Who is Providing Fireworks for Baylor's Offense?
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On Saturday, America is celebrating its 250th birthday with baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie. At the end of the night, as has been tradition, most families will gather around various parks and neighborhoods to watch fireworks fly off into the sky.
The display gives people a light show they hope will entertain them for the remainder of the night.
In Waco, Texas, things are a little different. On Saturday afternoons, fans will file into various stadiums and around their television sets hoping to find some fireworks from their offense.
The question going into this season, is who is going to provide those fireworks under offensive coordinator Jake Spavital?
DJ Lagway
The biggest story in Waco since the 2025 season ended was who was going to line up under center for them, and they found an answer in a legacy player.
EXCLUSIVE: Shehan Jeyarajah spoke to us about DJ Lagway playing in Jake Spavital's system at #Baylor this season.
— Baylor Bears On SI (@BaylorBearsOnSI) July 4, 2026
'A match made in heaven'
But is that going to be good enough to contend in the Big 12?
STORY: https://t.co/TVHO893Vme pic.twitter.com/o4rhpK4GNy
DJ Lagway transferred from Florida to Baylor to help replace Sawyer Robertson and give the Bears a high-upside option at the game’s most important position.
Lagway can affect the game with both his arm and his legs, which gives the offense an intriguing option should they decide to use the quarterback in the run game. Lagway will need to improve as he threw 16 touchdowns to 14 interceptions a season ago, but was well thought of as a recruit and has plenty of talent.
Any hope for a renaissance season for the Bears starts with this man.
Louis Brown
Brown is newer to the program, but not new to college football. While he only played in four games a season ago he brings plenty of experience to the table with 15 starts, and Baylor sees him as a potential breakout candidate for an offense that is starved for playmaking.
He has three career 100-yard receiving games, and could be someone who develops an early rapport with Lagway to become his go-to receiver in big situations.
Dre’Lon Miller
In a spread offense, the slot receiver is somebody who is going to get a lot of looks because usually they are the easiest read on the field. In addition, there’s typically a shiftiness that comes with players like that to make plays after the ball is in their hands.
Dre’Lon Miller as things stand right now is likely to be the team’s starting slot receiver, which will give him a leg up to light up the scoreboard early and often in his career for the Bears.
Miller also has the size to move to play both inside and out in this offense. In a room that is incredibly competitive, that could play to Miller’s advantage to stay on the field when the team starts rotating receivers.
Dawson Pendergrass
While all the focus when it comes to fireworks usually looks toward the passing game, the run game is also able to make big plays, and Baylor’s best player on offense is likely their starting running back.
Dawson Pendergrass is likely to earn those honors, as a dual threat as a runner and receiver.
In his sophomore year, in 2024, he totaled 671 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns, averaging 5.5 yards per carry, while adding another 103 yards through the air.
Pendergrasas was expected to be a 1B to Bryson Washington last year, but a season-ending injury didn't allow him to see the field in 2025, and now looks to be someone whot is going to grow into the player he’s destined to be in what should be a deep, talented backfield.
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Jacob Westendorf is a contributing writer for Baylor Bears on SI. He is also a writer covering the Green Bay Packers for Packers on SI. Westendorf graduated from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay where he earned a degree in communication with an emphasis in journalism and mass media. He worked in newspapers in Green Bay and Rockford, Illinois. He also interned at Packer Report for Bill Huber while earning his degree. In 2018, he became a staff writer for PackerReport.com, and a regular contributor on Packer Report's "Pack A Day Podcast." In 2020, he founded the media company Game On Wisconsin. In 2023, he rejoined Packer Central, which is part of Sports Illustrated Media Group.