4 Keys to a Baylor Football Win Over Colorado
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Baylor starts off their Big 12 slate by hosting the Colorado Buffaloes, led by the enigma that is Coach Deion Sanders.
The Bears (2-1) suffered a brutal overtime loss to 'Coach Prime' in 2024 and will look to equalize on Saturday against a struggling Buffaloes team (2-1).
Here are five keys for Baylor to finish the homestand strong and takedown Colorado:
Attack a struggling defense
The Buffaloes allowed 423 yards and 41 points to Northwestern last week.
The Louisiana Tech defense is probably better than the Colorado defense at this point in the season. When you have an arm like Lagway's and a slot receiver like Gavin Freeman, use them.
Stretch out the Buffalo defense early with some deep balls, then have some surgical, longer drives in the back half of the game.
Protect Lagway
As of right now, DJ Lagway is expected to start but won't be in full form.
"[Lagway] was 70 percent [last] Tuesday," head coach Dave Aranda said. "How about next Tuesday being 90 percent or 85 percent or something like that? Let's take that, you know, and let's have you as close to 100 percent as we can."
If Lagway isn't at 100%, it probably means he still won't be a threat with his legs, making it harder for him to evade pressure.
The worst-case scenario is DJ suffering a bigger injury; the offensive line will have to do a better job at pass protection than they did against Louisiana Tech.
Force early turnovers
Colorado coughed it up four times against Northwestern. Quarterback Julian Lewis threw his first two career interceptions in the meltdown, and the talent of the Baylor defensive line should be able to force the ball out.
Forcing some early takeaways would put this game to rest quickly, as the offense shouldn't have much trouble finding a groove.
Dominate third and fourth down
Baylor's third-down defense struggled against a slippery Bulldog quarterback last week, but it shouldn't have to carry over to the Colorado game.
The Buffaloes failed three of their four fourth-down attempts against Northwestern. Their offense will stall out if the Bears can stay disciplined on third/fourth and short.
Both teams have had penalty issues so far, and Baylor will need to clean that up in order to keep Colorado from extending drives.
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Bennett is an undergrad student at Baylor University, studying journalism on the sports track. He is from the DFW area and grew up playing and watching sports, which inspired him to pursue sports writing.
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