Baylor Preview

Much like last year, ASU begins Big 12 play on the road. A loss in that game at Texas Tech was no indicator as to how the 2024 season was going to unfold, but a win at Baylor on Saturday night can remove some of the doubts that the Sun Devils began the 2025 season with. Here’s our examination of the Bears.

Baylor Offense

In 2024, Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson saw the most action of his college career, and the results were outstanding. He threw for 3,071 yards with 28 touchdowns and eight interceptions, while also adding 230 net rushing yards and four touchdowns.

Thus far in 2025, Robertson has been even more productive, ranking second nationally in passing yards (1,070) and tied for third nationally with 10 passing touchdowns. He also has two interceptions and 12 net rushing yards on 13 carries.

Robertson had more than 400 passing yards in each of his first two games of the 2025 season and did not throw an interception in either game as he had 419 yards with three touchdowns against Auburn and 440 yards with four touchdown throws against SMU.

Similar to Robertson, running back Bryson Washington enjoyed a breakout redshirt freshman 2024 season that saw him rush for 1,028 yards with 13 total touchdowns. Washington also entered 2025 with lofty expectations as he was named a Preseason All-Big 12 selection.

Thus far, he has continued to perform at a high level, as he has 304 rushing yards on 66 carries with four touchdowns, along with six receptions for 24 yards in three games.

Washington averages over 100 rushing yards per game and has surpassed triple digits in two of his three games, with 135 yards and two touchdowns last week against Samford and 115 yards and two scores the previous week at SMU.

Reserve running back Caden Knighten has 89 rushing yards on 23 carries, along with a touchdown, and six receptions for 43 yards and a score. Meanwhile, Hawkins Polley or Cody Mladenka is expected to fill the fullback role for Baylor.

The high-powered Baylor pass game features a group of talented wide receivers in Josh Cameron, Ashtyn Hawkins, Kobe Prentice, and Kole Wilson, all of whom are trending toward at least 40 catches this year.

Hawkins is on a 1,000-yard receiving pace as he leads the way with 17 receptions for 257 yards, but has yet to catch a touchdown, while Cameron, also an elite special teams returns threat, ranks second on the team in catches (15), receiving yards (244), and touchdown receptions (three). Prentice has a team-high four touchdown receptions as part of his 10 catches for 117 yards, while Wilson has 13 receptions for 182 yards.

Not to be forgotten is talented tight end Michael Trigg, who has 13 receptions for 151 yards with a touchdown through three games. Trigg, who previously spent time at USC and Ole Miss, was a Second-Team All-Big 12 pick last year, just like his ASU tight end counterpart in Chamon Metayer.

The Baylor offensive line figures to start Sidney Fugar at left tackle, Ryan Lengyel at left guard, Coleton Price at center, Omar Aigbedion at right guard, and Kaden Sieracki at right tackle. Aigbedion was an Honorable Mention All-Big 12 selection in 2024.

Baylor Offense Summary

Though Baylor boasts gaudy passing numbers, the Bears are far from a one-dimensional offense as quarterback Sawyer Robertson involves a bounty of high-caliber pass-catchers every game, and the offense also features a 1,000-yard rusher in Bryson Washington.

Against Baylor, it truly is a “pick your poison” proposition, and the Sun Devil defense will be tested this weekend in ways that very few opponents for 2025 will push Arizona State.

Baylor Defense

The Baylor starting line figures to consist of Jackie Marshall, DK Kalu, and either Cooper Lanz or Devonte Tezino.

Marshall, an Honorable Mention All-Big 12 choice in 2024, has three tackles, including one for loss, through three games.

Lanz leads all Baylor linemen with 10 tackles, including one pass breakup. Tezino has seven tackles on the year, while Kalu has recorded one tackle.

Elsewhere on defense, Matthew Fobbs-White, Kyler Jordan, or Emar’rion Winston figures to start against ASU.

Winson, a former Oregon transfer who strongly considered ASU out of the transfer portal, leads the team with 3.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks as part of his seven total tackles. Fobbs-White has five tackles, including one for loss with a quarterback hurry, while Jordan has tallied one tackle.

Keaton Thomas or Travion Barnes is slated to start at one linebacker position, with Kyland Reed or Phoenix Jackson at the Rover spot.

Thomas is one of the elite defenders in the Big 12 as he was a first-team all-conference selection last year and a 2025 Preseason All-Big 12 pick as well. He is keeping that momentum going this season as he leads Baylor with 31 tackles, with one coming for a loss. Last year, Thomas posted 114 tackles in 13 games and is well on his way to another triple-digit tackle season in 2025.

Barnes ties for fifth on the team thus far with 11 tackles, adding a sack, while Jackson shares that tie with Barnes as he too has 11 tackles along with one quarterback hurry. Reed has posted nine tackles, including one for loss, with a fumble recovery.

In the secondary, Tevin Williams and Levar Thornton, Jr. are expected to start at cornerback, with Devyn Bobby at strong safety and one of the three of Jacob Redding, Tyler Turner, or Kris Wokomah at free safety, with one of the three of DJ Coleman, Kendrick Simpkins, or Carl Williams IV at nickel defensive back.

Bobby is the most statistically productive member of the group thus far, ranking second on the team with 16 tackles. Last season, Bobby tied for the team lead with three interceptions and added 80 tackles.

Coleman and Redding tie for third on the team with 12 tackles, while Coleman has one TFL, two pass breakups, a quarterback hurry, and a forced fumble, while Redding adds an interception.

Thornton has collected six tackles with an interception and a pass breakup, Turner has also totaled six tackles and has one pass breakup, while Simpkins is credited with six tackles, including 2.0 for loss with a sack as well as a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble.

Tevin Williams has posted three tackles, including one for loss with a pass breakup, Carl Williams has one tackle, and Wokomah has yet to register any defensive statistics in 2025.

Baylor Defense Summary

The Baylor offense through three games has been spectacular.

The Baylor defense through three games? Not so much.

The Bears allow 188.3 rushing yards per game with seven rushing touchdowns allowed – music to the ears for a Sun Devil ground game that has found its way over the past six quarters.

Also, Baylor hasn’t shown much of an ability to make major plays on defense, as the entire team has combined for five sacks on the year.

In this game, one would think that a heavy focus on running the ball will be in order, and if ASU follows that script, the Sun Devils should be able to move the ball effectively.

Baylor Special Teams

Kicker Connor Hawkins is off to a perfect start to the 2025 season, having connected on all three of his field goal attempts, although his longest so far is just 36 yards.

Baylor boasts one of the top punters in college football in Palmer Williams, a First-Team All-Big 12 selection in 2024 and a 2025 Preseason All-Big 12 selection at punter. So far this year, Williams averages 45.71 yards on his seven punts.

In the return game, Baylor boasts one of the elite returners in college football in punt returner Josh Cameron, who was a First-Team All-Big 12 selection as a returns specialist in 2024 and was the Preseason All-Big 12 return man for 2025. Cameron has yet to get out of the gates as a punt returner in 2025 as he has four punt returns for zero total yards.

At kick returner, Ashtyn Hawkins, Kobe Prentice, and/or Kole Wilson figure to be featured on Saturday.

Wilson tops the list statistically so far as he averages 24.14 yards on seven kickoff returns through three games.

Overall Summary

Saturday marks just the second time that Arizona State and Baylor have met on the gridiron, with the first meeting occurring in 1990 when ASU won by a score of 34-13.

Under sixth-year head coach Dave Aranda, Baylor has been a wildly erratic team in terms of its win-loss record. The Bears were 2-7 in the COVID-shortened 2020 season but bounced back remarkably with a 12-2 record in 2021, which resulted in a Big 12 championship and a No. 5 final Associated Press poll ranking.

However, that success did not last, as Baylor finished 6-7 in 2022, then down to just 3-9 in 2023 before a much-improved 8-5 record last season.

The Bears entered the 2025 season as a potential “sleeper” pick in the conference race, similar to a team like Arizona State last year, to emerge from general obscurity into the thick of the Big 12 title picture.

It seems wild to look at a week four game as a “must-win” situation, but for Arizona State, the difference between a 3-1 record and a win to start conference play compared to a 2-2 standing after four games feels like a gap the size of the Grand Canyon.

ASU’s offense will have to be crisp in execution, take care of the ball, and the Sun Devils absolutely must finish drives when they advance the ball into Baylor territory.

On defense, the Sun Devils must apply consistent pressure to the pocket and not allow ample time for Robertson to operate. ASU will likely need to have a decisive edge in the turnover battle to steal possessions away from the potent Baylor offense.