One of the keys to today’s game will be the status of Blake Shapen, who is expected to play after suffering a concussion in Baylor’s last game against West Virginia.

Baylor head coach Dave Aranda said on Wednesday evening Shapen was back at practice and “feeling good.”

The offense has looked good under Shapen who had over 300 yards passing when he was injured at West Virginia.

“I think he's feeling more and more grounded and connected to what we're doing offensively,” Aranda said. “He has ownership of that, and he speaks into that, but then he can really almost translate stuff to the players, especially our young receivers. And so having him at the helm of it is really, really good. And he's just taking more and more steps. I think this last game for him was a big boost, and so excited for him with all of it.”

Aranda said Shapen passed the testing they put players through. Add in the fact Baylor played on a Thursday and that gave him extra time to recover.

“With a Thursday game, there's a couple of more days that you have,” Aranda said. “Generally, in a given week would be Saturday to Saturday. And so it's kind of a strict timeline in terms of they have to take a test that is motor function, memory, and these things have to come back. And then their practice is a fourth of a practice on one day. And if they feel okay after that, then it's a half of a practice, and then they can get to where it's full (practice).

“Throughout that, there's trainers right there looking at them, seeing how they're recovering. So even if their words, whatever they say, so they want to play. There are trainers looking at them and measuring it. He's done well with all that process.”

To see our staff predictions for the Baylor game along with game notes and depth charts go here