'Negative Stuff' And Other Important Things Dave Aranda Said After Baylor's Win vs. ASU
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After Baylor's dominant victory over ASU on Saturday night, Coach Dave Aranda made it clear with his post-game comments that he's seen the criticism that's been written on this channel and many others. However, after a performance like the Bears had tonight scoring 55 points, it's hard to find any criticism to deliver. Could this game serve as the pivotal moment in this Baylor season where the fans, the critics, and the media finally begin to give the Bears some credit?
Strong Opening Statement from the Coach
Coach Aranda: "This is it. This is us right here. I'm excited for the team. I was just telling B-Jack, he does the radio for us. So much criticism with this team and so much negative stuff. After a while, it's like, man, you just can't take no more. And I think what helps kind of bring it out is to go into an enemy territory where they're all against you all the way.
"So there's not pretense of any, like, frenemies, you know. It's like straight enemy, and then you can be the villain. And that's what you saw. So there's some pretty strong energy with all that. I think we have to keep that because, I don't know, people may try to be nice to us now. It's like, just be mean to us, please."
Our Take: Either I'm still groggy from last night's late ending, or it might just be among the weirder things that I've heard this morning, but hearing Coach Aranda (who might be the nicest guy in any room he ever walks into) request that people continue to be mean to the team caught me off guard.
It's certainly understandable that after awhile the negative press can begin to affect the mindset of a coach or a player. However, Coach Aranda and the Bears have seemingly decided that, just like Popeye the Sailor-Man, "I stands all I can stands, but I can't stands no more."
True Fresman Ryelan Morris is Something Special
Coach Aranda: "He's going to be really good. He's really fast. He hits the line of scrimmage fast, and he's got great vision. And then, you know, he's got really good instincts, and there's toughness to him. So there's – I remember early in fall camp we would do – there would be a pass protection drill, and some of the linebackers we had, Travion Barnes and Kyland and some of these other guys are bigger guys, and Rylan is not so much a bigger guy.
"And so pass protection-wise it's a bit of a disadvantage with some of these dudes just rolling full speed right into them. And he was struggling, but he kept getting back up and kept staying in it and didn't – you know, he was going to stay in the thing. I think it was like four or five times of staying in it until he was able to kind of get a block. And that was really early in camp.
"That was prior to any of the runs or prior to any of the special teams or prior to any of the things. But you just saw that this boy wasn't going to go away defeated. He was going to fight to win. And so that shows in everything he does. And I think that's just jump-started him into playing more and more."
Our Take: Ryelan Morris is just a freshman and he's already showing this much promise. His 63 yard score in the first quarter was really the turning point of the ASU game. After going three and out on their first possession Baylor's next drive saw a Gavin Freeman catch for a 12 yard first down and the next would see Morris use his vision and one good block on the outside, and that's all he needed to run the rest of the football field to find the end zone.
On Predictions and Speculation for the Game Against ASU
Coach Aranda: You know, it's funny. A lot of people picked us to lose, people that cover Baylor. And that's why I came in here. I don't ever see them. So they pick us to lose all the time, and I never see them. And it's just wild, yeah, for people that know us to never even see them around.
My Take: While there may have been many nay-sayers about this week's game against ASU and writers (and even the opening spread for the game) had Baylor penciled in as losing this game, I came very close to predicting the actual final score of the game during the weekly Baylor Bears ON SI Staff prediction.
Even when I wrote about the potential issues that Baylor could have against the Sun Devils, there was never a doubt that the Bears would win this game. I sure do hope that someone picks up that phone, because I totally called it.
A Bye Week Next Week and Then TCU in Week 7; Message for the Doubters
Coach Aranda: "We've got to keep feeding them the negative stuff, because I think that's just – that's energy. I think that's them. I think there's so many dudes in there that have just been doubted their whole life. You know, we've got receivers that are kind of undersized that play tough. We've got Slug (Traveon Mitchell) who's undersized that plays tough.
"We've got – the whole group is like that. The whole group. And so, you know, in the past, I probably didn't use the negative stuff enough. I would just kind of absorb it and take it and carry it. But to turn it into energy is something that we're doing, and the guys are feeding into it."
Our Take: In his seventh year at Baylor, Coach Aranda is finally using the negative press about him and the Bears as fuel to help spark the team? I suppose that does answer a few questions and have a lot of things retroactively make sense. However, in terms of this season, embracing their role as the undersized team that shouldn't be able to do the things that they're doing as they're doing them could be the right kind of motivation for this Baylor team.
How Important a Top Tier Punter Like Palmer Williams is to the Bears
Coach Aranda: "Yeah, he had some moonshots. You know, we were close on a couple to pin. I think they – and then he had a great – I think he mishit one and it rolled. And so that's when you know you're good is when you mishit it and it still rolls forward and you get the yardage on the punt. But, yeah, he is a weapon. And he's confident and he's really feeling it. And I think that gives us the ability to be aggressive when we're backed up because we know that we can flip the field if it don't work out."
Our Take: I've said it before and I'll say it again, Palmer Williams is the best punter in all of College Football. When the worst criticism that can be made about a punter after a game is that even their worst punt of the night still worked out in Baylor's favor in terms of flipping the field. The punt may be the most important play in all of college football, and Baylor has the best currently in the business.
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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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