THE RUNDOWN
AMES, Iowa (AP) - Bryce Petty threw for 336 yards and a touchdown and ran for a pair of TDs as seventh-ranked Baylor cruised past Iowa State 49-28 in its Big 12 opener Saturday night.
Shock Linwood had three TDs rushing for the Bears (4-0, 1-0 Big 12), who have started 4-0 in back-to-back seasons for the first time in 76 years.
Baylor's first game against a Power 5 school was a bit more difficult than its first three against weaker competition. But the Bears jumped ahead 35-7 late in the second quarter and led by at least 21 points for the entire second half.
Quarterback Sam Richardson threw for 212 yards and ran for 99 more for Iowa State (1-3, 0-2), which is 0-3 at home.
The Cyclones did make things briefly interesting in the third quarter, pulling within 42-21. But Petty found Corey Coleman for a 42-yard reception that set up Petty's 1-yard plunge.
The return of receivers Coleman (hamstring) and Antwan Goodley (quadriceps) made Baylor's offense more explosive than ever. The pair combined for 18 catches, 268 yards and a touchdown.
The high-flying Bears now have 10 touchdown drives where the yards outnumbered the seconds it took to reach the end zone.
But Baylor's offense actually looked a bit flustered at first.
That lasted for one series.
Then the Bears got rolling.
Baylor followed a rare 3-and-out with a 67-yard scoring drive that lasted just 2:04 and was capped by Linwood's 2-yard TD run. Petty then hurtled over Iowa State's Kamari Cotton-Moya on a 16-yard scoring run that made it 14-0 Bears with 7:51 left in the first quarter.
Richardson answered with an 11-yard TD pass to Dondre Daley.
Then he did the one thing the Cyclones couldn't afford to do: give Baylor the ball.
The right-handed Richardson inexplicably threw a left-handed interception under duress. Four plays later, Petty found Coleman for a 25-yard touchdown and a 21-7 lead.
Linwood's 24-yard TD run put the Bears up 28-7 with 8:45 left before halftime, and Johnny Jefferson's 12-yard TD run gave Baylor a 28-point halftime lead.
It also put the Bears on pace to match the 71-7 whipping it gave the Cyclones in Waco a year ago.
Richardson's 47-yard touchdown run to open the second half ensured that such a beating wouldn't happen again. But the Cyclones tried an onside kick that sailed out of bounds, and Linwood's third TD run with 11:06 left in the third quarter made it 42-14.
The Bears outgained Iowa State 601-339. They've had at least 500 yards in every game this season.
Tad Ecby had a 51-yard TD catch for the Cyclones. They nearly beat No. 25 Kansas State in the Big 12 opener on Sept. 13 but had few answers for Petty and the Bears.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor earned its first win in Ames since 2005, snapping a 2-game losing streak on Iowa State's home field.
• Senior QB Bryce Petty had a 16-yard TD run in the 1st quarter and a 1-yard TD run in the 3rd quarter, giving him 18 career rushing TDs (tied for 10th all-time at Baylor).
• Petty threw for 336 yards, recording his 12th career 300-yard passing game, which is one behind RG3's school record.
• Petty accounted for 3 touchdowns, but it was the first time in his 16 career starts that he didn't throw multiple TD passes.
• WR Antwan Goodley had 114 receiving yards, recording his 9th career 100-yard receiving game, which ties the 6th-most in program history. All 9 of Goodley's 100-yard games have come in his last 14 games played.
• True freshman WR KD Cannon had a career-high 9 receptions (previous best was 6 vs. Northwestern State and at Buffalo).
• WR Corey Coleman, who returned from injury to make his 2014 debut, had a career-high 12 receptions and a career-high 154 receiving yards.
• Coleman's 12 receptions tied for 3rd-most in a game in BU history and marked the 29th time in program history a player reached double-digit receptions in a game.
• Coleman had a 25-yard TD catch in the 2nd quarter for his 1st TD catch of the season (3rd of career).
• Coleman had more 1st-half receptions (8) than the Baylor defense allowed in the 1st half (7).
• RB Shock Linwood had his first career 3-TD game. He had a 2-yard touchdown run in the 1st quarter, a 24-yard TD run in the 2nd quarter and a 7-yard TD run in the 3rd quarter, giving him 7 rushing TDs this season and 15 in his career.
• Linwood has 5 rushing TDs in his last 2 games and at least 1 rushing TD in all 4 games this season.
• Redshirt freshman RB Johnny Jefferson had a 12-yard TD run in the 2nd quarter for his 3rd rushing TD of the season.
• DE Shawn Oakman had a 6-yard sack for his 4th sack of the season and the 6th of his career.
• DE Jamal Palmer had a 4-yard sack, giving him 2.5 sacks on the season and 7.5 career sacks.
• DT Beau Blackshear had a 17-yard sack, giving him 3.5 sacks on the season and 6.0 career sacks.
• S Orion Stewart had his 1st interception of the season in the 2nd quarter (2nd of career).
STAT OF THE GAME
601: Total offensive yards for Baylor, the third consecutive game and 30th time in program history the Bears have reached the 600-yard plateau.
TWEET OF THE GAME
TOP QUOTE
"It's tough to win on the road. Iowa State is a good football team. We did what we had to do. We're not happy, we're not patting each other on the back or saying were the best team around. We did a workman-like job tonight and took care of business in an environment that wanted to beat us." - Baylor head coach Art Briles
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor heads down I-35 to Austin, Texas, to take on Texas Saturday (Oct. 4) at 2:30 p.m. CT on ABC.
