Baylor NT Siaki Ika sidelined with possible injury vs. Texas football
Although there weren’t really injury reports that mentioned standout redshirt junior nose tackle Siaki Ika for the Baylor Bears this week, in a Black Friday matchup against No. 23 ranked Texas football, he spent what looked to be the entire first half on the sideline.
And despite going through what looked like his usual pregame warmup routine, Ika was spotted without his helmet on a few different occasions on the broadcast on ESPN. There wasn’t any definitive word from the commentators that we heard or any concrete reports that we found, concerning Ika’s injury status.
But the announcers did mention that it could be an injury issue that is keeping him on the sideline. That is mostly based on speculation from what we can tell, though.
All we could find were a few Baylor message boards that talked about Ika standing on the sideline without his helmet on, speculating that he could be out for the game.
Standout Baylor NT Siaki Ika sidelined in the first half vs. Texas football
Here’s what a starting NFL nose tackle looks like at field level—hard-to-move @seniorbowl commit Siaki Ika. He’ll be top priority for any NFL team looking to shore up its run defense this offseason.#TheDraftStartsInMOBILE™️ pic.twitter.com/VEpE1dH4ai
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) November 25, 2022
If this is the case where Ika is going to be sidelined in the second half of this game against the Longhorns on Nov. 25, that is obviously a big detriment to the Baylor defensive front. Ika is one of the leaders on and off the field for the Baylor defense.
Moreover, Ika has dealt with a couple of injuries at different points of the fall. Ika was reportedly injured for Baylor in the third quarter in an eventual one-possession loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers on the road on Oct. 13.
If Ika is out for the rest of this outing on Nov. 25, it will be the first game that Ika missed for the Bears this season. Coming into Week 13, Ika registered two dozen combined tackles, two tackles for loss, 18 quarterback pressures, three QB hits, and two batted balls in 11 games played on the season.
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At the half, Baylor is carrying a slim lead over Baylor, 19-17. Texas is looking for its eighth win to round out the regular season, currently sitting with a record of 7-4 (5-3 Big 12). Meanwhile, Baylor can notch its seventh win of the season as it currently boasts a record of 6-5 (4-4 Big 12).