Dave Aranda has probably had enough of facing the Utah Utes.
For the third straight year, Baylor lost to Utah, this time by a 55-28 margin at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas, on Saturday night.
Aranda had few positives to take away from a loss that dropped Baylor to 5-5 on the year and 3-4 in league action.
“(That was a) way disappointing game — very frustrated, gutted,” he told reporters. “Really was not anticipating that, really didn’t see that. You know, the locker rooms is tough. A lot of guys (are) frustrated and angry, and I’m right there with them.”
No. 13 Utah, meanwhile, improved to 8-2 overall and 5-2 in Big 12 play, staying squarely in the conference title race.
The driving force behind Utah’s dominant effort was its running roughshod over Baylor, to the tune of 380 rushing yards. That accounted for the bulk of Utah’s 483 yards of total offense.
That included touchdown runs of 67 and 74 yards for backup quarterback/offensive weapon Byrd Ficklin, as well as a 64-yard touchdown run from Utah’s lead rusher, Wayshawn Parker.
Those explosive plays were a catalyst in the Utes breaking the game open.
“In the start of the game, I thought that defensively, for the most part, we had 11 guys being where the 11 guys needed to be. I thought the times that we had 10 out of the 11, that’s where you saw the touchdown runs,” Aranda said.
“Utah is very much an option offense, whether it be a quarterback run going this way, and there’s a running back run going this way, and so all 11 that you got are counted to be where they need to be...Those long runs are not acceptable.”
Ficklin’s 67-yarder and Parker’s score from 64 yards combined to give Utah a 28-10 second-quarter lead, and while the Bears offense found some success to keep them in the contest going into the third quarter, those explosive plays eventually caught up with the home side.
Ficklin’s second touchdown run, from 74 yards out in the third quarter, was particularly a shot to Baylor’s chances. Moments earlier, the Bears had trimmed their deficit to 28-20 and looked like, if they could come up with a stop, they might find a way to make things interesting as the game neared the fourth quarter.
Instead, Utah had a two-play scoring drive, immediately flipping the momentum. It sparked a 21-point run for the Utes as they shut down any hopes of an upset.
“I think anytime you lose, you get gutted. I think anytime you get the ball run on you, you’re probably gutted more,” Aranda said.