Jaren Hall: Baylor ‘Is Coached By One Of The Best Defensive Minds’

PROVO, Utah – BYU is 1-0 on the year after its 50-21 thrashing of South Florida. Now, the Cougars up the difficulty in returning home and playing No. 9 Baylor in a future Big 12 Conference matchup. Even though the Bears are a top-10 team, the Cougars are favored to get a potential big-time win at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Baylor vs. BYU

Last year, Baylor easily dispatched BYU, winning 38-24. This year, the Cougars want to get revenge and improve to 2-0.

The phrase “revenge game” gets tossed around when a team rematches against an opponent from a previous contest.These BYU players want to get a win in 2022 after suffering one of their few losses last year to the Bears.

GAME WEEK❕❕

this week's info 👉 https://t.co/kuQIHqJG1P pic.twitter.com/0guIhMwJS9

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) September 6, 2022

That includes BYU quarterback Jaren Hall, who joins Unrivaled every week. Hall is glad that Baylor lost defensive back Jalen Pitre, who is now in the NFL with the Houston Texans.

“They did lose some great playmakers. Jalen Pitre was their nickel last year and he probably is the best football player I’ve played against on defense,” Hall said. “I watched our game from last year and I didn’t realize how involved he was in every facet of the game.”

“I just think last year they had some of those very, very dynamic players. This year, I don’t know as much as the new guys. They will be a very physical team up front and coached by one of the best defensive minds in college football.”

That coach is Dave Aranda, who after one down year in 2020, has Baylor back in the spotlight as one of the best teams in the country. Aranda has led elite defenses at Utah State, LSU, and Wisconsin over the past decade.

Holding Things Back vs. South Florida?

One positive about BYU’s multi-touchdown win over South Florida is that the Cougars offense didn’t have to show the entire playbook. That could keep the Bears from fully knowing what BYU will run on Saturday night.

However, Hall said that the offensive staff is not afraid to empty the playbook, even in a game they are walking away with.

“Our game plan was to show everything [against South Florida]. Aaron Roderick is so aggressive… we don’t feel the need to hold anything back or think ahead to other games. We are in the moment no matter who we are playing and we don’t care who we are playing we want to win the game.”

𝗧𝗢𝗣 𝗙𝗜𝗩𝗘

what was your favorite moment from last night's game? pic.twitter.com/OaoTzfsl8a

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) September 5, 2022

“It just so happened on Saturday some of our basic stuff was just hitting so well… in a sense, we got lucky we didn’t have to show a lot. So, we have a lot of stuff to show that we can use that is still basic but we didn’t have to get into much depth with it. We have a lot of the playbook to still open to use on Saturday.”

The playbook being only partially opened could be one of the advantages for BYU going into this weekend’s game against Baylor. The Bears could end up being the most difficult team that the Cougars face all year. Having any sort of edge could be the difference if BYU is going to beat a top-10 team and start what could be another run to a double-digit win season.

Game Day Info

No. 21 BYU vs. No. 9 Baylor
Location: LaVell Edwards Stadium
Pregame: 7 p.m (MDT) on KSL Sports Zone
Kickoff: 8:15 p.m. (MDT)
TV: ESPN
Radio: KSL NewsRadio

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