Shapen, Baylor ready to climb back from difficult end to last season

ARLINGTON — Dave Aranda isn’t about to run away from the past, but he’s got a keen eye toward the future. Picked to win the Big 12 a year ago, Baylor vastly underperformed, losing three straight regular season games and falling to Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl. Those hard lessons create a new opportunity. “The season was tough, and the last couple of months were tough,” Aranda said. “There was a lot of learning with that. You wish that the lessons were easy, but for it to truly be a lesson, it’s got to be hard. I think we went through all of that and we’re better for it.” The process started of taking accountability for the way the season ended soon after the bowl game. Once one player started to focus on fixing what made the back half of the year miserable, the domino effect started. Eventually, the rest of the squad followed suit. “I learned to stop letting people slide,” fifth-year defensive lineman T.J. Franklin said. “We let a lot of people get by with doing a lot of bad stuff. Nipping things in the bud early on and not allowing people to take advantage of the team is going to play a huge role this season.” Perhaps nobody felt that slide more than junior quarterback Blake Shapen. He was a lightning rod when he came on in 2021, throwing for three touchdowns and completing 17 straight passes to help the Bears upset Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship game. Last year was far less consistent for the Louisiana native, as he completed less than 65 percent of his passes with 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. “I’ve always wanted to do good, so I won’t say there’s any added pressure,” Shapen said. “It’s good that I have a season under my belt to learn and grow, and be able to carry that into this season.” Aranda called Shapen a machine when talking about his performance at AT&T Stadium two years ago. He said Shapen got caught up in some of the negative narratives, and it brought him down. This year is about the journey back. “When you’re in a pit, to climb your way out of the pit and come out stronger because of it, I think it’s one of the beautiful things in our sport,” Aranda said. “I want to see him rewarded for that.” Expansion was, understandably, a hot topic at media days. With BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston coming in this year, and Oklahoma and Texas headed to the SEC after this season, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said the conference has a plan for the future, but wouldn’t go into further details. Regardless, Aranda said he’s excited to see some new teams and styles in the conference. “I’ve been in some leagues before where there is great competition, and then you’ve got the one or two weeks where it’s (not as competitive),” Aranda said. “That’s not the case with the Big 12. It’s going to take everything you’ve got to take everything you’ve got every week.” Baylor was picked eighth in the 2021 preseason poll and went on to win the conference. Last year, the Bears were picked to win the conference for the first time ever but slid down to sixth place. This year, the Bears are tabbed to finish sixth. Oklahoma and Texas have combined to win 17 of the 26 conference football titles since the current iteration of the Big 12 was formed in 1996. With the Sooners and Longhorns leaving after this year, there’s a big opportunity for another school to become a perennial power. “It’s there (for us), and it’s there for all the other teams, too,” Aranda said. “The last couple of seasons have shown that when you come around the bend, you can be in the back of the pack, and then before the race is over, you’ve won the race. It shows how competitive the league is.” Baylor begins the season with four straight games at McLane Stadium, including three non-conference games against Texas State, No. 14 Utah and Long Island before Big 12 play begins against No. 10 Texas on Sept. 23. The Bears aren’t planning to have it take a few weeks to figure out what kind of them they are. Five of their seven losses last season came by 11 points or less, and three were by single digits. Part of the mantra for Baylor this season is about finishing the fight. “For us, we want to continually grow throughout the season and make strides,” Shapen said. “We don’t want to regress, we want to make progress. I’m excited for the season for sure.”