In one of the best matchups of the Big 12 regular season, two surging teams clashed in the final game of the 2024 regular season. Dave Aranda and the Baylor Bears entered Saturday on a five-game win streak, while Kansas took the field off of three-straight Top 25 upset wins. Ultimately, Aranda’s group hammered the Jayhawks and kept them from reaching bowl eligibility.
Here are a few thoughts on the game and what it means for both teams moving forward.
Strength on Weakness
While the Baylor Bears outclassed Kansas in multiple facets in Week 14, the biggest storyline was the rushing attack. Led by the impressive duo of Bryson Washington and Dawson Pendergrass, the Bears rolled for a total of 295 yards in the ground game and two scores. Washington led the team with 28 carries for 192 yards, while Pendergrass finished with 11 carries for 104 yards.
Heading into the matchup, Baylor averaged 179 rush yards per game, good for seventh in the Big 12. On the other end of the spectrum, Kansas surrendered 140.8 rushing yards per game, placing it in eighth place among league members. Baylor’s 295 yards on the ground became the season high for the program as the team rattled off their sixth-straight win.
The Missing Link
In the matchup vs. Kansas, Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson was the best player on the field. The Texas native threw for 310 yards and four scores through the air with zero turnovers on the day. His play was largely the reason for the dominant win, which has often been the case for Dave Aranda’s group this year.
Despite entering the season as the backup to Toledo transfer Dequan Finn, Robertson won the job and shined on the main stage. In the 2024 regular season, Robertson completed 199 passes for 2,626 yards with a touchdown to interception ratio of 26-7. He also recorded 238 yards and four scores on the ground for the Bears.
While the Bears got off to a rocky start in the non-conference schedule, Sawyer Robertson led the team back to prominence and is a large reason for Dave Aranda’s return to Waco next fall.
What Could Have Been
Baylor is technically still alive in the race for a Big 12 Championship berth, but a lot will still have to go right. The team needs the top three teams, BYU, Arizona State, and Iowa State, to lose if they hope to reach Arlington.
Still, the season goes back to one play on the opening night of league play. Baylor lost their opening matchup against Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes on a last-second Hail Mary that sent the game to overtime, where the Buffaloes took care of business. If Baylor’s able to get a stop and swat the ball down, the team would be sitting comfortably with a Big 12 Championship berth within its grasp.
Kansas, however, had one of the most interesting seasons in recent Big 12 memory. Despite having one of the league’s most talented teams on paper, they continued to lose in unprecedented ways. Kansas held a fourth-quarter lead in every single game this season outside of TCU and Baylor, and yet, they missed out on bowl eligibility at 5-7.
This appears to be a long offseason for Lance Leipold and company as the bulk of their production is running out of eligibility or is expected to enter the upcoming NFL Draft.
