By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Almost a year to the day of when
Chris Platt suffered a torn ACL in the Big 12 opener against Oklahoma last season, Baylor's senior receiver could have had a déjà vu moment when he picked up 19 yards on an end-around reverse on the Bears' second series of the game on Saturday.
"I don't know if y'all know, but it's the same play that I had when I tore my ACL last year," he said. "But, I wasn't nervous at all. When I got the ball and saw how wide open the hole was, my eyes were just every wide and bright. It was a good feeling to go out there and be able to do that."
Platt's early run helped kick-start a Baylor running game that put up 189 yards and a 4.8-yard average and opened things up for
Charlie Brewer to throw for 221 yards and three touchdowns as the Bears (3-1, 1-0) rolled to a 26-7 win over Kansas (2-2, 0-1) Saturday afternoon at McLane Stadium.
With starting running back
JaMycal Hasty having to sit out the first half for a suspension stemming from last year's regular-season finale at TCU, the Bears dipped into their well of creativity with a couple end-around runs, QB draws by Brewer and receiver
Jalen Hurd lining up in the backfield.
Brewer, who was the team's leading rusher before two fourth-quarter sacks, still finished with 56 yards on 12 totes. Over the last three games, he's had 28 rushing attempts.
"Whatever is needed for the team to win," the sophomore quarterback said. "(I'm a) team player. So, if that means I'm standing in the pocket or having to run around, I'm going to do it. . . . It just opens things up, being able to run the ball. It kind of sets the tone."
Platt started and finished the Bears' first scoring drive, catching a 22-yard TD pass from Brewer.
"I think it was a busted coverage, I guess, and (Brewer) was scrambling," said Platt, who caught three passes for 29 yards and recorded his 11
th career touchdown reception. "So, I stayed alive, waving my hands, got his attention, and then he found me."
Kansas coach David Beaty said cornerback Corione Harris had coverage in the flat on the play, "so he just kept sinking. I don't know if he knew somebody was behind him, but he's got to have more awareness because it changes when a quarterback breaks the pocket. There are times you've got to latch on to the nearest guy."
The Bears made it 14-0 on the first play of the second quarter when Brewer hit freshman receiver
Tyquan Thornton in stride for a 39-yard touchdown, Baylor's longest scoring strike of the season.
"He can flat-out fly," Brewer said of Thornton, who caught three passes for 50 yards and had another phenomenal catch wiped out by a holding penalty. "I know you guys just got to see it for the first time today, but that freshman class is something special. A lot of speed in that class. So, I'm excited for those guys."
After
Connor Martin connected on a 45-yard field goal, Brewer capped the first-half scoring with a beautiful 34-yard TD pass to
Josh Fleeks, the freshman receiver somehow coming down with the ball and getting his foot down before he went out of the back of the end zone.
"Great concentration, getting his feet down," Brewer said. "Something that's very special to see a young guy do that."
Other than the creative running game and the passing of Brewer, the story of the first half was a Baylor defense that held the Jayhawks scoreless and gave up just 48 yards on 23 plays.
"I think it started this week in practice," head coach
Matt Rhule said. "You could tell they had a different look, like they were starting to click. And it's not like they're doing anything different. They're just getting confident in doing it. I think the biggest thing is we got pressure on the quarterback."
The Bears had four sacks, the most in the last 16 games, and five other tackles for loss. Freshman running back Pooka Williams broke off a 72-yard run in the third quarter, but managed just 17 net yards on his other 13 carries for the day.
"That was the focus," senior defensive end
Greg Roberts said. "I think anything we focus on, we can do at any point in time. Throughout the week, we knew if we could take him away, we had a good chance of winning."
Penalties got the best of the Bears in the second half as they were flagged seven times for 75 yards in the last two quarters and 13 for 140 yards for the game.
"If we don't have penalties, we probably get up and run even more," Rhule said. "I think there was a little time there at the end of the third, beginning of the fourth, where maybe we were a little more conservative, knowing that we had the game in control on defense, so maybe trying to run a little bit more of the clock."
Kansas finally got on the board midway through the third quarter after Williams' 72-yard run. On third-and-goal from the 10, quarterback Peyton Binder hit receiver Jeremiah Booker on a perfect fade pass over the coverage of cornerback
Harrison Hand.
Baylor answered right back, with a rested Hasty sprinting 38 yards to set up a 27-yard field goal by Martin that made it 26-7.
The Bears posted their second fourth-quarter shutout of the season. Rhule-coached teams have won 29 straight games when leading entering the fourth quarter and 15-1 when recording a fourth-quarter shutout.
Baylor's biggest play on defense came near the end of the third quarter, when cornerback
Grayland Arnold came up to stop receiver Stefon Robinson short on a fourth-and-9 from the 27.
"It wasn't just the stop, it was also the way it happened," Rhule said. "I thought there were several hits today, big-time hits, where our team was like, 'Yeah!' . . . But, Grayland's play was the play of the day. It wasn't the fact that he made the stop, it was the way he did it. Just the physicality that he showed."
The Bears go on the road to face fifth-ranked Oklahoma at 2:30 p.m. next Saturday in Norman, Okla., before returning home to host Kansas State on Oct. 6.
