Preview: Baylor Bears Football vs Louisiana Tech

Sep 12, 2026; Waco, Texas, USA; Baylor Bears head coach Dave Aranda on the sidelines during the first half against the Prairie View A&M Panthers at McLane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Preview: Baylor Bears Football vs Louisiana Tech

Originally posted on Baylor Bears on SI
By Jacob Westendorf | Last updated Sep 19, 2026 10:36 AM ET

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One more week until conference play begins. The Baylor Bears are 1-1 after a win in last week’s tuneup game against Prairie View A&M.

This week, the Bears have a different test with Louisiana Tech. Louisiana Tech was competitive with LSU last week before ultimately succumbing to a vastly superior opponent.

The Bears hope to prove they are also vastly superior, but will once again be playing short handed.

DJ Lagway, Baylor’s star quarterback told Baylor on SI that he will be back next week for Baylor’s conference opener against Colorado. Unfortunately, he could not confirm that he’d be back this week, which means last week’s starter, Nate Bennett will get the call under center for the Bears.

Obviously last week’s opponent was not meant to be a serious challenge, but Bennett moved the ball offensively, throwing for more than 300 yards and two touchdowns.

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He did have a bit of a battle with the turnover bug, throwing two interceptions, and Baylor quarterbacks threw three interceptions last week. The result was a 44-3 final score that does not have anyone feeling satisfied about the team’s progress moving forward.

One of Dave Aranda’s biggest concerns at the moment is he feels his team is too easy to beat.

"I know locker room was a fun time, Aranda said. “On Saturday night, it was well deserved. But there's a lot of things we got to get cleaned up. You know, one of the things that we've talked about quite a bit is being hard to kill. And that's not making it easy for a team to beat us. And right now it's too easy to beat us with the penalties and the turnovers. And we have to clean that up. Our identity needs to be the opposite of that, of giving those things to the opponent. And so we're very focused on that."

Three turnovers and nine penalties will not be nearly good enough against some of the tougher opponents set to face the Bears on their Big 12 schedule.

It likely would be a massive problem against Louisiana Tech this weekend.

Regardless of who is under center, the Bears need to prove they can play clean football, which they have not done through two games this season.

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Furthermore, look for the Bears to try to establish their ground game, which has also not found much traction through two weeks this season.

"I think our running backs are running physical,” Aranda said. “I thought Caden Knighten was much improved from the week previous, was really finishing runs and was hitting downhill. I thought Caden on special teams really was impressive as well. Mike Turner has been impressive both weeks. Dawson Pendergrass has been his old self, and you can count on four yards every time he touches the ball. But we have to be consistent.”

Consistency can start on Saturday against Louisiana Tech, and here is how you can watch Baylor’s final non-conference game of the season.