11/2/2026 4:21:00 PM | Football
Klanderman trying to take the pressure off and let the offense play looser
Director of Sports Journalism Jerry Hill gives his three takeaways from Monday's weekly press conference with interim head coach Joe Klanderman talking about the Bears' 41-9 drubbing of UCF and Saturday's Homecoming matchup between Baylor (5-3, 3-2) and Iowa State (4-4, 2-3), which kicks off at 11 a.m. Saturday at McLane Stadium and will be broadcast by FS1:
- NO NEED TO BE 'OUTER-WORDLY': One thing that Klanderman has stressed the last two weeks is trying to take the pressure off the ones that have felt it the most, including offensive coordinator Jake Spavital, quarterback DJ Lagway and the offensive line. "I think the offense felt maybe a little bit looser," he said of the Bears exploding for 503 yards, including 184 on the ground in the dominating road win over UCF. "I don't know if there were any big differences, play calling-wise . . . but I just felt like (Spavital) maybe just had a little bit less pressure on him. . . . At times, DJ was maybe trying to do things where he didn't need to do things. Going back to the previous point, when you put pressure on yourself, you feel like you have to play outer-worldly. And you don't."
- GIVING FLOWERS TO FLORA: Klanderman calls Iowa State sophomore Aiden Flora "maybe the best tailback in the league." Flora, who shared Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors with Lagway, rushed for 221 yards and two touchdowns in the Cyclones' 51-49 win over then-No. 24 Oklahoma State and is seventh nationally with 937 yards in eight games. "He runs it, catches it, throws it – all kinds of explosive plays that he makes," Klanderman said. "Running the ball inside, running the ball on the perimeter, he really stretches all the gaps of your defense. . . . It's going to be us matching their physicality and us being sound. They've got a lot of those gadget plays, and I think our guys will be ready."
- 'WE WANT YOU THERE': Making an appeal to the fans to pack McLane Stadium for the Homecoming matchup and his first home game as interim head coach, Klanderman said, "We want you there. I want you guys to see this edition of this football team. I'm hoping that we can get that place going. I'm hoping that the Bear Walk is crazy. I know that our administration is working tirelessly to make this a great fan experience: Doug (McNamee), Jovan (Overshown), President (Linda) Livingstone, that really matters to them. . . . I want this community to embrace this team. I think this team is kind of rallying around the community. Right now, there is a lot of pride in that locker room about being a Baylor Bear. And I'm hoping that pours over into how we play. It's so much easier to show that when the crowd is into it with us, and there are 12 of us playing instead of 11."
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