Bears Defeat Cyclones 23-13
Baylor had fewer first downs, fewer passing yards, less TOP, and had more penalties in the game, but came out ahead in a game that was far closer than the final score indicated.
But when the dust settled, Baylor had won its first Big XII game of the year and its first Big XII road game ever. And more impressive to me, despite the huge accomplishment, the team acted like it had been there before.
This is a different Baylor team than you've seen in the last 10 years.
Baylor got up early on ISU 10-3 in the first quarter, but squandered a turneover in Iowa State territory with a sack, a run for no gain and an incomplete pass. Iowa State stormed back and tied the game. Then they took advantage of a Rochon fumble to hit a field goal to pull ahead.
And that's how the first half ended. But the second half was all Bears.
The defense bent at times, but they never broke. They held Iowa State scoreless in the second half, and the special teams put the offense in position to win the game. And the offense obliged.
It wasn't pretty on offense, but it was effective. Three FGs by Ryan Havens gave the Bears the security and a touchdown by Paul Mosley with 1:36 left in the game put the exclamation mark to the game and sealed the win.
Shawn Bell completed nearly 70% of his passes for 160 yards and 1 touchdown. He didn't throw any interceptions. But perhaps more impressive than his passing was his running. Yes, his running. On third and 14, Bell took a bootleg around the end for a 16 yard gain. And that wasn't all. He finished the game with 6 carries for 33 yards. That's 5.5 yards per carry, the best on the day for Baylor.
Mosley had an on-and-off day. At times he ran with dominating power, other times he was stopped for very short gains. The lack of a downfield passing game clearly hurt as ISU dropped a safety into run-support on nearly every play. He managed 64 yards on 21 carries, and Whitaker grabbed 20 yards on 5 carries as Baylor rushed for a total of 116 yards on the day.
Like I said, it wasn't a pretty day. Baylor managed only 276 yards on offense on 60 plays (4.6 ypp), but they did what it took to win the game. Something that (except for the A&M game) we are getting used to seeing from this team.
But the defense. What an effort. Yes, they gave up 320 yards. Yes, they allowed a 75% scoring rate in the redzone. But they sacked Meyer 4 times for a loss of 25 yards. They FORCED 3 turnovers, including an incredibly key fumble on the 1 yard line that they recovered for a touchback. And the most important statistic: 13 points.
Baylor's offense knows that it hasn't been a world-beater. It's not a Texas Tech. But if this defense keeps this up, they only have to score 16 points to win a game (defense averages giving up 15.2ppg). And Baylor has been improving that number since getting into conference play.
Baylor again showed great speed and, in the second half, great intensity in getting after the opponent. Despite being on the field A LOT, they remained strong and didn't falter as the game came to a close.
And the special teams were special. Andrews averaged 20 yards on his returns. Averaged, I said. ISU had one punt return for 8 yards. Baylor got 32 yards on its one kickoff return on the day. ISU averaged 18.5 on their two. Daniel Sepulveda averaged 44.4 yards per punt, including a game-changing 68 yard punt, downed at the 1 yard line. ISU averaged 37.3 yards per punt. Yeah, and the net on those punts: 17.3 yards.
That's called "Winning the Field Position Battle". It's a textbook example.
All in all, Baylor did what it took to win. They operated as the team Morriss has built them to be. Every aspect doing its job, every player giving his all. And they are performing.
Next up is Nebraska. They aren't the juggernaut they used to be, but they aren't a joke either. I'll have a review up soon, and let you know what I think about them.
