Three Things Baylor Coach Dave Aranda Said ahead of OSU’s Trip to Waco

Not that long ago, Dave Aranda and Mike Gundy shook hands after a hard-fought Big 12 title game, but the parity of the conference has since caught up with both teams.

Oklahoma State and Baylor are a combined 6-8 ahead of their game at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Waco. Aranda met with reporters Monday to preview his team’s matchup with the Cowboys. Here are three things that stood out.

1. On the Pokes

Ollie Gordon showed this past weekend that, when given a little sliver of space that he is still, in fact, Ollie Gordon.

He was jumping over people for fun and scoring 50-yard touchdowns. Despite his statistical struggles this season, opposing coaches have said nothing but glowing things about the reigning Doak Walker winner. Aranda was no different Monday.

“Big, fast, explosive, dangerous,” Aranda said. ” … You can’t one-arm tackle the guy. It’s gotta be a gang tackle, and you really have to kinda tackle him low. We’re gonna have to be at our best, or better than what we’ve been to defend him.”

On the whole, Aranda called the Cowboys a “dangerous team.” The Cowboys go to Waco on a four-game losing streak, but it’s still mostly the same team that went 10-4 last season.

“We have a really strong opponent,” Aranda said. “A lot of respect, just the program and Coach Gundy and everything he’s accomplished. You can see the improvement in this particular team. It’s a dangerous team. Everyone see’s that. …

“They are the fastest tempo team in our league. We’ve played some tempo teams to this point. They’re the fastest of all of them in terms of seconds between plays — or seconds that are left, rather, when the ball is snapped.”

2. Baylor Injury Update

Baylor has a pair of players on its roster with Stillwater ties, but both have battled with injuries to this point in the year.

The player most obvious to Oklahoma State fans will be running back Dominic Richardson. He played three seasons at OSU, carrying 272 times for 1,139 yards and 15 touchdowns as a Cowboy. He transferred to Baylor ahead of last season, playing in 11 games in 2023 with the Bears, where he ran for 519 yards and a touchdown. Unfortunately, Richardson has missed Baylor’s past three games with injury, and it doesn’t sound like he’ll be back to play against his former team.

“Dom may still be a minute,” Aranda said.

The other Bear with Stillwater ties is Teven Williams III, who played at Stillwater High School. A 6-foot-1, 188-pound corner, Williams started in two of the three games he has played in this season but missed the Bears’ win against Texas Tech. Aranda said Williams would be back this week.

Williams is part of a Baylor secondary that has been banged up, but some of those guys are getting closer to healthy. Aranda said safety DJ Coleman would be back. He played 135 snaps in the six games he’s played in this season. Aranda also said the Bears are “hopeful” to get safety Kendrick Simpkins back. Simpkins started two of the four games he played in but has missed Baylor’s past three games.

Lastly, Baylor returns Ketron Jackson, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound wide receiver, who missed the Texas Tech game. In six games, Jackson has caught nine passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns this season.

3. ‘He Just Said All of the S and F Words You Can Imagine’

This one was more of just a fun story.

Redshirt junior receiver Josh Cameron didn’t have a touchdown catch in his first three seasons with the Bears, but he is up to seven already this season. Six of those scores have come in the past three weeks, including his three-touchdown day against Texas Tech.

Aranda described Cameron as good-natured and said that he has a good heart. Well, at the end of practice last Tuesday, the Baylor offense apparently wasn’t having a great day against the scout team, and Cameron wasn’t having it.

“He threw his helmet down, and he just said all of the S and F words you can imagine — and just said them in such a real violent and frustrated, like we all were, and all of it,” Aranda said. “He got everybody’s attention. They all kinda stood up. He flipped that practice around for the offense. That’s great growth right there with Josh.

“I imagine if we’re making a Disney movie about it, you probably choose different words, but he got their attention. For him to be able to stand up in that moment and take charge like that, that’s the growth in him.”