WHERE: McLane Stadium

WHEN: 11:00 a.m. Saturday

WATCH IT ON: FS1

SERIES HISTORY: Texas Tech and Baylor are tied in the series, 39-39-1. The Red Raiders have won seven of the last nine games in Waco, but the Bears have won seven of the last 10 matchups overall.

CURRENT FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK ODDS: Baylor -14.5, (OVER/UNDER): 52.5

Baylor is 9-2 on the year. The Bears got their season started by beating Texas State, 29-20, and Texas Southern, 66-7, to wrap up the early season portion of their non-conference schedule. Baylor would kick off the Big 12 season by beating Kansas, 45-7, and Iowa State, 31-29, before losing, 24-14, to Oklahoma State in Stillwater. The Bears would bounce back by beating West Virginia, 45-20, BYU, 38-24, and Texas, 31-24, but lost a close game on the road to TCU, 30-28. Baylor would bounce back again by beating Oklahoma, 27-14, in their only loss of the season, and Kansas State, 20-10, in Manhattan last weekend. The Bears are on a two-game winning streak headed into the game against the Red Raiders.

Baylor’s Dave Aranda is on his 2nd season at the helm for the Bears and has an, 11-9, record as head coach. After going 2-7 a season ago, Aranda has completely turned around a Bears team that finished ninth in the Big 12 standings. Baylor is currently third in the conference and needs an Oklahoma loss, plus a win over Texas Tech to clinch their spot in the Big 12 championship game.

The Bears are ranked 38th out of 130 FBS schools in total defense, giving up 345.5 yards per game, and 16th in scoring defense allowing only 19 points per game. They’re also 11th in the nation in third down conversion percentage defense, allowing the opposition to convert on only 32 percent of their attempts.

The Baylor defense has been stout against the run, ranked 22nd in the nation and allowing 120.4 yards per game on the ground. The only area the Bears defense could be considered average is in their secondary, ranking 59th and are allowing 225.1 yards per game through the air.

Baylor is tied for 29th in the nation with 30 sacks this season and 12 different defenders have recorded at least one sack. The Bears are 48th in tackles for loss per game with a 6.1 TFL average.

Baylor is ranked 26th in scoring offense, putting up 34 points per game and 24th in total offense, averaging 447.1 yards per game.

The Bears are ranked 83rd in passing offense and have been inconsistent at times this season, with Gerry Bohanon having eclipsed 200-yards passing in only five of 11 games. Baylor averages 225.1 yards per game through the air. Bohanon is questionable for Saturday's game against the Red Raiders with a hamstring injury. Blake Shapen would get the start at quarterback if Bohanon can’t go.

The Bears have run the football on roughly 61 percent of their snaps this season and are 5th in rushing offense, averaging 231.7 yards per game on the ground. Baylor leads the Big 12 and has 351 more rushing yards than second place TCU.

The West Texas product from Abilene started in four games at linebacker in 2020 and finished the season with 48 tackles, 5 tackles for loss and a sack for the Baylor defense. Smith made the switch back to running back this season after logging eight carries at the position in 2019, and he’s rewarded the Bears coaching staff for making the move. Smith is 6th in the nation in rushing yards per game and has 1,249 yards on the ground with 11 touchdowns. Smith is one of 10 finalists for the Doak Walker Award, given annually to the nation’s best running back. Smith is the all-time leading rusher at Abilene High School, where he ran for 4,955 yards and added 77 total touchdowns.

The senior wide out was an honorable mention All-Big 12 selection in 2019 but battled injuries a season ago that limited him to just 158 yards and a touchdown. Thornton has bounced back in a big way this year and is currently 3rd in the Big 12 and 43rd in the nation in receiving with 838 yards. Thornton is 2nd in the conference and tied for 27th overall with 8 receiving touchdowns and is 3rd in the Big 12 in yards per reception at 16.4. His 51 receptions are good for 7th in the league, and was he was recently added to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List. Thornton is a long target at 6-foot-3 and gets his number called often inside the redzone.

Started in all nine games a season ago and was named First Team All-Big 12 safety. Pitre led the Baylor defense with 60 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, and added 2.5 sacks and 2 interceptions, both returned for touchdowns. One of his pick sixes last year came off Alan Bowman in the first quarter against Texas Tech. Pitre does a little bit of everything for the Baylor defense and is currently third on their team in tackles with 57 and has a team leading 15 tackles for loss. He can get after the quarterback, registering 2 sacks this year and has a knack for creating turnovers. Pitre has 2 interceptions and 5 pass deflections and leads the Bears defense with 3 forced fumbles and 3 fumble recoveries.

This Baylor football team feels eerily similar to Oklahoma State. The Bears are an efficient, run first offense that's fully capable of beating you through the air. They’re really sound on defense and can disrupt an opposition’s gameplan with their ability to get after the quarterback. Baylor's success starts up front with their offensive and defensive line play and controlling both lines of scrimmage. Texas Tech allowed 5 sacks last weekend against the Cowboys, and they’ll have to make quick improvements to be successful against a Bears defense that averages 2.73 sacks per game. Baylor has the 8th fewest sacks allowed in college football with 11, one sack allowed per game. If Bohanon doesn’t play on Saturday, the Red Raiders have to find a way to get after Shapen and make life difficult for the backup quarterback. Texas Tech’s streak of limiting the opposing team’s number one running back continued last weekend, as the defense held Jaylen Warren to just 37-yards rushing. The Red Raiders may be faced with their toughest challenge of the season this week, as Smith currently leads the Big 12 in rushing. Getting population to the ball carrier will be crucial in slowing down the Bears rushing attack.

KEY OFFENSIVE MATCHUP: The Texas Tech Offensive Line vs. The Baylor Defensive Front

KEY DEFENSIVE MATCHUP: The Texas Tech Defensive Front vs. Abram Smith