Both UCF and Baylor are hovering just above the lower depths of the Big 12, and the two programs are hoping to build momentum in the conference standings against one another as the Knights and Bears face off Saturday in Waco, Texas.
The Bears (4-4, 2-3 Big 12) are coming off of a second straight defeat, this time at the hands of then-No. 21 Cincinnati 41-20. Baylor fell down 24-0 after the first 27 minutes as the team’s defensive struggles continued.
Baylor allows 32.6 points per game which is bottom 20 in the country, and have allowed at least 375 yards in seven of eight games. The defense will have to step up, especially this weekend against a UCF team that averages 445.1 yards per game.
“It’s been two weeks of losing to the same thing, it’s kind of been the thing all season long,” said Baylor coach Dave Aranda on Monday. “Whether it’s the turnovers, stop on the run, self-inflicted wounds, and our focus has been on that, and we hit that today [during pratice].”
The one thing keeping the Bears in games has been Sawyer Robertson, who has the second-most passing TDs (23) and the most passing yards (2,513) in the country.
UCF (4-3, 1-3) is coming off of a bye week, and riding high after the Knights’ 45-13 trouncing of West Virginia on Oct. 18. It marked the sixth time this season they’ve held an opponent to under 200 passing yards.
The Knights’ passing defense (146.3 yards per game) is the sixth best in the nation and will surely be important to hinder Robertson, who has just two games under 250 passing yards.
Tayven Jackson has been under center for the Knights and has 1,183 passing yards to go with five TDs and two interceptions.
Jackson and UCF will look to Baylor as a way to stack some wins heading into a rough end of season stretch that consists of three currently ranked teams.
“This team’s made a lot of strides and the tough thing is we were close to winning another one or two and making this a completely different year, but now we got a chance down the stretch to see if we can win some of those close games,” said coach Scott Frost on Monday.
