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Texas Longhorns Week 9 Opponent Preview: No. 16 Baylor Bears

Texas heads to Waco to face a much-improved Baylor team

After facing a tough midseason stretch against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, the Texas Longhorns will travel to Waco to face Dave Aranda and the upstart Baylor Bears

The Bears, who finished 2-7 in 2020, have made an extremely impressive turnaround in 2021, sitting at 6-1 on the season, and 3-1 in the Big 12

Saturday will market the 111th meeting between the two team, with the Longhorns leading the series 79-27-4. Texas won the most recent matchup in 2020, taking down the Bears 27-16 in Austin.

Texas is 31-17-2 all-time in Waco. This will mark Steve Sarkisian's second time facing Baylor as a head coach, and he will be looking for his first when against the Bears.

Make sure to stick with LonghornsCountry.com throughout the week as we preview every aspect of the Bears program before the Longhorns head to McLane Stadium on Saturday.


Baylor

2021 Record: 6-1 (3-1 Big 12)

Head coach: Dave Aranda

Dave Aranda is 8-8 and is in his second year as the head coach of Baylor

Offensive Set: Power Spread

Defensive Set: 3-3-5

Returning starters on Offense: 6

The Bears offense is one of the most impressive in the country in 2021, specifically in the ground game, where they rank ninth in the country, and average 238.3 yards per game. As a team, Baylor also ranks 13th in the country in total offense (471.7 ypg), and sits 14th in the country in scoring offense, scoring 38.3 points per contest.

Projected starters on Offense:

QB Gerry Bohanon

RB Trestan Ebner

WR R.J. Sneed

WR Tyquan Thornton

WR Gavin Holmes

TE Ben Sims

LT Connor Galvin

LG Xavier Newman- Johnson

C Grant Miller

RG Jacob Gall

RT Ellis Elijah

Returning starters on Defense: 10

On the defensive side of the ball, Baylor looks like a completely different program, ranking 19th in the country in scoring defense, and 32nd in total defense. Baylor also ranks ninth in the country in turnover margin.

Projected starters on Defense:

DE Josh Landry

DE TJ Franklin

NT Siaki Ika

JACK Garmon Randolph

LB Dillon Doyle

LB Terrel Bernard

LB Jalen Pitre

CB Raleigh Texada

S JT Woods

S Christian Morgan

CB Kalon Barnes

After Texas:

After facing off against the Longhorns, the Bears will travel to Fort Worth and face the TCU Horned Frogs.


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