Baylor’s top-ranked passing defense will try to slow down a potent Colorado aerial attack in Saturday’s Big 12 Conference opener for both teams in Boulder, Colo.
Baylor coach Dave Aranda assumed defensive play calls this season and the Bears (2-1) have allowed just 75.7 passing yards per game.
Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders has completed 70.2 percent of his passes for 999 yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions. He’s been sacked seven times.
Travis Hunter is a do-everything star for the Buffaloes (2-1). As a receiver, he has a team-high 30 receptions for 342 yards and five scores. On defense, he’s a shutdown corner with 11 tackles and an interception.
“I have a lot of respect offensively for what they do,” Aranda said. “Their quarterback makes some really hard throws. If he knows what you’re in, the throws are out before the turns are made and before the coverage has a chance to work a leverage or any of that. Once he knows, it’s bad for the defense. And then, I think the skill is such that you can only double cover so many people.”
In a 31-3 home win against Air Force last week, Sawyer Robertson started at quarterback for Baylor in place of an injured Dequan Finn and completed 18 of 24 passes for 248 yards with a rushing touchdown.
Aranda said he “hoped to have an idea” of this week’s starter prior to Saturday.
“We’re going with, right now, day-to-day,” Aranda said of Finn’s status. “Dequan is out of the sling, so we had practice (Monday) morning and he was able to move around better. There are limitations on what we can do per day, but I think we’re in a good spot.”
After struggling to establish a rushing attack in its first two games, Colorado racked up a season-high 116 yards on the ground in last week’s 28-9 win against rival Colorado State.
“When we are more physical and able to understand our basic fundamentals, we are able to run the ball more effectively,” Colorado coach Deion Sanders said. “We want to run the ball effectively and stop the run. We don’t know which quarterback they’ll feature but are preparing for both of them. Baylor is physical and strong and they don’t make a lot of self-inflicted mistakes.”
