By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
Baylor's defense had lived with and heard about its struggles at Iowa State for two weeks. Junior linebacker Raaquan Davis said it felt more like two years.
"It didn't leave a good taste in your mouth," Davis said.
That bad taste is gone.
Led by senior cornerback Ryan Reid's pick-six, the defense forced five turnovers, had 10 tackles for losses and scored as many points as it gave up, as the eighth-ranked Bears rolled to a 49-7 rout of the Kansas Jayhawks Saturday before a Homecoming crowd of 47,598.
"I think we were just trying to make a statement," said Reid, who scored on a 64-yard interception return in the first quarter and added a 52-yard return off his second pick. "A lot of people thought the Iowa State game is who we are, which it's not. So, we had to make a statement with our next game."
Loud and clear. After giving up touchdowns on six straight series against Iowa State, the Bears (6-0 3-0) pitched a shutout for nearly three quarters and still hasn't allowed a fourth-quarter point all year.
That dubious streak was in doubt when the Jayhawks (1-5, 0-3) recovered a Wyatt Schrepfer fumble early in the fourth quarter. But the defense responded again, with redshirt freshman linebacker Clay Johnston picking off a Carter Stanley pass and returning it 65 yards to the Kansas 13.
"It's a mindset, it's that Gang Green attitude," said Davis, who finished with a career-high 15 tackles, all solos, and also recorded his first career sack. "(Defensive coordinator Phil Bennett), right as the fourth quarter started, he told us that for a fact. We gave up that touchdown at the end of the third quarter, but he was just saying clear it, get this next quarter and you've got to finish it right."
The Bears did just that, holding the Jayhawks to just 217 yards for the day. Here was the stat of the game: Baylor had more return yards on its four interceptions - a school-record 170 - than Kansas had on its 27 pass attempts (134).
"I was really excited about the defense, especially the turnovers we forced," head coach Jim Grobe said. "It's a good feeling right now to have the first six under our belt. But, we know that the lion's share of our schedule lies in front of us, and the toughest part is the second half."
This was expected to be a much stiffer test, especially after Kansas took TCU down to the wire last week, missing three fourth-quarter field goals in a 24-23 loss in Lawrence.
But coming off the first of its two byes in a three-week stretch, Baylor looked like the fresher and faster team right from the start.
Quarterback Seth Russell certainly wasn't at his best, hitting just 9-of-22 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns, but he got things started off on a good note with his nimble feet. He did hit his first three passes, but he also rushed for 28 yards on the opening drive and finished it off with a five-yard run.
Kansas looked like it might answer, driving from its own 20 down to the Bears' 42. But, that's when Reid turned things around, stepping in front of a Ryan Willis pass to Steven Sims and sprinting 64 yards down the sideline for his first career touchdown.
"The first thing was we game-planned for the outs and certain routes they run," said Reid, who had just three career interceptions coming into the game. "It changed our whole game plan. The second thing is I just put it in God's hands. I had faith all season. This is something I prayed about, just to live up to the expectations that I know I can. And, it just turned out great."
Instead of the Jayhawks driving for the potential game-tying touchdown, it was suddenly 14-0.
"Man, Ryan, he had us turned," Davis said. "He stepped up. He did what a senior should do."
The Jayhawks had another scoring opportunity in the first quarter after an 82-yard punt by Cole Moos backed up Baylor to its own 3-yard line. They got the ball back just into the Bears' territory, but Willis missed Evan Fairs on a fourth-and-three pass from the 42.
Working with the shorter field, it took Baylor six plays to cover 58 yards. On fourth-and-four from the KU 26, Russell kept it around the left end, weaved through traffic and then tumbled into the end zone at the end of his second TD run of the night.
A punt return by Tony Nicholson and Reid's second interception gave the Bears excellent field position to pad their 21-0 lead. But, kicker Chris Callahan missed on field goals of 36 and 34 yards on back-to-back series in the second quarter.
"Chris Callahan knows he's got to make field goals," Grobe said of Callahan, who hit the game-winner to beat Iowa State, 45-42, two weeks ago. "Going forward, we need guys to make it."
When the Bears got the ball back, it took them just one play this time. Russell hit KD Cannon on a short slant over the middle, and the junior receiver did the rest, racing 59 yards to paydirt. It was his fifth TD reception of the season and 19th of his career, tying Melvin Bonner and Lawrence Elkins for sixth all-time.
Russell said he "should have put a little more air under it and let him react to it" on some of the deep balls they missed, but "that 59-yarder over the middle shows the big-play capability he has."
Things got even worse for Kansas when center Joe Gibson snapped the ball before Willis was ready, with Ira Lewis pouncing on the loose ball at the 4-yard line.
"I thought maybe Ryan had said something, maybe checked it back there," Kansas coach David Beaty said. "But hey, you've got to know the inflection of the quarterback's voice and where that sound's coming from. Nobody felt worse than Joe, but hey, it happened. We had to move on. And we still had time in the game to go and compete."
Shock Linwood scored on the next play, giving Baylor an insurmountable 35-0 lead with 5:49 still left to play in the half. That was Linwood's 36th rushing touchdown, breaking the career record set by Alfred Anderson.
Still not done, the Bears struck again when Russell connected with Ishmael Zamora for a four-yard TD pass with 1:45 left, capping a 10-play, 73-yard drive. His day, along with most of the starting skill players, was done.
"That's what we preach is to start fast," said Russell, who was also the game's leading rusher with 68 yards and two scores on seven carries. "We did that today and accomplished our goal of being 6-0 and getting bowl-eligible. Now, it's time to focus on the long haul with the big stretch and to stay focused and relentless.
Starting the second half the way it ended the first, the defense came up with its fourth turnover of the game when safety Orion Stewart hauled in a deep pass from Willis.
True freshman quarterback Zach Smith, seeing his first action in conference play, engineered a 10-play, 71-yard drive. He connected with Pooh Stricklin on a 44-yard pass play, then Terence Williams got the scoring honors from seven yards out to give the Bears a commanding 49-0 lead.
Kansas finally got on the board with 1:22 left in the third quarter. After a somewhat suspect pass interference penalty on Tion Wright, Khalil Herbert ran it in from two yards out, cutting the deficit to 49-7.
But just like Baylor's first five opponents this season, the Jayhawks weren't able to get anything done in the fourth quarter.
"The thing I like about this football team is they just like playing together," Grobe said. "We've got a really good energy right now. We know all the teams left on our schedule are going to be very talented and really, really present major challenges to us. But, I think our guys are going to play really, really hard, and that's what makes me feel so good about this football team."
After another bye week, Baylor will be back on the road to face Texas Oct. 29 in Austin, with kickoff time and television info expected to be announced Monday.
