semester in the spring and contributed to a 3.30 Baylor Athletics departmental GPA last spring.
HOLDING SERVE AT McLANE
• Baylor owns a 12-5 record at McLane Stadium under the direction of Coach Dave Aranda, including a 10-3 mark over the last two years. The Bears had a nine-game winning streak at home snapped in a loss to Oklahoma State.
PERSON > PLAYER
• A hallmark of Coach Dave Aranda's philosophy in building a program is placing an importance on understanding that the person is more important than the player. This mantra is executed in everything the program touches on a daily basis. Throughout the football building, signage adorns the walls that emphasize, "better people make better players" and that Baylor will "win with character".
• Aranda preaches that players focus on today and be authentically themselves in an effort to be comfortable and confident in their roles.
CHASING RUSH DEFENSE HISTORY
• The Bears opened the 2022 season holding each of their first four opponents, and five of their first seven, to under 100 rushing yards. It marked the longest streak of consecutive games holding foes to under 100 yards on the ground since 1953, when the Bears held opponents in games 2-6 (Miami, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, TCU) to under 100 yards rushing.
• The season program standard for holding an opponent to 100 yards or fewer on the ground came in 1986, when the Bears held Wyoming, LA Tech, USC, Houston, Texas A&M, Rice and Texas to under 100 yards rushing. BU held six opponents to 100 yards or fewer on the ground during the historic 2021 season.
• A total of 11 opponents in the last two years haven't reached 100 yards rushing, the best two-season total in program annals.
BAYLOR LEADS NATION IN FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL WINS
• Baylor athletics is in the midst of a historic run of success, including recent national titles in men's and women's basketball, and football coming off a Big 12 Conference Championship in 2021 and the 2022 Sugar Bowl.
• Since 2011, and as of the end of the 2022-23 athletics season, no other school can compete with Baylor's run, as the Bears lead the nation in wins combined among football, and men's and women's basketball. Baylor has 58 more wins than the next closest school, Notre Dame. The next Big 12 Conference team on the list is BYU at No. 13, Texas at No. 22 and West Virginia at No. 25.
TIGHT END U
• Baylor's offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes is also the tight-end coach for the Bears, marking one of just 10 coaches in college football to serve in those two roles.
• Grimes is one of two offensive coordinators who also serves as the tight-ends coach in the Big 12, joining Andy Kotelnicki at Kansas.
• The Bears are consistently talent rich at the tight end position and Grimes places tremendous value in the TE role in his offensive attack. Baylor regularly runs sets with two or three tight ends on the field at the same time and in 2023, boast a plethora of talent in the position, including sophomore bruiser Kelsey Johnson, North Texas transfer Jake Roberts and senior Drake Dabney. In addition, the Bears can use tight end Gavin Yates in a variety of roles, and boast youthful talent in Cody Mladenka and true freshmen Matthew Klopfenstein and Hawkins Polley.
ADDING VIA THE PORTAL
• Following the 2021 Big 12 Championship season, the Bears elected to approach the offseason with caution in relation to the embracing of the transfer portal. The Bears added just a handlful of players via the portal before the 2022 season and with a roster full of youth at skill positions during the season, Baylor has taken a different approach leading into 2023.
• Coach Dave Aranda spoke openly about his adaptation and growth via the portal during the preseason talking circuit: "One of the struggles for me," Aranda said, "has always been if you say yes to something, a player outside your team that's in the portal, you're saying no to a player on your team that maybe is struggling from an injury, that's maybe trying to get his class, his schoolwork in order, that's maybe trying to hone the techniques of his new position that he's playing or maybe he's trying to gain weight or any of those things. When you bring somebody in, you almost kind of stunt the growth of that person. For me to kind of come to grips with, 'Hey, this is what needs to happen for the betterment of the team' as opposed to just looking at what's best for that one particular player on your team."
• The Bears added 13 players via the transfer portal in 2023, including 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.
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF EXTRA YEARS
• A total of six Baylor Bears are using 2023 as their additional year of eligibility through the NCAA's COVID-19 impacted rules.
• Two returnees, including TJ Franklin and Bryson Jackson, are using 2023 as their COVID years, while transfers Mike Smith Jr., Byron Vaughns, Justin Sambu and Clark Barrington are all transfers from previous institutions and enter the season already possessing their undergraduate degrees.
SPRING ENROLEES
• A total of 21 of Baylor's newcomers arrived on campus to participate in spring practice.
• Transfers Isaiah Dunson (Miami), Sawyer Robertson (Mississippi State), RJ Martinez (Northern Arizona), Domininc Richardson (Oklahoma St.), Mike Smith (Liberty), Clark Barrington (BYU), Campbell Barrington (BYU), David Marshall Jr. (Navarro CC), Jake Roberts (UNT) and Jack Stone (Michigan State) all enrolled in time for spring practice. Several freshmen including Carl Williams, Caden Jenkins, Bryson Washington, Hawkins Polley, Matthew Klopfenstein, Jonathan Nielsen, Wes Tucker, Micah Gifford, Tay'Shawn Wilson and Palmer Williams all got a jump on spring ball.
SHAPEN IS QB1
• Baylor junior Blake Shapen won the quarterback competition after a strong spring practice. The 2021 Big 12 Championship Most Outstanding Player, Shapen set a Big 12 Championship and AT&T Stadium (college games) record with 17-straight completions in the first half vs. Oklahoma State.
• He won the starting job in the 2021 spring as well and made all 13 starts as a sophomore in 2022. Shapen threw for 2,790 yards and 18 TDs during the year, adding a pair of rushing scores.
• Shapen played in six games with two starts in 2021 after a redshirt season in 2020, throwing for 596 yards and five TDs without an interception, completing 72.1 percent of his attempts.
• A native of Shreveport, La., Shapen came to Baylor as a two-sport athlete, and was on the baseball 2021 roster after coming out of high school as the No. 1-ranked high school shortstop prospect and the fourth-best HS prospect overall in Louisiana.
• He prepped at Evangel Christian Academy, where he was a four-star prospect according to ESPN and was ranked as the No. 22 QB nationally.
FOURTH-DOWN AGGRESSIVENESS
• Baylor under Coach Dave Aranda is one of the most aggressive teams in college football on fourth down. In 2022, the Bears ranked second nationally in fourth-down conversions (30), trailing only Texas Tech (33).
• The Bears converted 63.8 percent of their fourth-down attempts, which ranked 12th among teams that have attempted 15+ fourth-down tries in 2022.
18 STRAIGHT GAMES HOLDING OPPONENT UNDER 30
• Over the course of the 2021 season during the start of 2022, Baylor's defense put up a historic run, the likes of which haven't been seen in 36 years, holding 18 consecutive opponents to 30 or fewer points.
• It was the longest such Baylor streak in the modern-era of college football and the longest since 1984-86. Only three times since 1964 has Baylor had a streak of 18 or more games holding an opponent to 30 or fewer points, also doing it in 1979-81, a 25-game stretch.
• The Bears were one of only three teams to hold each opponent of 2021 under 30 points, joining Clemson and Cincinnati. Last year, Baylor on average held opponents to 10.6 points per game below their averages in other games.
SCHOOL-RECORD, NCAA-LEADING EIGHT HOME GAMES
• Baylor will host a school-record eight home games at McLane Stadium in 2023.
• Baylor is the only school in the nation with eight home games in 2023 and one of 20 schools with seven or more home games.
• The season lid-lifter will start a stretch of four consecutive home games and the Bears will play five of their first six at home to open the year. The eight home games is the most in program history, and the four straight to open the year at home marks the most consecutive home games to start a season since the 2013 Big 12 Championship season.
SECOND-MOST WINS IN TEXAS IN LAST 10+ YEARS
• Through the 2022 season, Baylor has won 96 games since 2011, second-most among the state of Texas' 12 FBS teams.
• BU's 96 wins in the last 10+ years are shy of Houston (97) and tied with Texas A&M (96) and TCU (96), and ahead of Texas (84), SMU (70), Texas Tech (69), UTSA (69), North Texas (66), Rice (54), UTEP (43) and Texas State (39).
BARRINGTON BROS
• A big boost for the Baylor offensive attack came in the form of a BYU transfer offensive lineman, Clark and Campbell Barrington, brothers from Spokane, Wash.
• The dynamic duo arrived in time for spring practice in 2022 and immediately slotted into the rotation, with Clark manning center and Campbell seeing time primarily at left tackle.
• The Barringtons are the only brother combination in the nation to start on the offensive line.
• Clark arrives having played 46 games with 40 starts at BYU, where he started the final 37 games of his career. He started all 13 games in 2022 for the Cougs at left guard, which followed an All-America season in 2021.
• Campbell played in nine games in 2022 as he battled injury. It followed a Freshman All-America season in 2021, where he helped the BYU offense score 33 points per game and average over 450 yards of total offense.
• The Barrington Bros unite with offensive line coach Eric Mateos, who coached Clark at BYU and recruited Campbell. BU OC Jeff Grimes was also the offensive coordinator while Clark was with the Cougs.
WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE
• Baylor has forced considerably more turnovers than it has allowed in 36 games under head coach Dave Aranda.
• BU has 65 takeaways (45 INTs, 19 FR) and 41 giveaways (26 INTs, 15 FL) in 36 games under Aranda.
• Baylor has scored 11 non-offensive touchdowns in 35 games under Aranda – three kickoff returns (Ebner x 3), five interception returns (Pitre x 2, McCarty, Walcott, Woods), one punt return (Holmes) and two fumble returns (Hall, Woods).
FORMER BEARS IN PRO BALL
• As of training camp on Aug. 10, there are 26 former Baylor Bears on NFL rosters.
• In addition to the 26 on NFL rosters for training camp, there are four players on XFL rosters and three on USFL rosters.
• Baylor has a league-high three players on the Houston Texans, including Grayland Arnold, Jalen Pitre and Jon Weeks. The Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers, Tennessee Titans, Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings each feature two Bears.
• All-America defensive lineman Siaki Ika was a third-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and is in his rookie season with the Cleveland Browns.
RANKED IN 10 OF LAST 13 SEASONS
• The Bears enter the 2023 season receiving votes in the AP and USA TODAY Coaches Polls.
• Baylor was ranked or receiving votes in 10 of 16 polls in 2022.
• Baylor has been ranked in the AP Top 25 in 10 of 13 seasons since 2010, after going 17 years between national rankings (1993-2010). BU has been ranked in 23 of 25 spots since 2013 (exceptions No. 1 and No. 23).
FASTEST GUY IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL
• Junior wide receiver Monaray Baldwin was clocked as the fastest player in college football in 2022, coming on a TD catch vs. Oklahoma State.
• Baldwin, a 5-foot-9, 170-pound dynamo was clocked at 22.8 MPH on the GPS on the TD vs. OSU.
• Baldwin has been ranked as one of the top-100 "freaks" in college football by The Athletic, with his speed and alarming strength (405 bench, 550 squad, 300 power clean) allowing him to stand out.
• The Bears use Baldwin in a variety of ways in addition to his role as a primary slot receiver. Baldwin has the ability to carry the rock on jet sweep and reverse plays and return punts and kickoffs.
KETRON A WELCOME ADDITION
• A major story for the Bears over the course of the spring and preseason has been the development of skill-player weapons in 2023. A lead in that process has been the addition of Arkansas WR transfer Ketron Jackson Jr.
• Jackson, a 6-foot-3, 208-pounder played in 25 games over the last two seasons in Fayetteville, totaling 21 catches for 374 yards and four TDs.
• Jackson has been the primary outside weapon for the Bears throughout the spring and into the opening stages of the season. He owns elite speed and ball skills and has the ability to win contested catches down the sideline.
• When Jackson arrived for spring practice as a priority transfer, he made it known to WR coach Dallas Baker, he didn't want anything given to him in terms of playing time and team status, that he was going to work for everything. "I told him that before I came in because I know how that is," said Jackson. "I respect those guys; I'm not going to do that. I'm going to work for whatever I get."
ARANDA THROUGH 36 GAMES IN BAYLOR HISTORY
• Dave Aranda is 20-16 in his first 36 games as the Baylor head coach, which is the most since Chuck Reedy went 21-15 from 1993-95. Only George Sauer (1950-52), Morley Jenkins (1926-28), Frank Bridges (1920-22) and Charles P. Mosely (1914-16) has more wins through the first 36 games of their BU head coaching career.
MATEOS MAKES 40 UNDER 40 LIST
• Baylor offensive line coach Eric Mateos has been honored as one of the '40 Under 40' Coaches in Texas by Dave Campbell's Texas Football, featuring high school and collegiate coaches.
• Mateos is in his third year as the offensive line coach for Baylor, after a decorated two-year run at BYU. He joined the Cougars staff following two years as the offensive line coach at Texas State. He prepped his coaching career as an offensive line coach at Hutchinson College, three years as a graduate assistant at Arkansas (2013-15) and a season as the graduate assistant at LSU, where he also served as the full-time tight ends coach midway through the year.
• Mateos has led dynamic offensive line units in Waco during his previous two seasons. In his first season, the Bears boasted the Big 12's best rushing attack, averaging 219.3 yards per game, the 10th-best mark in the nation. Baylor allowed the second-fewest sacks in the circuit and finished as semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award, given to the nation's best offensive line. Connor Galvin earned Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year and All-America honors from The Athletic and Associated Press. He was one of two All-Americans on the offensive line during Baylor's 2021 Big 12 Championship season, as Jacob Gall was named second-team All-America by the Football Writers Association of America.
• Last year, Mateos formed an elite group that totaled 182.4 rushing yards per game, totaling 2,371 total rushing yards. The Bears had 34 rushing TDs, the seventh-most in school history. Gall and Galvin each earned honorable mention All-America honors from Phil Steele and Gall was tabbed as the Best Offensive Lineman in Texas by DCTF.
• A native of Overland Park, Kan., Mateos came to Waco following two seasons at BYU, where the Cougs ranked among the nation's top-15 in 10 different offensive statistical categories, including ranking third in scoring and seventh in total offense. He mentored consensus All-America offensive tackle Brady Christensen and held direct BYU to just 12 sacks allowed in 12 games and 34 rushing TDs, the fourth-most in the nation. BYU went 11-1 in 2022, following a Hawaii Bowl berth in his first season in 2019, that saw BYU own the nation's eighth-best offense.
GRIMES BRINGS RVO TO WACO
• Offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes - entering his third year at Baylor - has brought RVO to Waco - "Reliable Violent Offense" - an attacking, multiple-formation offense that runs a few plays a lot of ways with as much misdirection as any team in the country.
• In 2022, Baylor ranked among the tops in single-season offensive output in program history, totaling the seventh-most TDs (34), the 10th most total yards (5,380) and first downs (296), while ranking fourth-best in completion percentage (63.0).
• Baylor's offense ended the year in 2021 ranked 10th in rushing offense (219.3 yards per game), 19th in fewest interceptions thrown (seven), 14th in fewest sacks allowed (1.29/game), 20th in time of possession (31:31) and 40th in scoring offense (31.6).
• The Bears increased their rushing output by 129 yards per game from 2020 (219.3 ypg, up from 90.3 ypg), without sacrificing the passing game (203.4 passing yards per game in 2021, 219.9 ypg in 2020).
• Grimes' 2020 BYU offense finished third nationally in scoring (43.5 ppg) and seventh in total offense (522.2 ypg).
• Joining Grimes in making the move from Provo to Waco in 2021 was offensive line coach Eric Mateos, who spent two seasons at BYU. Mateos' offensive line ranked eighth nationally in 2020 with 1.0 sacks allowed per game, and the Bears ranked 14th nationally with only 1.29 sacks allowed per game in 2021.
FUDGE FOOTBALL DEVELOPMENT CENTER
• The Bears have a bevy of facility projects underway in Waco to keep Baylor among the nation's elite in terms of student-athlete support. One major project that is slated to be completed in time for the 2024 preseason is the Fudge Family Football Development Center.
• The Fudge Center will provide a new home for Baylor football, including locker rooms, meeting spaces, weight rooms, training rooms, coaching offices and recruiting areas. The state of the art building will connect to the existing Allison Indoor Facility, which will be expanded to feature a full 120-yard practice field.
• In addition to the Fudge Development Center, Baylor is preparing to open the Foster Pavilion across I-35, which will be the new home for men's and women's basketball. The building is slated to open in January for the conference basketball seasons.
BEARS LAUNCH BAYLOR+
• Baylor Athletics has launched Baylor+, the official content platform for the Bears. It will offer fans an insider's look into the experiences of student-athletes and coaches as well as the compelling stories that shape Baylor Athletics. Baylor+ will feature exciting coverage of the current teams in Waco, while celebrating beloved Bears' Legends and pivotal moments from the past.
• Through an exciting new partnership with Sport & Story, the leading provider of creative storytelling content in college athletics, Baylor+ is unlike anything Baylor fans have experienced before. The platform will be the home for an extensive range of original content covering all of Baylor's sports programs, with behind-the-scenes access, captivating interviews, never-before-seen archival material and historical documentary films, as well as news and information.
ARANDA ONE OF TOP DEFENSIVE MINDS IN COUNTRY
• Fourth-year head coach Dave Aranda has earned a reputation as one of the nation's top defensive minds over his 20-plus-year career, including stops as defensive coordinator at LSU, Wisconsin, Utah State and Hawaii.
• Aranda led the LSU defense in 2019 as the Tigers posted a perfect 15-0 record and won the National Title with a 42-25 victory over Clemson in CFP National Championship Game.
• In six seasons as defensive coordinator at Power 5 schools from 2014-19, his defenses were ranked top-12 nationally in total yards five times. The units also ranked top-10 in scoring four times in seven years from 2013-19.
MARSHALL FOURTH OLDEST NON-KICKER IN NATION
• Defensive lineman David Marshall Jr., a sophomore, ranks as the fourth-oldest non-kicker in college football, checking in at 25 years old with a birthday in late November.
• Marshall came to the Bears following a brief junior college stint at Navarro CC, which followed military service. A 6-foot, 279-pounder, Marshall provides great maturity and work ethic to the defensive line room.
IKA NABBED IN NFL DRAFT
• Baylor had defensive lineman Siaki Ika picked in the 2023 NFL Draft, giving Baylor seven selections over the last two years.
• Baylor tied a program record with six players picked in the 2022 NFL Draft, led by four top-three round selections, including safety Jalen Pitre, wide receiver Tyquan Thornton, safety JT Woods and linebacker Terrel Bernard.
ROAD WARRIORS IN 2022
• Baylor won three road games in Big 12 play in 2022, which was just a win shy of equaling the program record for league wins, which had only been done in 2019, and then in 1991 and 1980 in the Southwest Conference.
• The Bears posted wins at Iowa State and Oklahoma and routed Texas Tech in Lubbock, 45-17, in a game that was billed a "black out" and featured the jersey retirement of TTU legend Patrick Mahomes. Baylor picked off five passes from the Texas Tech offense in the win.
• Baylor had only won three or more road games in league play six times in the last 30 years and only five times in the history in the Big 12, dating back to 1996.
• The Bears had gone through a 37-game stretch from 1995-2005 without a road conference win, going 0-4 in every year from 1996-2004. BU was 2-50 in road conference games from 1996-2008.
SPECIALISTS BATTLE
• A fascinating story line in the preseason camp is the battle to replace starters at placekicker, punter and kickoff specialist.
• The Bears have qualified candidate competing for the roles, including sophomore kicker Isaiah Hankins, who is up for all three jobs. Michigan State transfer kicker Jack Stone is competing with Hankins for the field-goal and kickoff specialist role, while Palmer Williams – rated as the top punter recruit in the nation in 2023 – is in the mix with Hankins for the punter role.
• With the departure of four-year starting punter Isaac Power and the all-time leader in field-goal percentage, John Mayers, both roles will feature a new BU player. In addition, kickoff specialist Noah Rauschenberg is trying his hand at field goals with his extra year at North Texas, opening that vacancy for 2023. Power also handled all holding duties in his career, so the Bears will also feature a new player in that key role.
COLDEST BOWL GAME IN FOOTBALL HISTORY
• The Bears advanced to their 11th bowl game in the last 13 years with a berth in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth in 2022, playing Air Force.
• The game was the coldest bowl game in collegiate football history, kicking off at 12 degrees with significant wind throughout the game.
JACKSON SHIFTS TO STAR
• After gaining a seventh year of eligibility, Baylor's Bryson Jackson made a late-career position change heading into 2023. Jackson, a 6-foot-2, 209-pounder had played linebacker throughout his career, excelling as a pass-rush specialist.
• In the spring of 2022, Jackson shifted to the STAR position, a hybrid safety-linebacker role – popularized by Jalen Pitre during the Big 12 Championship season in 2021. He will provide great veteran experience at the position and will rotate with a more traditional safety in certain defensive sets to properly match up with the offensive attack.
• Jackson has played in 48 games entering 2023 and owns 47 tackles, 10.5 tackles for a loss and 6.5 sacks. In 2023, he made two starts at linebacker and played in all 13 games, with 21 tackles, 5.5 for a loss and three sacks, forcing and recovering a fumble and totaling three QB Hurries. He was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 26, after a two-sack, QB hurry game in a win at Iowa State.
LEMEAR PACES SECONDARY
• The Bears return one primary starter in the secondary in 2023, sophomore safety Devin Lemear. A native of Manor, Texas, Lemear started all 13 games at safety as a redshirt freshman.
• Lemear finished with 57 tackles with two for a loss, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries in 2022.
• He will pace a youthful but talented secondary that will feature new cornerbacks on both ends and a new safety starter, in addition to a new starter at STAR.
NEW LOOK O-LINE READY TO MAUL
• The Baylor offensive line will break in four new starters on the offensive line, as departing starters Connor Galvin, Jacob Gall, Grant Miller and Khalil Keith have graduated to professional football.
• The Bears return a starter in Gavin Byers, who is working on the interior of the offensive line after starting at right tackle in 2022. BU will be able to immediately plug in BYU transfers Clark and Campbell Barrington on the offensive line, with Clark set to start at center and Campbell running at left tackle. Sophomore Tate Williams and George Maile are candidates to start at guard, while Elijah Ellis, Alvin Ebosele and Kaden Sieracki are in the mix at tackle opposite Campbell Barrington.
• Nationally, the Bears rank 36th in college football in games played on the offensive line entering the year, which includes transfer portal additions.
FRANKLIN, HALL LEAD D-LINE
• The Baylor defensive line is paced in 2023 by the return of senior standouts TJ Franklin and Gabe Hall. Franklin enters his fifth season of competition, while Hall is a veteran fourth-year senior.
• A native of Temple, Texas, Franklin made 10 starts at defensive end last year and has played in 45 games over his first four seasons. He totaled 36 tackles, three for a loss, and 1.5 sacks last year.
• Hall, a native of Waller, Texas, made 12 starts a defensive end in 2022 and finished with 36 tackles, 5.5 stops for a loss and 4.5 sacks, returning a fumble for a touchdown. He had four QB hurries, two break-ups and one blocked kick as a junior. He has played in 35 games in his three-year career entering 2023 and enters the season as a two-time member of Bruce Feldman's Freaks List via The Athletic.
FOOTBALL HISTORY
• The Bears are entering their 122nd season of football in 2023. The Bears have fielded a varsity team every year since 1899, save the 1906, 1943 and 1944 seasons.
• BU has won nine conference titles, including in 2021, with three Big 12 Championships and six Southwest Conference Championships.
• Baylor's first season came in 1899-1900, a 5-1 record under Coach R.H. Hamilton that included two wins over Toby's Business.
ONE STANDARD. ONE ACCORD.
• Baylor unveiled a mission statement under Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Mack Rhoades in the fall of 2018, "One Standard. One Accord", which is centered on the distinct purpose of Preparing Champions for Life through academic achievement, athletic success, spiritual growth and character formation.
ABOUT BAYLOR
• Baylor is situated on a 1,000-acre campus located on the Brazos River in Waco, Texas, and was chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers. It is the oldest continually operating university in Texas. Baylor is a R1 Institution according to the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
• BU sponsors 19 varsity sports as members of the Big 12 Conference and boasts the 2021 Men's Basketball National Champions, the 2005, 2012 and 2019 Women's Basketball National Champions and the 2004 Men's Tennis National Champions, in addition to 88 Big 12 Conference Championships in the league's 25-year history.
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+, with Pete Sousa (play-by-play) and LaDarrin Mclane (analyst) calling the action. Fans can also hear the game on the Baylor Sports Network, with the Voice of the Bear, John Morris (play-by-play), and Baylor greats J.J. Joe (analyst) and Ricky Thompson (sideline) on the call.
STORY LINES
• Baylor has a program-record and nation-leading eight home games, including the first four to open the year.
• The Bears advanced to their 11th bowl game in the last 13 years in 2022.
• The Bears return 11 starters, including five on offense and four on defense, with two specialists, while also returning 36 letterwinners.
• Coach Dave Aranda is in his fourth year at the helm of the program in Waco and with a 20-16 record owns the best 36-game record since Chuck Reedy went 21-15 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.
• Baylor is receiving votes in the 2023 preseason USA TODAY Coaches Poll.
• 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.
• Baylor is 12-5 under Aranda at McLane Stadium and have gone 10-3 over the last two seasons at home.
• In the state of Texas, Baylor has the third-most wins in the state since 2011, behind only Houston and TCU.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
SERIES HISTORY WITH THE BOBCATS
• Baylor and Texas State will be meeting for the 10th time in series history, in a series that dates back to 1909.
• Baylor has won all previous meetings in the series, including the eight played in Waco.
• Last year, the Bears claimed a week 3 win over Texas State, 42-7 in Waco.
• The Bears opened up a 14-0 lead through the early stages of the second quarter in the meeting last year and after allowing a 54-yard scoring drive late in the half, took a 21-7 lead into the break. Baylor then scored 28 straight to end the game to secure the win. Richard Reese rushed for three TDs and 156 yards, while Blake Shapen threw for 184 yards on 15-of-26 passing with 42 rushing yards and a score. Gavin Holmes finished with three grabs for 46 yards and a TD. Layne Hatcher threw for 186 yards with a TD on 24-of-36 passing for Texas State, while Calvin Hill rushed for 41 yards on 12 totes and Ashtyn Hawkins had 13 catches for 114 yards and a score.
BEARS IN SEASON OPENERS
• Baylor owns an 81-36-4 all-time record in season lid-lifters.
• The Bears are 91-26-4 in home openers.
• Baylor is 4-0 in season openers in matchups with Texas State.
• Under Coach Dave Aranda, the Bears are 3-0 in season lid-lifters and 3-0 in home openers.
BROTHER VS. BROTHER
• Baylor wide receiver Landry Kinne is the brother of first-year Texas State head coach G.J. Kinne.
• Landry Kinne made the switch from quarterback – the position he played in his first season on campus in 2022 – to wide receiver in the spring of 2023. It was a similar move that G.J. made in 2015 with the Philadelphia Eagles.
• Landry is in his second year after playing the two seasons at Tyler Junior College as a QB in 2020-21. He prepped locally at La Vega High School, leading his team to the state championship game in 2019.
• The father of Landry and G.J., Gary Joe – played linebacker at Baylor from 1986-89 and later served on the coaching staff.
CONNECTING THE TEAMS
• Just a couple hours away from each other, and with coaching units that have been in the state of Texas, there are several connections between the two teams, none more notable than Texas State head coach G.J. Kinne being the son of former Baylor linebacker Gary Joe Kinne and the brother of current BU wide receiver Landry.
• Baylor third-year offensive line coach Eric Mateos coached the 2017 and 2018 seasons as the offensive line coach with the Bobcats.
• Coach Dave Aranda served on the same Hawaii staff in 2008 as Texas State's Craig Stutzmann, who is the passing-game coordinator and wide receivers coach for the Bobcats. Aranda was the defensive line coach in 2008 for Hawaii.
SCOUTING THE CATS
• Texas State is under first-year head coach G.J. Kinne, who came to the Cats after a 12-win season in his lone year as a head coach at UIW. Kinne prepped as a coach at SMU (2017), Arkansas (2018), Philadelphia Eagles (2019), Hawaii (2020) and UCF (2021) before getting the head job in downtown San Antonio.
• Kinne replaces Jake Spavital for third-year athletics director Don Coryell and credits UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor, his high school coach at Gilmer High School in Gilmer, Texas, as his lead mentor. Kinne and Traylor face off in week 2. Kinne led UIW to the FCS semifinals in his lone year as a head coach, falling at powerhouse North Dakota State in Fargo, N.D., which followed a thrilling 66-63 win over second-ranked Sacramento State in the quarterfinals.
• Kinne brought his offensive coordinator, Mack Leftwich, and his defensive coordinator Jonathan Patke from UIW. Leftwich spent the 2018-22 seasons at UIW under multiple head coaches, while Patke served as the linebackers coach/special teams coordinator at Miami from 2018-21 before joining the UIW staff.
• Texas State looks poised to use former Arkansas QB Malik Hornsby as its signal caller in 2023, with wide receiver Ashtyn Hawkins, who had seven TDs and 587 receiving yards last year, set to lead the offense. RB Calvin Hill rushed 76 times for 333 yards and a score during the 4-8 TXST season in 2022. Defensively, Jordan Revels had 70 tackles, 11 for a loss, and 4.5 sacks as a junior for the Cats. The Bobcats will run a likely wide-open offense, with the passing game coordinated by Craig Stutzmann, who was the offensive coordinator at Utah Tech and led an offense dubbed the "Spread-N-Shred". The defense under Patke will likely feature a base 4-2-5 alignment.
• Coryell is in his third year as the AD after spending 19 years in the athletics department. He leads a 16-sport department in the Sun Belt Conference and in 2021-22 the Cats won the Bubas Cup, given to the best program in the Sun Belt. A 1998 graduate of Lamar who played basketball for the Cardinals and played a season overseas professionally, began his career as the Assistant AD for Development at Lamar before joining the Bobcats staff in an external role. Travis Comer is the sport administrator for football and has been with TXST since 2008, currently serving as the Executive Senior Associate AD for Development and Administration.
PRESEASON HONORS
• The Bears have had a bevy of honors in the preseason, including members of several watch lists, including safety Alfonzo Allen (Wuerffel Trophy), offensive lineman Clark Barrington (Rimington Trophy), defensive lineman Gabe Hall (Bronko Nagurski Trophy) and running back Richard Reese (Maxwell Award, Doak Walker Award).
• In addition, the College Football Network named Baylor the Preseason Big 12 Offensive Line of the Year.
STAFF ADDITIONS
• Baylor added several key members to its coaching and support staff in the offseason.
• The Bears have added new defensive coordinator Matt Powledge, who will also coach safeties, after Powledge spent the 2022 season as the co-defensive coordinator at Oregon. A native of Huntsville, Texas, Powledge spent two seasons as the safeties and special teams coordinator at Baylor in 2020-21 before joining the staff at Oregon.
• AJ Steward has been tabbed as the assistant head coach and running backs coach for the Bears after spending the last two seasons as the running backs coach at Oregon State. He previously had stops at Arizona (2020), BYU (2018-19) – where he coached with Jeff Grimes and Eric Mateos – and Rice (2012-17). A native of St. Louis, Mo., Steward helped Oregon State to a 10-3 record last year.
• Baylor also added Christian Robinson as the coach of the inside linebackers, with Robinson joining the staff after coaching linebackers at Auburn in 2022, which followed four seasons in the same role at Florida. Robinson, a native of Norcross, Ga., has also had coaching stops at Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Georgia, where he played for a pair of SEC Eastern Division Championship teams.
BALDWIN, HALL ON 'FREAKS' LIST
• Baylor has a pair of players represented on The Athletic's list of "Freaks" in college football, put together annually by Bruce Feldman.
• Junior WR Monaray Baldwin earned the No. 42 spot on the list of 100, a year after leading the Bears with 33 catches, with 565 yards and four TDs. He hit 22.8 MPH on the GPS during a TD catch vs. Oklahoma State, which marked the fastest player in college football in 2022. A 5-foot-9, 170-pounder, Baldwin bench presses 405 pounds, squats 550 pounds and power cleans 300.
• Senior defensive lineman Gabe Hall checked in No. 45 on the Freaks list. A 6-6, 296-pounder, Hall bench presses 500 pounds, squats 565, cleans 365 and did a 750-pound trap bar deadlift. He has also hit 19.9 MPH on the GPS.
REESE SETS FRESHMAN RUSHING RECORD
• Baylor's offense was spearheaded in 2022 by the emergence of running back Richard Reese, who shattered the program record for rushing yards (972) by a freshman.
• Reese ranked fourth in the nation among freshmen rushers in 2022 and second with 14 rushing TDs, which also ranked fourth in program single-season history.
• Reese enters the 2023 season on the Maxwell Award and Doak Walker Award Watch Lists, and has earned preseason first-team All-Big 12 honors from Athlon Sports, the Big 12 media and Pro Football Focus.
HEAVY ON GRADUATES
• The Bears boast eight graduates on the 2023 roster, including five graduate transfers.
• Returning graduates include Jacoby Clarke, TJ Franklin and Bryson Jackson, while Clark Barrington (BYU), Treven Ma'ae (Oregon), Justin Sambu (Maine), Mike Smith (Liberty) and Byron Vaughns (Utah State) joined the Bears after completing their undergraduate degrees.
• The Bears are coming off a strong semester in the spring and contributed to a 3.30 Baylor Athletics departmental GPA last spring.
HOLDING SERVE AT McLANE
• Baylor owns a 12-5 record at McLane Stadium under the direction of Coach Dave Aranda, including a 10-3 mark over the last two years. The Bears had a nine-game winning streak at home snapped in a loss to Oklahoma State.
PERSON > PLAYER
• A hallmark of Coach Dave Aranda's philosophy in building a program is placing an importance on understanding that the person is more important than the player. This mantra is executed in everything the program touches on a daily basis. Throughout the football building, signage adorns the walls that emphasize, "better people make better players" and that Baylor will "win with character".
• Aranda preaches that players focus on today and be authentically themselves in an effort to be comfortable and confident in their roles.
CHASING RUSH DEFENSE HISTORY
• The Bears opened the 2022 season holding each of their first four opponents, and five of their first seven, to under 100 rushing yards. It marked the longest streak of consecutive games holding foes to under 100 yards on the ground since 1953, when the Bears held opponents in games 2-6 (Miami, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, TCU) to under 100 yards rushing.
• The season program standard for holding an opponent to 100 yards or fewer on the ground came in 1986, when the Bears held Wyoming, LA Tech, USC, Houston, Texas A&M, Rice and Texas to under 100 yards rushing. BU held six opponents to 100 yards or fewer on the ground during the historic 2021 season.
• A total of 11 opponents in the last two years haven't reached 100 yards rushing, the best two-season total in program annals.
BAYLOR LEADS NATION IN FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL WINS
• Baylor athletics is in the midst of a historic run of success, including recent national titles in men's and women's basketball, and football coming off a Big 12 Conference Championship in 2021 and the 2022 Sugar Bowl.
• Since 2011, and as of the end of the 2022-23 athletics season, no other school can compete with Baylor's run, as the Bears lead the nation in wins combined among football, and men's and women's basketball. Baylor has 58 more wins than the next closest school, Notre Dame. The next Big 12 Conference team on the list is BYU at No. 13, Texas at No. 22 and West Virginia at No. 25.
TIGHT END U
• Baylor's offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes is also the tight-end coach for the Bears, marking one of just 10 coaches in college football to serve in those two roles.
• Grimes is one of two offensive coordinators who also serves as the tight-ends coach in the Big 12, joining Andy Kotelnicki at Kansas.
• The Bears are consistently talent rich at the tight end position and Grimes places tremendous value in the TE role in his offensive attack. Baylor regularly runs sets with two or three tight ends on the field at the same time and in 2023, boast a plethora of talent in the position, including sophomore bruiser Kelsey Johnson, North Texas transfer Jake Roberts and senior Drake Dabney. In addition, the Bears can use tight end Gavin Yates in a variety of roles, and boast youthful talent in Cody Mladenka and true freshmen Matthew Klopfenstein and Hawkins Polley.
ADDING VIA THE PORTAL
• Following the 2021 Big 12 Championship season, the Bears elected to approach the offseason with caution in relation to the embracing of the transfer portal. The Bears added just a handlful of players via the portal before the 2022 season and with a roster full of youth at skill positions during the season, Baylor has taken a different approach leading into 2023.
• Coach Dave Aranda spoke openly about his adaptation and growth via the portal during the preseason talking circuit: "One of the struggles for me," Aranda said, "has always been if you say yes to something, a player outside your team that's in the portal, you're saying no to a player on your team that maybe is struggling from an injury, that's maybe trying to get his class, his schoolwork in order, that's maybe trying to hone the techniques of his new position that he's playing or maybe he's trying to gain weight or any of those things. When you bring somebody in, you almost kind of stunt the growth of that person. For me to kind of come to grips with, 'Hey, this is what needs to happen for the betterment of the team' as opposed to just looking at what's best for that one particular player on your team."
• The Bears added 13 players via the transfer portal in 2023, including 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.
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF EXTRA YEARS
• A total of six Baylor Bears are using 2023 as their additional year of eligibility through the NCAA's COVID-19 impacted rules.
• Two returnees, including TJ Franklin and Bryson Jackson, are using 2023 as their COVID years, while transfers Mike Smith Jr., Byron Vaughns, Justin Sambu and Clark Barrington are all transfers from previous institutions and enter the season already possessing their undergraduate degrees.
SPRING ENROLEES
• A total of 21 of Baylor's newcomers arrived on campus to participate in spring practice.
• Transfers Isaiah Dunson (Miami), Sawyer Robertson (Mississippi State), RJ Martinez (Northern Arizona), Domininc Richardson (Oklahoma St.), Mike Smith (Liberty), Clark Barrington (BYU), Campbell Barrington (BYU), David Marshall Jr. (Navarro CC), Jake Roberts (UNT) and Jack Stone (Michigan State) all enrolled in time for spring practice. Several freshmen including Carl Williams, Caden Jenkins, Bryson Washington, Hawkins Polley, Matthew Klopfenstein, Jonathan Nielsen, Wes Tucker, Micah Gifford, Tay'Shawn Wilson and Palmer Williams all got a jump on spring ball.
SHAPEN IS QB1
• Baylor junior Blake Shapen won the quarterback competition after a strong spring practice. The 2021 Big 12 Championship Most Outstanding Player, Shapen set a Big 12 Championship and AT&T Stadium (college games) record with 17-straight completions in the first half vs. Oklahoma State.
• He won the starting job in the 2021 spring as well and made all 13 starts as a sophomore in 2022. Shapen threw for 2,790 yards and 18 TDs during the year, adding a pair of rushing scores.
• Shapen played in six games with two starts in 2021 after a redshirt season in 2020, throwing for 596 yards and five TDs without an interception, completing 72.1 percent of his attempts.
• A native of Shreveport, La., Shapen came to Baylor as a two-sport athlete, and was on the baseball 2021 roster after coming out of high school as the No. 1-ranked high school shortstop prospect and the fourth-best HS prospect overall in Louisiana.
• He prepped at Evangel Christian Academy, where he was a four-star prospect according to ESPN and was ranked as the No. 22 QB nationally.
FOURTH-DOWN AGGRESSIVENESS
• Baylor under Coach Dave Aranda is one of the most aggressive teams in college football on fourth down. In 2022, the Bears ranked second nationally in fourth-down conversions (30), trailing only Texas Tech (33).
• The Bears converted 63.8 percent of their fourth-down attempts, which ranked 12th among teams that have attempted 15+ fourth-down tries in 2022.
18 STRAIGHT GAMES HOLDING OPPONENT UNDER 30
• Over the course of the 2021 season during the start of 2022, Baylor's defense put up a historic run, the likes of which haven't been seen in 36 years, holding 18 consecutive opponents to 30 or fewer points.
• It was the longest such Baylor streak in the modern-era of college football and the longest since 1984-86. Only three times since 1964 has Baylor had a streak of 18 or more games holding an opponent to 30 or fewer points, also doing it in 1979-81, a 25-game stretch.
• The Bears were one of only three teams to hold each opponent of 2021 under 30 points, joining Clemson and Cincinnati. Last year, Baylor on average held opponents to 10.6 points per game below their averages in other games.
SCHOOL-RECORD, NCAA-LEADING EIGHT HOME GAMES
• Baylor will host a school-record eight home games at McLane Stadium in 2023.
• Baylor is the only school in the nation with eight home games in 2023 and one of 20 schools with seven or more home games.
• The season lid-lifter will start a stretch of four consecutive home games and the Bears will play five of their first six at home to open the year. The eight home games is the most in program history, and the four straight to open the year at home marks the most consecutive home games to start a season since the 2013 Big 12 Championship season.
SECOND-MOST WINS IN TEXAS IN LAST 10+ YEARS
• Through the 2022 season, Baylor has won 96 games since 2011, second-most among the state of Texas' 12 FBS teams.
• BU's 96 wins in the last 10+ years are shy of Houston (97) and tied with Texas A&M (96) and TCU (96), and ahead of Texas (84), SMU (70), Texas Tech (69), UTSA (69), North Texas (66), Rice (54), UTEP (43) and Texas State (39).
BARRINGTON BROS
• A big boost for the Baylor offensive attack came in the form of a BYU transfer offensive lineman, Clark and Campbell Barrington, brothers from Spokane, Wash.
• The dynamic duo arrived in time for spring practice in 2022 and immediately slotted into the rotation, with Clark manning center and Campbell seeing time primarily at left tackle.
• The Barringtons are the only brother combination in the nation to start on the offensive line.
• Clark arrives having played 46 games with 40 starts at BYU, where he started the final 37 games of his career. He started all 13 games in 2022 for the Cougs at left guard, which followed an All-America season in 2021.
• Campbell played in nine games in 2022 as he battled injury. It followed a Freshman All-America season in 2021, where he helped the BYU offense score 33 points per game and average over 450 yards of total offense.
• The Barrington Bros unite with offensive line coach Eric Mateos, who coached Clark at BYU and recruited Campbell. BU OC Jeff Grimes was also the offensive coordinator while Clark was with the Cougs.
WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE
• Baylor has forced considerably more turnovers than it has allowed in 36 games under head coach Dave Aranda.
• BU has 65 takeaways (45 INTs, 19 FR) and 41 giveaways (26 INTs, 15 FL) in 36 games under Aranda.
• Baylor has scored 11 non-offensive touchdowns in 35 games under Aranda – three kickoff returns (Ebner x 3), five interception returns (Pitre x 2, McCarty, Walcott, Woods), one punt return (Holmes) and two fumble returns (Hall, Woods).
FORMER BEARS IN PRO BALL
• As of training camp on Aug. 10, there are 26 former Baylor Bears on NFL rosters.
• In addition to the 26 on NFL rosters for training camp, there are four players on XFL rosters and three on USFL rosters.
• Baylor has a league-high three players on the Houston Texans, including Grayland Arnold, Jalen Pitre and Jon Weeks. The Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers, Tennessee Titans, Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings each feature two Bears.
• All-America defensive lineman Siaki Ika was a third-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and is in his rookie season with the Cleveland Browns.
RANKED IN 10 OF LAST 13 SEASONS
• The Bears enter the 2023 season receiving votes in the AP and USA TODAY Coaches Polls.
• Baylor was ranked or receiving votes in 10 of 16 polls in 2022.
• Baylor has been ranked in the AP Top 25 in 10 of 13 seasons since 2010, after going 17 years between national rankings (1993-2010). BU has been ranked in 23 of 25 spots since 2013 (exceptions No. 1 and No. 23).
FASTEST GUY IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL
• Junior wide receiver Monaray Baldwin was clocked as the fastest player in college football in 2022, coming on a TD catch vs. Oklahoma State.
• Baldwin, a 5-foot-9, 170-pound dynamo was clocked at 22.8 MPH on the GPS on the TD vs. OSU.
• Baldwin has been ranked as one of the top-100 "freaks" in college football by The Athletic, with his speed and alarming strength (405 bench, 550 squad, 300 power clean) allowing him to stand out.
• The Bears use Baldwin in a variety of ways in addition to his role as a primary slot receiver. Baldwin has the ability to carry the rock on jet sweep and reverse plays and return punts and kickoffs.
KETRON A WELCOME ADDITION
• A major story for the Bears over the course of the spring and preseason has been the development of skill-player weapons in 2023. A lead in that process has been the addition of Arkansas WR transfer Ketron Jackson Jr.
• Jackson, a 6-foot-3, 208-pounder played in 25 games over the last two seasons in Fayetteville, totaling 21 catches for 374 yards and four TDs.
• Jackson has been the primary outside weapon for the Bears throughout the spring and into the opening stages of the season. He owns elite speed and ball skills and has the ability to win contested catches down the sideline.
• When Jackson arrived for spring practice as a priority transfer, he made it known to WR coach Dallas Baker, he didn't want anything given to him in terms of playing time and team status, that he was going to work for everything. "I told him that before I came in because I know how that is," said Jackson. "I respect those guys; I'm not going to do that. I'm going to work for whatever I get."
ARANDA THROUGH 36 GAMES IN BAYLOR HISTORY
• Dave Aranda is 20-16 in his first 36 games as the Baylor head coach, which is the most since Chuck Reedy went 21-15 from 1993-95. Only George Sauer (1950-52), Morley Jenkins (1926-28), Frank Bridges (1920-22) and Charles P. Mosely (1914-16) has more wins through the first 36 games of their BU head coaching career.
MATEOS MAKES 40 UNDER 40 LIST
• Baylor offensive line coach Eric Mateos has been honored as one of the '40 Under 40' Coaches in Texas by Dave Campbell's Texas Football, featuring high school and collegiate coaches.
• Mateos is in his third year as the offensive line coach for Baylor, after a decorated two-year run at BYU. He joined the Cougars staff following two years as the offensive line coach at Texas State. He prepped his coaching career as an offensive line coach at Hutchinson College, three years as a graduate assistant at Arkansas (2013-15) and a season as the graduate assistant at LSU, where he also served as the full-time tight ends coach midway through the year.
• Mateos has led dynamic offensive line units in Waco during his previous two seasons. In his first season, the Bears boasted the Big 12's best rushing attack, averaging 219.3 yards per game, the 10th-best mark in the nation. Baylor allowed the second-fewest sacks in the circuit and finished as semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award, given to the nation's best offensive line. Connor Galvin earned Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year and All-America honors from The Athletic and Associated Press. He was one of two All-Americans on the offensive line during Baylor's 2021 Big 12 Championship season, as Jacob Gall was named second-team All-America by the Football Writers Association of America.
• Last year, Mateos formed an elite group that totaled 182.4 rushing yards per game, totaling 2,371 total rushing yards. The Bears had 34 rushing TDs, the seventh-most in school history. Gall and Galvin each earned honorable mention All-America honors from Phil Steele and Gall was tabbed as the Best Offensive Lineman in Texas by DCTF.
• A native of Overland Park, Kan., Mateos came to Waco following two seasons at BYU, where the Cougs ranked among the nation's top-15 in 10 different offensive statistical categories, including ranking third in scoring and seventh in total offense. He mentored consensus All-America offensive tackle Brady Christensen and held direct BYU to just 12 sacks allowed in 12 games and 34 rushing TDs, the fourth-most in the nation. BYU went 11-1 in 2022, following a Hawaii Bowl berth in his first season in 2019, that saw BYU own the nation's eighth-best offense.
GRIMES BRINGS RVO TO WACO
• Offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes - entering his third year at Baylor - has brought RVO to Waco - "Reliable Violent Offense" - an attacking, multiple-formation offense that runs a few plays a lot of ways with as much misdirection as any team in the country.
• In 2022, Baylor ranked among the tops in single-season offensive output in program history, totaling the seventh-most TDs (34), the 10th most total yards (5,380) and first downs (296), while ranking fourth-best in completion percentage (63.0).
• Baylor's offense ended the year in 2021 ranked 10th in rushing offense (219.3 yards per game), 19th in fewest interceptions thrown (seven), 14th in fewest sacks allowed (1.29/game), 20th in time of possession (31:31) and 40th in scoring offense (31.6).
• The Bears increased their rushing output by 129 yards per game from 2020 (219.3 ypg, up from 90.3 ypg), without sacrificing the passing game (203.4 passing yards per game in 2021, 219.9 ypg in 2020).
• Grimes' 2020 BYU offense finished third nationally in scoring (43.5 ppg) and seventh in total offense (522.2 ypg).
• Joining Grimes in making the move from Provo to Waco in 2021 was offensive line coach Eric Mateos, who spent two seasons at BYU. Mateos' offensive line ranked eighth nationally in 2020 with 1.0 sacks allowed per game, and the Bears ranked 14th nationally with only 1.29 sacks allowed per game in 2021.
FUDGE FOOTBALL DEVELOPMENT CENTER
• The Bears have a bevy of facility projects underway in Waco to keep Baylor among the nation's elite in terms of student-athlete support. One major project that is slated to be completed in time for the 2024 preseason is the Fudge Family Football Development Center.
• The Fudge Center will provide a new home for Baylor football, including locker rooms, meeting spaces, weight rooms, training rooms, coaching offices and recruiting areas. The state of the art building will connect to the existing Allison Indoor Facility, which will be expanded to feature a full 120-yard practice field.
• In addition to the Fudge Development Center, Baylor is preparing to open the Foster Pavilion across I-35, which will be the new home for men's and women's basketball. The building is slated to open in January for the conference basketball seasons.
BEARS LAUNCH BAYLOR+
• Baylor Athletics has launched Baylor+, the official content platform for the Bears. It will offer fans an insider's look into the experiences of student-athletes and coaches as well as the compelling stories that shape Baylor Athletics. Baylor+ will feature exciting coverage of the current teams in Waco, while celebrating beloved Bears' Legends and pivotal moments from the past.
• Through an exciting new partnership with Sport & Story, the leading provider of creative storytelling content in college athletics, Baylor+ is unlike anything Baylor fans have experienced before. The platform will be the home for an extensive range of original content covering all of Baylor's sports programs, with behind-the-scenes access, captivating interviews, never-before-seen archival material and historical documentary films, as well as news and information.
ARANDA ONE OF TOP DEFENSIVE MINDS IN COUNTRY
• Fourth-year head coach Dave Aranda has earned a reputation as one of the nation's top defensive minds over his 20-plus-year career, including stops as defensive coordinator at LSU, Wisconsin, Utah State and Hawaii.
• Aranda led the LSU defense in 2019 as the Tigers posted a perfect 15-0 record and won the National Title with a 42-25 victory over Clemson in CFP National Championship Game.
• In six seasons as defensive coordinator at Power 5 schools from 2014-19, his defenses were ranked top-12 nationally in total yards five times. The units also ranked top-10 in scoring four times in seven years from 2013-19.
MARSHALL FOURTH OLDEST NON-KICKER IN NATION
• Defensive lineman David Marshall Jr., a sophomore, ranks as the fourth-oldest non-kicker in college football, checking in at 25 years old with a birthday in late November.
• Marshall came to the Bears following a brief junior college stint at Navarro CC, which followed military service. A 6-foot, 279-pounder, Marshall provides great maturity and work ethic to the defensive line room.
IKA NABBED IN NFL DRAFT
• Baylor had defensive lineman Siaki Ika picked in the 2023 NFL Draft, giving Baylor seven selections over the last two years.
• Baylor tied a program record with six players picked in the 2022 NFL Draft, led by four top-three round selections, including safety Jalen Pitre, wide receiver Tyquan Thornton, safety JT Woods and linebacker Terrel Bernard.
ROAD WARRIORS IN 2022
• Baylor won three road games in Big 12 play in 2022, which was just a win shy of equaling the program record for league wins, which had only been done in 2019, and then in 1991 and 1980 in the Southwest Conference.
• The Bears posted wins at Iowa State and Oklahoma and routed Texas Tech in Lubbock, 45-17, in a game that was billed a "black out" and featured the jersey retirement of TTU legend Patrick Mahomes. Baylor picked off five passes from the Texas Tech offense in the win.
• Baylor had only won three or more road games in league play six times in the last 30 years and only five times in the history in the Big 12, dating back to 1996.
• The Bears had gone through a 37-game stretch from 1995-2005 without a road conference win, going 0-4 in every year from 1996-2004. BU was 2-50 in road conference games from 1996-2008.
SPECIALISTS BATTLE
• A fascinating story line in the preseason camp is the battle to replace starters at placekicker, punter and kickoff specialist.
• The Bears have qualified candidate competing for the roles, including sophomore kicker Isaiah Hankins, who is up for all three jobs. Michigan State transfer kicker Jack Stone is competing with Hankins for the field-goal and kickoff specialist role, while Palmer Williams – rated as the top punter recruit in the nation in 2023 – is in the mix with Hankins for the punter role.
• With the departure of four-year starting punter Isaac Power and the all-time leader in field-goal percentage, John Mayers, both roles will feature a new BU player. In addition, kickoff specialist Noah Rauschenberg is trying his hand at field goals with his extra year at North Texas, opening that vacancy for 2023. Power also handled all holding duties in his career, so the Bears will also feature a new player in that key role.
COLDEST BOWL GAME IN FOOTBALL HISTORY
• The Bears advanced to their 11th bowl game in the last 13 years with a berth in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth in 2022, playing Air Force.
• The game was the coldest bowl game in collegiate football history, kicking off at 12 degrees with significant wind throughout the game.
JACKSON SHIFTS TO STAR
• After gaining a seventh year of eligibility, Baylor's Bryson Jackson made a late-career position change heading into 2023. Jackson, a 6-foot-2, 209-pounder had played linebacker throughout his career, excelling as a pass-rush specialist.
• In the spring of 2022, Jackson shifted to the STAR position, a hybrid safety-linebacker role – popularized by Jalen Pitre during the Big 12 Championship season in 2021. He will provide great veteran experience at the position and will rotate with a more traditional safety in certain defensive sets to properly match up with the offensive attack.
• Jackson has played in 48 games entering 2023 and owns 47 tackles, 10.5 tackles for a loss and 6.5 sacks. In 2023, he made two starts at linebacker and played in all 13 games, with 21 tackles, 5.5 for a loss and three sacks, forcing and recovering a fumble and totaling three QB Hurries. He was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 26, after a two-sack, QB hurry game in a win at Iowa State.
LEMEAR PACES SECONDARY
• The Bears return one primary starter in the secondary in 2023, sophomore safety Devin Lemear. A native of Manor, Texas, Lemear started all 13 games at safety as a redshirt freshman.
• Lemear finished with 57 tackles with two for a loss, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries in 2022.
• He will pace a youthful but talented secondary that will feature new cornerbacks on both ends and a new safety starter, in addition to a new starter at STAR.
NEW LOOK O-LINE READY TO MAUL
• The Baylor offensive line will break in four new starters on the offensive line, as departing starters Connor Galvin, Jacob Gall, Grant Miller and Khalil Keith have graduated to professional football.
• The Bears return a starter in Gavin Byers, who is working on the interior of the offensive line after starting at right tackle in 2022. BU will be able to immediately plug in BYU transfers Clark and Campbell Barrington on the offensive line, with Clark set to start at center and Campbell running at left tackle. Sophomore Tate Williams and George Maile are candidates to start at guard, while Elijah Ellis, Alvin Ebosele and Kaden Sieracki are in the mix at tackle opposite Campbell Barrington.
• Nationally, the Bears rank 36th in college football in games played on the offensive line entering the year, which includes transfer portal additions.
FRANKLIN, HALL LEAD D-LINE
• The Baylor defensive line is paced in 2023 by the return of senior standouts TJ Franklin and Gabe Hall. Franklin enters his fifth season of competition, while Hall is a veteran fourth-year senior.
• A native of Temple, Texas, Franklin made 10 starts at defensive end last year and has played in 45 games over his first four seasons. He totaled 36 tackles, three for a loss, and 1.5 sacks last year.
• Hall, a native of Waller, Texas, made 12 starts a defensive end in 2022 and finished with 36 tackles, 5.5 stops for a loss and 4.5 sacks, returning a fumble for a touchdown. He had four QB hurries, two break-ups and one blocked kick as a junior. He has played in 35 games in his three-year career entering 2023 and enters the season as a two-time member of Bruce Feldman's Freaks List via The Athletic.
FOOTBALL HISTORY
• The Bears are entering their 122nd season of football in 2023. The Bears have fielded a varsity team every year since 1899, save the 1906, 1943 and 1944 seasons.
• BU has won nine conference titles, including in 2021, with three Big 12 Championships and six Southwest Conference Championships.
• Baylor's first season came in 1899-1900, a 5-1 record under Coach R.H. Hamilton that included two wins over Toby's Business.
ONE STANDARD. ONE ACCORD.
• Baylor unveiled a mission statement under Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Mack Rhoades in the fall of 2018, "One Standard. One Accord", which is centered on the distinct purpose of Preparing Champions for Life through academic achievement, athletic success, spiritual growth and character formation.
ABOUT BAYLOR
• Baylor is situated on a 1,000-acre campus located on the Brazos River in Waco, Texas, and was chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers. It is the oldest continually operating university in Texas. Baylor is a R1 Institution according to the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
• BU sponsors 19 varsity sports as members of the Big 12 Conference and boasts the 2021 Men's Basketball National Champions, the 2005, 2012 and 2019 Women's Basketball National Champions and the 2004 Men's Tennis National Champions, in addition to 88 Big 12 Conference Championships in the league's 25-year history.
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