Baylor Football: Defense expected to lead way in Year 2 of Dave Aranda

Although the record indicates a bad team, the record can be taken with a grain of salt. Baylor football finished 2-7 last season in the first year under former LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda.

The Bears were poor on offense in all of the major statistical categories. They ranked 100th in scoring, 123rd in rushing offense, and 118th in total offense.

Although the offense was at an all-time low, Baylor was a competitive team and lost four games by 10 points or less. The Bears held a 28-10 lead over Iowa State, lost on a game-winning field goal to Texas Tech, and held Oklahoma to their lowest point total since 2016. The Bears also lost in double overtime to West Virginia and were too late on a comeback effort in a 33-23 loss to TCU.

All in all, the Bears had chances at victories but did not capitalize when needed. Aranda made the adjustment over the off-season by firing Larry Fedora and hiring BYU offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes.

BYU is fresh off one of the best seasons in a decade and a No. 2 overall pick in the NFL draft in quarterback Zach Wilson.

The “wide zone” scheme that Grimes ran will be moving over to Waco and will be interesting to see how that is run, based on the player under center and their skillsets for the system.

With that, here’s a look at Baylor’s offense, defense, and schedule for the 2021 season.