No. 3 Football Rolls to 66-7 Win Over Kansas

Saturday, October 10

Lawrence, Kan.

11:00 AM

Baylor

5-0 , 2-0

Kansas

0-5 , 0-2

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Baylor	24	28	14	0	66
Kansas	7	0	0	0	7

Running back Johnny Jefferson (5) celebrates with offensive tackle Spencer Drango (58) after scoring a touchdown

No. 3 Football Rolls to 66-7 Win Over Kansas

10/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football

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Lawrence, Kan. - Attendance: 25,910

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

LAWRENCE, Kan. - Six weeks and five games into the season, Baylor coach Art Briles believes he has "one of the freshest teams in America."

On Saturday, he made sure he kept it that way.

Quarterback Seth Russell threw for 246 yards and three touchdowns in the first half as the third-ranked Bears jumped out to a 45-point lead en route to a 66-7 blowout of the Kansas Jayhawks Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

There was no second act for Russell, receiver Corey Coleman, running back Shock Linwood or the rest of the first-team offense. They never came back after intermission.

"I'm sure they're going to like playing full games here in a few weeks at a fresh level," said Briles, whose team improved to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12. "That's my job as a coach is to figure out what's in the long-term best interest of our football team. And it's a good problem to have to deal with. It limits opportunities for an injury and it certainly keeps October legs August."

Playing in their first Big 12 road game, the Bears piled up 644 yards total offense, scored on their first seven possessions and even got some help from a defense that forced three turnovers and scored a touchdown on its own with cornerback Xavien Howard's 30-yard fumble return.

"That's really what happened last week, too, against Texas Tech," Briles said of the four defensive turnovers in a 63-35 win over the Red Raiders. "We're a really good football team anyway, but don't let us jump out on you."

Coleman turned in his fifth straight 100-yard performance, hauling in seven catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Through the first five games, Coleman has a national-best 13 TD receptions, one shy of the school record set by Kendall Wright in 2011.

"I'm one of those guys that always wants to be in the game," Coleman said. "I had to beg Coach Briles to even let me make it to the second quarter. I was like, `Come on, Coach, let me keep on going.' But it's not a bad thing. It's great to see the young guys get better and get some experience."

Linwood continued his own record chase, rushing for 135 yards and one TD on just 13 carries. That gives him 719 yards for the season and 2,852 for his career, moving up to No. 2 all-time and 813 yards behind career leader Walter Abercrombie.

Russell, who completed 18 of 27 passes before giving way to redshirt freshman Jarrett Stidham, said he benefitted from the same situation last year in playing mop-up minutes behind Bryce Petty.

"That experience is valuable, especially at this stage and at this level," he said. "When you can get on the field and get in the flow of things and get a feel of the speed - heaven forbid, if something happens to another player - you've got other guys who can step in and know what to expect."

With Kansas' top two quarterbacks out with injuries, true freshman Ryan Willis got his first start and was impressive on the opening series of the game. He threw to Jeremiah Booker for 22 yards and then completed a nine-play, 74-yard scoring drive with a 36-yard TD pass to Steven Sims Jr.

But after that, Willis and KU had trouble getting anything going. The Jayhawks managed just 68 yards total offense the rest of the half, turned it over three times and got stopped short on a fourth-and-one from the Bears' 23 after the Bears muffed a punt return.

Meanwhile, Baylor's offense got on track from the opening series and never really slowed down in piling up 425 yards in the first half and scoring on its first seven possessions.

Russell hooked up with Coleman on identical 11-yard TD pass plays to give the Bears an early 14-7 lead. The same duo connected on a 41-yard pass that set up a five-yard option keeper by a high-stepping Russell that made it 21-7.

The Baylor defense then took over, forcing back-to-back turnovers with an interception by Howard and a fumble that was forced by Travon Blanchard and smothered by Aiaivion Edwards.

After settling for a 31-yard field goal by Chris Callahan following the Howard pick, the Bears went 42 yards on four runs by Linwood and extended the lead to 31-7 early in the second quarter.

"I think we're definitely growing up and coming together," defensive tackle Beau Blackshear said of the defense, which held the Jayhawks (0-5, 0-2) to just three yards per play with 227 yards on 75 plays. "I definitely feel like we're on the rise and headed in the right direction. But just like that first drive, we don't want that to happen. (Defensive coordinator Phil Bennett) always has us in great position out there. It's on us, just the little things."

Lynx Hawthorne had a 34-yard punt return to give the offense great field position again, setting up a short five-play, 32-yard drive that was capped by Russell's 18-yard TD pass to 400-pound tight end LaQuan McGowan.

Lined up in the backfield, McGowan caught the pass over the middle and then nimbly sidestepped safety Michael Glatcak inside the 5 and stumbled into the end zone for his second career touchdown. His only other catch and TD came in last year's Cotton Bowl.

"I told myself, if he stays up high, I'd run him over," McGowan said. "And if he went down low, I would either hurdle him or sidestep him. I'm not very good at hurdling, so I thought sidestepping would be better."

Sophomore running back Johnny Jefferson got in the scoring act on the Bears' next series, scoring from five yards out and pushing the lead to 45-7. And then the defense capped the first-half scoring with Howard scooping up a Willis fumble forced by Blackshear and returning it 30 yards for a touchdown.

Stidham looked sharp on his first two series, hitting his first six passes and stretching the lead to 66-7 with a 37-yard TD strike to redshirt freshman Ishmael Zamora and a 30-yarder to sophomore Davion Hall.

At that point, the Bears had put 66 points on the board in the first 39 minutes of the game and scored every time they touched the ball outside of a 45-second stint at the end of the first half. But with Stidham throwing it just three times in the fourth quarter, Baylor just stayed with the ground attack, milked the clock and walked out with a 59-point road victory.

Asked if he was ready to throw Baylor's hat in the ring as a potential No. 1 team, Briles said, "I think it's already in there, quite honestly."

"I don't think I have to throw it, I think somebody else is throwing it for us," he said. "We've just got to keep doing what we're doing, and that will all take care of itself."

Baylor returns home to host West Virginia (3-1, 0-1) at 11 a.m. next Saturday, Oct. 17, at McLane Stadium in a game that will be nationally televised by FOX. The Mountaineers were hosting 21st-ranked Oklahoma State Saturday night in Morgantown.