After enduring some struggles in recent years, Baylor’s football program suddenly found itself vying for position with some of the Big 12’s top teams in 2024.
As the 2025 season kicks off, the Bears are out to prove they belong among the conference’s best.
Baylor’s outlook is notably different from what the team faced a year ago. There’s renewed confidence in head coach Dave Aranda and the school suddenly features one of the most talented rosters in the Big 12. Finishing 2024 with an 8-5 mark and a Texas Bowl appearance had plenty of positive effects on what Aranda called a “hungry” squad.
“There’s a grounded confidence now, and it’s a whole different way of being,” Aranda told reporters during Big 12 media days in July.
Sports Roundup
A key part of Baylor’s renewed outlook is its experienced weapons. In the era of revenue share, college football programs across the country have faced challenges in keeping their players out of the transfer portal. Baylor mostly avoided that hit over the offseason and kept featured players like quarterback Sawyer Robertson.
Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson throws downfield against Texas Tech with help from offensive lineman Coleton Price in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct 19, 2024, in Lubbock, Texas. (Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald via AP)
Rod Aydelotte / AP
In July, Robertson said it never crossed his mind to leave Waco after his strong showing last season. Robertson, who transferred to Baylor from Mississippi State in 2023, led Baylor with 3,071 passing yards and 28 touchdowns last year.
Baylor’s strong core of returners also includes running back Bryson Washington, linebacker Keaton Thomas, and receivers Josh Cameron and Ashtyn Hawkins. Last year, Washington set a Baylor freshman record with 1,028 rushing yards and Thomas led the team with 114 total tackles. Cameron and Hawkins combined for 1,351 receiving yards and 15 receiving touchdowns.
Along with maintaining the program’s veteran players, Aranda has focused on Baylor’s long-term future by making an extra effort to recruit high school standouts. Baylor’s 2025 high school recruiting class was led by three four-star recruits in defensive lineman Kamauryn Morgan (South Oak Cliff), running back Michael Turner (Richland) and offensive tackle Matthew Parker from Jackson Prep in Mississippi.
For Aranda, maintaining relationships with high school recruits and their families is a crucial part of roster building.
“With all the pressure to win and the money that’s involved in winning, sometimes you feel like you don’t have time for this for an individual player,” Aranda said. “But to be able to make that time and make that a priority and then to still win is what we’re trying to do, and I think building through great high school relationships can build a really strong freshman, sophomore, junior, senior class. We’re hoping to do that.”
While Baylor has an optimistic view of its future, the Bears also face some immediate challenges as they open the new season. One of the issues Baylor faces is the absence of running back Dawson Pendergrass, the squad’s second-leading rusher from 2024.
Pendergrass, who ran for 671 yards and six touchdowns last season, sustained a season-ending foot injury during the team’s fall camp. While Pendergrass recovers, Aranda and others have expressed confidence in the team’s running back depth moving forward.
A name to watch at the position is true freshman Caden Knighten, a 2025 three-star recruit from Pauls Valley High School in Oklahoma.
“Caden Knighten is a baller. The kid’s a dog,” Thomas told reporters after a fall camp practice. “He runs very hard. Quick. Twitchy. He makes me go hard every practice, and I love that. I think we can expect a lot of things from him this year.”
As Baylor looks to take another step forward, competing in the Big 12 won’t be easy. The Bears are scheduled to face some of the conference’s heavy-hitters this season, including reigning league champion Arizona State and rival TCU in Fort Worth.
Before Big 12 play, Baylor will prepare with crucial nonconference bouts against Auburn and SMU.
Aranda said facing power conference teams early in the year can prepare the Bears to be at their best when it matters most.
Auburn will provide Baylor’s first test in a season-opening bout Friday at McLane Stadium in Waco.
“It channels your focus,” Aranda said. “I think it helps to get a brand and a name, and it gives you an opportunity to win a big game. I think all those things are good, and I think all those things need to happen. I’m excited about the opportunities that we have.”
Find more Baylor coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.