Biggest Baylor Football Concern Nobody is Talking About Through 5 Weeks
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To start the season, we knew that Baylor was going to have a deep backfield of rushers, and Dawson Pendergrass has indeed rushed more than any of the other Baylor running backs currently totaling 81 carries (compared to Caden Knighten with 49, Michael Turner with 28, and Ryelan Morris with 22). A balanced start through the first five games sees the total rushing plays (201) to the total passing attempts (203) at almost exactly even. By all accounts, Pendergrass is the Bears' #1 running back, but is he really?
Ryelan Morris
The spark that ignited Baylor's offense in Tempe this past Saturday was Ryelan Morris' 63 yard run for a touchdown that saw the Bears take the lead and never look back. Morris is explosive, elusive, patient, and still only a true freshman that is expected to only continue to improve.
Baylor uses frequent rotations at the tailback position, so Morris' total carries throughout the season won't necessarily be the highest of numbers; but if he's able to break free for a 60+ yard touchdown once, there's no reason to believe that he's not that kind of threat each and every time he runs the ball.
Caden Knighten
In a very similar concept to how Ryelan Morris was the spark that ignited the Bears offense to start the game, Caden Knighten served as the finishing blow to ASU at the end of the game. Any hope of a potential comeback by ASU were absolutely squashed after Knighten would turn a routine stretch play to the outside from a few yard gain into turning on the jets, finding an opening, and running 20+mph through that opening to the tune of a 75 touchdown run.
The Bears were looking to start eating the clock on their third drive of the second half (only being up 38-16 at the time) but the quick score not only brought Baylor's lead to 45-16, but sapped the spirit from the fans in attendance as they were shown heading towards the exits in abundance after the play.
Dawson Pendergrass and Michael Turner
While neither had the kind of day that Morris or Knighten would in terms of breaking free for a long touchdown run, both Dawson Pendergrass and Michael Turner are not to be so quickly forgotten. Pendergrass' ability and drive to pump his feet and fight for extra yards isn't nearly as flashy as a 60+ yard run, but his attacking at the line of scrimmage is the exact kind of thing that allows a Morris or a Knighten to find the outside and break free.
Not to be left out, Michael Turner may not have found the end zone yet this season but that's honestly more based around the nature of the ever-rotating backfield of Baylor rather than any specific issues with Turner's running ability.
DJ Lagway and Nate Bennett
Nate Bennett may not be the track star that Knighten was, and Bennett certainly isn't fighting and driving for extra yards like Pendergrass will on every play. However Bennett has shown that if there's enough open field in front of him (like during the LA Tech game), he can absolutely take advantage of it as he has a 25 yard touchdown run on the season to couple with his passing stats.
In a similar aspect, DJ Lagway hasn't shown off his legs much this season as he's spent most of the season with a right ankle sprain, but against ASU to cap off his evening Lagway found the end zone on an 11 yard run.
Blessing or Curse?
This is all to say that Baylor's situation currently is a good one to have. The ability to constantly be able to swap in fresh legs, differently dangerous for all the right reasons, into the game is absolutely the ideal outcome here. Sure, it would be nice to see a singular Baylor running back getting 30+ carries a game, but that's simply just not the game of football anymore.
If the backfield can provide the same kind of output while limiting the number of hits each tailback receives throughout the course of the each game and the season, the stronger and fresher each will be in the latter part of the season because of it.
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Brad is a writer and contributes to the Baylor Bears on SI, with aspirations to share his own unique thoughts and perspectives with fans. Whether through the facts and figures of the past or the untold potential and triumphs of the future, sports have always been a large influence on Brad's storytelling and life overall. His inspiration to write began while watching sports when he first noticed the highs and lows of each game, each quarter, each play; there's a story in each of them worth telling, and he wanted to tell them.
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