WACO, Texas (KXXV/KRHD) — Two games. Two wins. Since Joe Klanderman took over, Baylor has found something it spent much of this season searching for: consistency.
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The Bears survived a short week at UCF and battled through adversity to win on homecoming against Iowa State, becoming bowl eligible in the process. But now comes a much different test — a trip to Provo, Utah, against a top-10 opponent.
Klanderman calls it a proving ground. While Baylor enters Saturday with some momentum, the Bears know winning at BYU won't leave much room for error. Klanderman has been there before and remembers just how quickly the environment in Provo can turn a game around.
"We're looking at this as a great gauge to see where we are as a program, going into probably one of the best environments in the country against a top-10 team. And we'll see if we're made of the right stuff. They're going to get our very best," Klanderman said.
And against a BYU team that's been one of the best in the Big 12 this season, the Bears know they'll have to play clean football.
"When you play championship-level football, it's not perfection that you're after because that's not attainable. But your margin for error is small. If you want to beat these types of teams, then you can't have mental breakdowns. You can't have physical lapses because of lack of effort. You've got to bring it on every snap," Klanderman said.
That's an area where Baylor took a major step forward last week. Against Iowa State, the Bears committed just one penalty for 15 yards — none of them on offense. And after spending much of the season battling mistakes and inconsistency up front, Baylor's offensive line is starting to find some rhythm.
"I feel like now, instead of us being so tight and out of rhythm, we're playing more free. We're playing with each other and for each other. The more connected we are, the better we're going to be as a group," Offensive Lineman Cole Rhett said.
That growing confidence is starting to show across the entire offense. Quarterback DJ Lagway's legs have become a bigger piece of the attack. The running backs have also embraced a more physical style. That balance will matter against a BYU defense that could make Baylor earn every yard.
"Running the football is going to be part of our identity, and we're going to force it if we have to. Because we have to take some of that pressure off of DJ. We're not going to drop back and throw the ball 60 times right now. We're not built for that either," Klanderman said.
On the other side, Baylor's defense has a difficult quarterback assignment of its own. BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier brings size and mobility that Klanderman says resembles Lagway in some ways. But the Bears aren't treating Bachmeier as simply a running quarterback. Klanderman calls him one of the most complete quarterbacks Baylor has faced all season.
"He throws the ball very accurately. He's got a cannon for an arm... I admire Bear Bachmeier's entire game. I don't think of him as just a runner. I think he's one of the more complete quarterbacks that we've faced this year," Klanderman said.
Containing him will require all 11 players getting to the ball — especially when Bachmeier takes off.
"He's kind of almost like a second running back because of his size, and there's designated plays for him to run the ball. So, we are aware of his running capabilities. But for us, we just got to gang tackle and chop him down because he's a big kid," Cornerback Levar Thornton Jr. said.
This weekend may reveal something bigger about Baylor. Earlier in the season, Klanderman says the Bears struggled to overcome the obstacles when things went wrong. Now, players talk about playing for each other and believing they can respond when adversity hits.
"I don't know why, but I feel like we tend to play better away. I think it's just how we are under pressure, playing under pressure and coming together because when we're away, it's just us against everybody else," Thornton Jr. said.
And that's exactly what awaits them Saturday. Baylor has already cleared two hurdles under Klanderman. The first was winning on a short week. The second was responding with another win at home. Now hurdle number three comes against a top-10 team on the road.
"I think they're looking at this as a proving ground, and so that's the way we're going to approach it. We'll see how it looks Saturday night," Klanderman said.
The Bears and Cougars kick off Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Provo, Utah.
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