Apu Ika: 'Mission's the Same' as 2022 Season Looms
Coach Dave Aranda and the Baylor Bears football team had a remarkable 2021 season, concluding the year with a 21-7 Sugar Bowl victory over Mississippi and a 12-win campaign.
When asked how this year compares to last year, Baylor's Apu Ika bluntly replied with three simple words.
"Mission's the same," Ika said.
Ika, a 6-4, 358-pound defensive tackle out of Salt Lake City, Utah, transferred from LSU before the 2021 season. Last year for the Bears, Ika garnered 25 total tackles (18 solo), 6.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, four quarterback hurries and one pass deflection.
"We're pounding the rock every day, getting ready for week one," Ika said. "Everyone knows the experience we have on both sides of the trenches; o-line, d-line. Being able to play with those dudes and play against those dudes in practice every day; it only makes me better and it only makes us better as a team, so again -- I'm excited for week one."
So what's it like for Ika and his teammates to face the best of the best when battling Baylor's offensive line in practice?
"It's what any competitor wants," Ika said. "Iron sharpens iron. If you want to be the best, you've got to get ready with the best. And I feel like day-in and day-out, we've got some dudes on the other side, lots of experience. Jacob Gall, Grant Miller, Connor Galvin. They just bring it every day and we've got to match the energy. That's the only way the practice goes. Aranda says it time and time again, 'this team is led by the front.' So got to keep chugging."
Ika also believes this year's defensive unit could be even better than the one the Bears fielded in 2021.
"I think it's a different group of guys this year," Ika said. "Maybe we have to take a different approach as to spots we have to fill and the spots we have to get better. But like I said earlier, at the end of the day, we've got a job to do and we just go out there and do it. We pound the rock."
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Denton Ramsey has been a journalist for over 20 years with a decade of experience as a sports writer and editor for a plethora of newspapers throughout Texas and Alabama. Growing up in Houston and attending Baylor University, Ramsey is a die-hard sports fan with a true passion for writing. He may be reached via email at denton.itb@gmail.com