WACO, Texas— Baylor has struggled severely in the 2023 season. Their bowl hopes were dashed pretty early in the season, but there was still some hope going into the homecoming game against the Iowa State Cyclones. That hope dissipated with the rain clouds that surrounded McLane Stadium for most of the game as Iowa State left Waco with a 30-18 win.
The Bears now drop to 3-5 (2-3) on the season and look to rebound against Houston at home next week.
Iowa State had no problem jumping out in front early and making Baylor chase. The Bears were forced to punt after the first five plays of the game, and the Cyclones scored four plays later on an 18 yard pass from Rocco Becht to Jayden Higgins.
“We cannot start slow,” head coach Dave Aranda bluntly said in his postgame press conference. “With the dropped passes, the misfits and the execution have to improve early in the game. In my eyes it’s not a concern of effort, it’s the execution in the beginning of the game.”
After another Baylor punt, Iowa State appeared to be on the verge of scoring again, but the Bears’ defense forced a fumble and came up with the recovery. However, they were not able to make anything of it and ultimately had to punt again. After a quick start for the Cyclones, the first quarter came to a quiet close with a score of 7-0.
Early on in the second quarter, Chase Contreraz came on for a 42-yard field goal that made it a 10-point advantage for Iowa State. The Bears were able to get to midfield on the ensuing drive, but a deep pass by Blake Shapen wound up getting intercepted. The defense came up with a stop, but two plays into the next drive, Baylor fumbled the ball away.
The Cyclones were able to capitalize on the turnover with a seven play drive, capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by Cartevious Norton. Later in the quarter, Devyn Bobby came up with a big interception that gave Baylor one last shot before halftime.
Freshman running back Dawson Pendergrass came in and took the ball up the middle from eight yards out to get Baylor on the board. The extra point was blocked, and the team went into the locker room trailing 17-6.
Pendergrass had a breakout game with his impressive runs and ability to break tackles. He finished the game with 76 total yards on 8 carries and 4 receptions, scoring twice in the process.
“Dawson is able to make some plays in space,” Aranda commented. “It’s one of those things that I think is probably indicative of the spot we’re in right now, Dawson may be the best guy at making guys miss right now. I know we’ve got some guys who can do that, and we’re not doing it on Saturdays. But Dawson is.”
Iowa State came out of the break and immediately drove to midfield, setting up Norton to break free and outrun the Bears’ defense to the end zone to make the score 24-6. After a three-and-out, the Cyclones again turned to Contreraz for a field goal from 45-yards out.
This time, Baylor responded with a big play of its own as Shapen found Monaray Baldwin running free down the sideline and he put it right in his hands for a 69-yard score to make it 27-12 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Bears started the final frame already deep into Iowa State territory, and were able to score on another run by Pendergrass. However the two-point conversion was unsuccessful, and it remained a two possession game at 27-18.
The Cyclones then proceeded to go on a 12 play, 69 yard drive that took over five minutes off the clock. Contreraz put up another three points from 25-yards away. Baylor had one last shot to get back in the game, but failed on fourth down in Iowa State territory and the game was over with a final score of 30-18.
Baylor has four games remaining on the season, and needs to win three of them to become bowl eligible. They will start the final third of the season next week against Houston.
