OPINION: BYU, Texas Tech, and Houston Aren't as Scary for Baylor as They Once Were
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With Baylor's defeat of Iowa State, I'm filled with a resurgence of faith and hope in this Bears team. After watching the Bears' next three opponents in their Week 10 matchups, I'm more confident in interim head coach Joe Klanderman and Baylor's chances to close out the season. It's still going to be an uphill battle though as it will be a three-game gauntlet against teams all currently ranked in the top 20 and with Big 12 Championship and CFP aspirations of their own.
BYU Lost to Utah
THE FIRST CFP TOP 25 RANKINGS HAVE DROPPED!
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 4, 2026
Do you agree? pic.twitter.com/1QIqGCN0zo
Alright, I'll grant you that losing to one of the only remaining undefeated teams in the country isn't exactly the worst loss to have. The performance on the field though for the Cougars over the past few weeks has been lacking. Not just the offensive struggles against Utah, but also in their loss to UCF, and even in their win against Notre Dame. Bear Bachmeier has gone from an early season Davey O'Brien favorite to showing issues in accuracy and the lack of much help on the offensive side of the ball.
In terms of "what have you done lately?" kind of eye-test, Bachmeier threw 4 TDs to 6 INTs in the last three weeks. BYU is also 1-2 in their last three games, and will be inviting a Baylor defense into Provo that has spent an entire season disrupting quarterbacks in the backfield.
Texas Tech got into a Shootout with West Virginia
The Red Raiders have a high-octane offense, but West Virginia was 16th (last) in the Big 12 in passing defense. Texas Tech was supposed to score a lot of points against the Mountaineers. The Mountaineers weren't supposed to score so many points against Texas Tech though. West Virginia may have lost 53-48, but they exposed Texas Tech's vulnerability in their secondary on Saturday night. Like BYU, Texas Tech is 1-2/ Like Houston, Texas Tech is 2-1 in their last three games, and/but haven't looked overly impressive.
An aggressive passing attack such as Baylor's could see quite a bit of success against the Red Raider defense. Texas Tech QB Castellanos won't be able to rest comfortably in the backfield for long-developing plays either as the Bears defense has been a nightmare to opposing backfields, collecting SKs and TFLs and always on the lookout for another INT to add to their season total.
Houston Struggled to Put Away Cincinnati
Baylor has the chance to do the funniest thing.. pic.twitter.com/bDFSl6jylZ
— Sherman Young Jr. (@ShermStu_2) November 7, 2026
Cincinnati beat Texas Tech recently, so it's not that the Bearcats are a team not to be taken seriously; they are. Houston however, had a number of chances to close out Cincinnati and seal the game on Nov. 7th, but were unable to decisively do so.
Houston is 2-1 in their recent three games, but have given up over 29 points in each of them on average. And if there's anything that this Baylor offense has shown the ability to do recently, it's score and score quickly. The Bears have run about 20 plays less than each of their last three opponents but have collectively outscored all of them 108-65 (though losing to Kansas).
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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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