Steve Sarkisian gives impressions of Baylor's defense

Baylor’s off to a tough start in 2023, but Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian isn’t overlooking a defense coached by Dave Aranda as his Longhorns prepare to face the Bears in Waco this weekend.

In 2021, a Baylor defense led by All-American safety Jalen Pitre propelled the Bears to a surprising Big 12 title run in Aranda’s second year, finishing No. 10 in the country holding opponents to just 18.9 points per game. The results weren’t quite as strong in ’22, but Baylor certainly didn’t have a bad defense, allowing just over 26 per contest.

So, despite some struggles early on, Steve Sarkisian expects a well-coached defensive unit for the home team on Saturday.

“Well, I think one, you know, I wanted to keep belaboring the point, but they’re well coached,” said Sarkisian this week. “You know, Dave’s been doing it a long time at multiple stops — Utah State, Wisconsin, LSU, now Baylor. And it’s definitely his defense. You know, I know they’ve changed coordinators, but it’s his defense.”

The Texas coach then went into some descriptive detail to explain just what makes Baylor and the Aranda defensive system so solid vs. both the run and pass.

“So, the reality is, they’ve got the scheme too. They’ve got really big bodies up front. You know, they’re a physical front, they’re long, they do a good job with gap integrity. And when they’re playing really good, they don’t have to, you know, kind of put an extra hat in the box to defend the run.

“They can play the pass, and with their coverage units, whether it’s the the five DBs, depending on the formation and and trust, that front to defend the run. And then they’ve got a multitude of ways that they can play their coverages in the back end to match your routes.”

It’s a disciplined unit that doesn’t make many mistakes. At home, with a crowd making life hard on the Longhorn players, they could force Texas into some costly mistakes. Coach Sarkisian is hoping to avoid that.

“So, you know, you add all that up, that bodes well, from a good defensive standpoint, especially when you’re at home and things can get harder on the offense from a communication standpoint.”

Baylor did give up 42 in a loss to Texas State to begin the year, but allowed just one touchdown in 118 of the next 200 game minutes. in those other two minutes, the final two in the game vs. Utah, the Bears did give up two touchdowns — with one thanks to a turnover by the offense — to lose that game.