Three Takeaways: October 12
10/12/2026 4:52:00 PM | Football
Key to Bears’ suddenly explosive run game was identifying
Director of Sports Journalism Jerry Hill gives his three takeaways from Monday's weekly press conference with head coach Dave Aranda talking about the Bears' bye week and a rivalry matchup between Baylor (4-1, 2-0) and TCU (2-3, 0-2), which kicks off at 6 p.m. Saturday at McLane Stadium, and will be broadcast by FS1:
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- SLUG IS NO SLUG:Â Among the many definitions of a slug is a lazy person. That definitely doesn't describe Traevon "Slug" Mitchell, a 6-0, 282-pound fifth-year defensive tackle who transferred from South Florida. Over the last three games, he has combined for 4.0 tackles for losses, half a sack, two QB hurries and seven total tackles. "Coach (Jacori) Greer has done a great job working with him," Aranda said. "Slug has really worked on his conditioning and gotten in good shape. He is very twitched up and explosive, and might be our most that way. You get him in a one-on-one spot or you get him where there's any type of movement with him, I think he really shines." Just so "everybody will know, for sure," Mitchell brings his Slug necklace "out to gamedays."
- WHAT'S THE FORMULA: One of the keys in the Bears' suddenly explosive run game, which produced TD runs of 75 yards by Caden Knight and 63 by freshman Ryelan Morris in the 55-19 win over Arizona State, was being "able to ID correctly," Aranda said. On the first series of the game, "we (identified) wrong . . . and it was a one- or two-yard gain. If we would have ID'ed that one right, that one had a chance to go for a ways. I think there was a speed of game that guys were playing with and a confidence – and then, you combine that with a correct ID and communication, where all five guys are working together – we were able to create some big runs. So, that's the formula."
- TELL ME WHY: As a defensive graduate assistant at Texas Tech from 2000 to 2002, Aranda was part of a staff that included a young wide receivers coach named Sonny Dykes, now in his fifth year as the head coach at TCU. "It was like a zoo enclosure; every office was just a different exhibit," Aranda said of the Tech coaching offices. "When you got to Sonny's, there would be music playing. We lost Super Dave, Dave Nichol a couple years ago, and Dave was an unbelievable coach, one of the greatest all-time people. Sonny and Dave would be in there – and what's the boy band? – they'd be playing Backstreet Boys. Sonny and Super Dave, they'd be singing, and they'd try to get me to sing. And then, you'd leave, and you'd have to go back to normal life. But that was always like a fun room back then, that was in the corner of the facility."
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