2020 Oklahoma Schedule Preview: Baylor

2020 Oklahoma Sooners schedule preview: Baylor Bears

Every Wednesday going into Big 12 Media Days on July 20-21, SI Sooners will break down Oklahoma’s 2020 schedule. Today: Baylor.

Let’s face it: for all the great work Matt Rhule did building up a Baylor program that had crashed and burned after the Art Briles era ended in disgrace, the Bears are once again in full rebuild mode.

Rhule left for the NFL, where he coaches the Carolina Panthers. Big 12 defensive player of the year James Lynch also bolted early for the NFL. So did star cornerback Grayland Arnold. Nine starters departed from the Big 12’s best defense.

Say hello, Dave Aranda.

Aranda is the defensive whiz from LSU, formerly the highest-paid assistant coach in college football who, now 43, has never been a head coach at any level.

2020 Oklahoma Sooners schedule

• Sept. 5 — Missouri State
• Sept. 12 — Tennessee
• Sept. 26 — at Army
• Oct. 3 — Baylor
• Oct. 10 — Texas
• Oct. 17 — at Iowa State
• Oct. 24 — Oklahoma State
• Oct. 31 — at TCU
• Nov. 7 — at West Virginia
• Nov. 14 — Kansas State
• Nov. 21 — Kansas
• Nov. 28 — at Texas Tech
• Dec. 5 — Big 12 Championship Game

Once roommates with Texas’ Tom Herman when they played together at Cal Lutheran, he’s coached with Texas Tech’s Matt Wells at Utah State and under Kansas’ Les Miles at LSU, and last year he and the Tigers beat the doors off of Lincoln Riley and Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff on their way to a national championship and 15-0 record.

So yeah, the coach whose last two stops were LSU and Wisconsin thinks he has a pretty good feel for what to expect as a head coach in the Big 12 Conference.

Aranda says the league’s long-held narrative of offense, offense, offense, isn’t what it once was.

“I think some of that is changing, somewhat,” Aranda said at his introductory press conference. “I think some of that is true. But the advent of defenses, whether it was Baylor last year or, just watching film on Kansas State, they did some good things on defense; I think Iowa State’s done some good things on defense.

“I think defense is making a comeback in this league, and I’d like to be at the forefront of that.”

It won’t be easy — at least at first. While Rhule’s Bears led the conference in several defensive categories last year, including quarterback sacks (46), interceptions (17) and points allowed (19.8 per game), Aranda’s Bears are starting over at a lot of positions.

Not only did Lynch and Arnold exit as juniors, but the seniors who graduated had expansive experience. Together, the nine who left combined for 207 career starts.

At least Aranda has a little to build on. All-Big 12 linebacker Terrel Bernard and preseason All-Big 12 cornerback Raleigh Texada have a combined 30 career starts.

“I knew of the defensive departures (when he took the job),” Aranda said. “I look at the student-athletes that have played and the playing time they had last year. The experience that is coming back, I think, is something to build upon. There’s good recruiting classes in the wings that are ready to make their mark. I think defense will be a strength this year.”

Offense could be, if quarterback Charlie Brewer can avoid further concussion trauma. He left three games last year after head injuries, including the Big 12 Championship Game against Oklahoma and the bowl game loss to Georgia.

“This is a defensive guy talking, but I think the rules in college football allow for advantages on offense,” Aranda said. “You’d like for your offense to feature your best players. So, identify what our guys do best and then put our guys in the best position to succeed.”

Brewer throwing the football to Tyquan Thornton and R.J. Sneed is on that list. Running backs Trestan Ebner and John Lovett are now seniors, so they’ll be there, too. They’ll have left tackle Connor Galvin, left guard Khalil Keith, right guard Xavier Newman-Johnson and right tackle Blake Bedier back to clear the way.

When Aranda was prepping for the Peach Bowl against Oklahoma, he said he was impressed by both of Baylor’s games against the Sooners. In Waco, the Bears built a 28-3 lead before losing 34-31. In OU’s 30-23 overtime victory in the Big 12 title game in Arlington, Texas, Baylor rallied from a 10-point deficit to force OT with two scores in the final 10 minutes.

“I remember watching the TV copies,” Aranda said. “I could see the togetherness of the team. I could see the toughness of the team. I could see in between he white lines, the energy and the focus and the effort. I could see … the leadership, I could see guys bringing each other up. Man, you saw love, you saw togetherness, and you saw a team.”

Aranda said when he got to Waco, he didn’t see anything different.

”When I was standing in front of ‘em, you could tell how close a team they were,” he said. “You could see the togetherness, the cohesiveness. … I told them I wanted to be their coach.”

Rhule’s tenure in Waco was meteoric as the Bears went from 1-11 his first year to 7-6 to 11-3 last year and that trip to the Big 12 Championship Game.

Turns out, Rhule was one of the things about the job that appealed to Aranda.

“I would find myself pulling up YouTube videos of Matt Rhule speaking to the team, his motivational talks,” Aranda said. “ … He has built such a great foundation here. I’m excited about taking the next step in that foundation and furthering the progress that he’s made.”

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