Dave Aranda Praises and Shows Frustration Over Baylor's Performance in Win vs. LA Tech
In this story:
After the Bears' victory over LA Tech, Head Coach Dave Aranda took some post game questions. From Nate Bennett's impressive performance at quarterback to both praise and slight frustration with the defense and more, Coach Aranda fielded various questions from the press for around eleven minutes. In this article, we'll be going through some of coach Aranda's statements and provide you with our editorial takes on some of them, and what they could mean moving forward.
The Coach's Opening Statement
Coach Aranda: "I thought that we started the game off strong. On offense, there's a lot of some positive runs in there, some big conversions. I thought defensively, it was to start the game, it was what offense are we going to see? You know, is third down really third down? Are they going to throw it? Are they going to run it? Are they going to run it with the quarterback? You know, what's the offense going to be?
"And so I think there's kind of a feeling out period there that we had to kind of rebound and respond to. And I thought for a moment there in the game, we did, you know, was really hoping for a much cleaner game. I'd really been coaching to try to achieve that. Really wanted to have the errors and the mental mistakes and the, you know, Baylor beating Baylor stuff behind us moving into Big 12 play. And unfortunately, we're still carrying it with us. And so there's a lot to improve on in that area.
"You know, I think despite that, though, there's a lot of, I mean, there's guys cramping out, off to the side, going back in. Guys hurt, off to the side, going back in. Just really incredible efforts of guys that just wouldn't lay down and wouldn't give in. And so we have to match that type of stuff with doing smart stuff all the time. And I think we add those two stuffs together, it'll be good. But that's still a work in progress."
Our Take: Leave it to Coach Aranda to start a press conference by saying what a lot of people had to be thinking watching the game against LA Tech. Praise for his offense, his defense, concern for player welfare and safety, and at the same time showing the frustration attributed to self-inflicted penalties and mistakes, Coach Aranda made sure to mention a bit of everything. The real question becomes, "how does the work-in-progress become the finished product?"
Nate Bennett Importance for Baylor the Past Two Weeks
Coach Aranda: "You know, it's huge. I think for, you know, when I see Nate, I see his family. I see, like, their pride. I see his joy. I see, like, belief. If you have a goal and you work real hard and you treat people right and you do right, good things will happen. I see that. I see, like, there's a lightness that comes when that stuff is true. There's almost, like, a heaviness when you don't know if that's true. And so I think he's just better off for it. We're better off for it. So thankful for Nate."
Our Take: Nate Bennett getting to develop behind Sawyer Robertson and under coach Aranda the past few seasons, and especially with this year with coach Spavital's assistance, a better backup would be hard to come by. Bennett has performed admirably these past two weeks in place of DJ Lagway. A miscue here or there, but those are going to happen even with a seasoned veteran starter. There's no better safety net to have than a reliable backup quarterback who can be trusted to keep the ball secure and the drive moving forward; Bennett was successful at both against LA Tech.
For the First Three Quarters, are you Satisfied with how the Team Performed?
Coach Aranda: "You know, I thought that offensively we were able to hit on some, I think, in the radio talk I just had, I used like haymakers. We were able to connect on some haymakers and knock the guy down, so to speak. I think, ideally, in the build of this team, we'd like to be able to hit body blows and keep cracking at the ribs and keep throwing at the ribs and keep hitting the body and keep hitting the body.
"That would play out as longer drives. That would play out as time off the clock. That would play out as we're kind of grinding them out and all that. We either went backwards and were 3 and out, or we scored. And it was so fast, the defense was on the field. By the time the end of the third quarter came, we were worn out. And so we have to play better complementary football there. And third quarter on offense is something that we have to improve on."
Our Take: With the boxing analogy in mind, and with how coach Aranda has hyped up how fast he wants the team to be able to be, in a 12 round title fight, you can't afford to gas yourself out by just trying to get the KO in the first round. Four quarters of football is 60 minutes no matter the score, and endurance is the name of the game. Punching yourself out to the point where you're too tired to adequately defend yourself is essentially Mohammed Ali's famous "rope-a-dope" technique.
Let the opponent swing themselves tired, and capitalize with precision and timing. If Baylor finds itself punching itself tired in the first half, the Big XII schedule could become substantially more grueling of an endeavor.
What do you Want the Identity of This Team to Be?
Coach Aranda: "Tough, smart, and dependable. I think the toughness part I feel good about.I think there's some grit with this team. There's a lot of guys that played a lot of football and have come back from injury and have come back through disappointment and adversity. And this means a lot to them. They know that these things are earned and not freely given. And so they're way determined to fight for what they got. So I think the toughness part, I feel like we're on the right track.
"The smart part, I feel like we're not there yet. There's a lot of work to be done there. We want to be hard to kill. And right now, we're struggling to do that. The dependable part, I feel, that we have. I think we can depend on guys to make plays when we need plays to be made. I feel like in critical moments, I think you've seen that. And so I think that's our identity. We're still working on that middle piece."
Our Take: It doesn't translate on paper, but coach Aranda didn't miss a beat when he listed off "tough, smart, and dependable." The most important part of this quote though was when Coach Aranda mentioned the Bears were still working on the "smart" aspect.
Simple and fixable penalties and all of the other little things that get overlooked are things that Baylor could improve. Timing issues and ill-timed errors such as false-start or holding penalties are drive-halters and momentum stallers, and will have to be remedied if success in the Big 12 games upcoming is to be expected.
Final Takeaway
As he always is, coach Aranda is as complimentary of his team as one can be. Still able to show frustration as well as praise, coach Aranda knows that the Big 12 schedule ahead of him isn't going to be an easy one. This Bears team has potential to contend for a Big 12 conference title this season, but just first have to fix the issue with penalties as well as fully establish their running game as dominant rather than simply ancillary.
Sign up for our Free Newsletter and follow us on X and Facebook for the latest news.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
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.
Follow TheBradTeague