Baylor Red-Zone Report: DJ Lagway Exorcises Demons Against Sun Devils

As the dust finally settles in the aftermath of the Baylor Bears' 55-19 victory over the Arizona State Sun Devils, the unpacking of Saturday night's game can begin in earnest. That includes a breakdown of how the Bears offense performed in the red zone.

In Week 5, Baylor gave its most impressive performance of the season by a wide margin, buoyed in no small part by DJ Lagway's breakout performance. The quarterback, in his second game back from a severe ankle sprain, displayed none of the mobility limitations that hindered him a week ago. Instead, Lagway moved fluidly around the pocket, delivering a series of accurate, deadly back-shoulder throws while threading the needle on others.

With that out of the way, let's dive into the Bears' offensive performance inside the red zone this week.

Red-zone offense by the numbers

The Bears' eight trips inside the red zone on Saturday matched their total from the previous two games combined. The offense produced touchdowns on all but one of those series, and the lone exception still resulted in a field-goal attempt. The Arizona State defense, which entered the week ranked 46th overall by ESPN's SP+, had no answers for Baylor.

While the red-zone offense looked stellar overall, no one shined more than Lagway. He looked entirely in sync with his receivers, including multiple back-shoulder touchdowns (more on that later). As impressive as those scores looked, he arguably didn't have a better throw in the red zone than his connection with Jadon Porter.

Dimes. @DerekLagway ➡️ @PorterJadon #SicEm pic.twitter.com/xyanHgE3lz
— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) October 4, 2026

That alone would have made Saturday's performance important for Lagway, who struggled with passing mechanics during his time at Florida as well as during his brief time at Baylor. However, he also demonstrated the creativity that made him such a coveted recruit coming out of high school.

On Lagway's final play of the night, he noticed Arizona State's hook defender vacating the area to instead carry the tight end. That gave the quarterback an opening to showcase his athleticism.

The cherry on top 🍒#SicEm | @DerekLagway pic.twitter.com/KhREoQJbfY
— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) October 4, 2026

Lagway appears to have shaken off the rust from his multi-week absence. By the end of the night, Lagway had set or tied his career highs for passing touchdowns (four) and rushing scores (one). Each of those came in the red zone.

Red-zone turning point

For a time, the Bears looked like they might have major issues with the Arizona State defense. Their first drive went three-and-out and finished with negative yardage. Even after freshman running back Ryelan Morris' 63-yard touchdown run put Baylor up 7-3, the Sun Devils responded by driving into enemy territory and threatened to retake the lead. A forced fumble killed that momentum, but Lagway and the offense struggled to capitalize in similar situations earlier in the year.

Saturday proved to be different. Lagway drove the offense down the field, slicing through Arizona State methodically and eventually ending up 3 yards from the goal line. The quarterback then connected with his former Florida Gators teammate Tony Livingston, who proceeded to big-brother a defender in the end zone.

Big Body Vol. 10 💪#SicEm | @Tonylivingston_ pic.twitter.com/qfZ6mOsMwP
— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) October 4, 2026

That score extended Baylor's lead to 14-3. Arizona State never narrowed the gap to a one-possession game again.

Adjustments for next week

Following a performance like the one Baylor delivered on Saturday, the question isn't what adjustments the offense needs to make but rather how much the unit will regress to the mean. The Bears almost certainly won't replicate their outing in Tempe, nor could anyone realistically hold them to such high expectations.

Surely, Lagway won't produce five total red-zone touchdowns. He had never had more than three scores of any kind before Saturday. However, the Bears' upcoming opponent, the TCU Horned Frogs, have managed more than 13 points just once this season against FBS competition. Accordingly, Baylor almost certainly won't need another out-of-body performance to have a shot.

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