No. 19 BYU (5-1) at Baylor (5-1)
- Kickoff: Saturday, 1:30 p.m. MDT
- Venue: McLane Stadium (45,140 capacity)
- TV: ESPN
- Livestream: WatchESPN
- Radio: KSL 1160 AM
- Series: The all-time series between the two teams is tied at just 1-1, but the sides haven’t met since back-to-back seasons in 1983 and 1984. Baylor won the first one and BYU took the second one.
- Weather: Sunny with temperatures in the low 70s at kickoff.
THE TRENDS
For BYU ... In each of the last three seasons, the Cougars have followed up their first loss of the campaign with a win. After falling for the first time in 2021 last week, can they bounce back again?
For Baylor ... For the second time in three weeks, the Bears will face the No. 19-ranked team in the country. That’s where Oklahoma State was ranked on Oct. 2 when it beat Baylor 24-14 at home. The Bears had beaten then-No. 14 Iowa State 31-29 the week prior at home (Baylor beat unranked West Virginia 45-20 at home last week).
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Again, this is the first time this season BYU will have to answer the question of how it will bounce back after a loss, and it comes against a Baylor team that has also shown to be good. In some ways, it will be the truest test yet of just how good the Cougars really are this year.
KEY PLAYER
Abram Smith, RB, Baylor
The senior is eighth in the country in yards per carry at 7.7 and 16th in rushing yards overall with 597. That said, Baylor has a balanced rushing attack, as fellow running back Trestan Ebner has 401 rushing yards. That attack powers an offense that is 17th in the country in points per game at 38.3.
QUOTABLE
“We have a tough game going out to Texas. We will be ready for Baylor if we can learn and take advantage of some of the things that we can learn from this game and some of the failures that we had.” — BYU head coach Kalani Sitake after the loss to Boise State.
“From what is in front of our windshield, here is a team that is looking to prove something and looking to bring some intensity that we have to exceed.” — Baylor head coach Dave Aranda on BYU.
NEXT UP
BYU will go back out on the road next week for a game against Washington State, while Baylor will be on a bye.
BYU SCHEDULE
Sept. 4 — BYU 24, Arizona 16
Sept. 11 — BYU 26, Utah 17
Sept. 18 — BYU 27, Arizona State 17
Sept. 25 — BYU 35, USF 27
Oct. 1 — BYU 34, Utah State 20
Oct. 9 — Boise State 26, BYU 17
Oct. 16 — at Baylor (1:30 p.m., ESPN)
Oct. 23 — at Washington State (1:30 p.m., FS1)
Oct. 30 — vs. Virginia
Nov. 6 — vs. Idaho State (1 p.m., BYUtv)
Nov. 13 — BYE
Nov. 20 — at Georgia Southern (2 p.m., TV TBD)
Nov. 27 — at USC
All times MT