By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            LAWRENCE, Kan. – After Baylor squandered some first-half scoring opportunities and saw its lead whittled to 14-7 when Kansas scored just before halftime, a confident Gerry Bohanon looked at head coach Dave Aranda and said, "Coach, we got this."
            Yes, they did. 
            Scoring twice in the first six minutes of the third quarter after back-to-back three-and-outs by the defense, the Bears (3-0, 1-0) put up 31 unanswered points in the second half and beat the Jayhawks (1-2, 0-1) for the 12^th-straight time, 45-7, in Saturday's Big 12 opener at Memorial Stadium. 
            "At halftime in the locker room, we made up our minds that we were going to change the game around," said Bohanon, who started the second-half scoring spree with a 69-yard TD pass to R.J. Sneed. "The defense said they were going to get a three-and-out, and we said we're going to capitalize. I think it was big for the defense to back up what they said . . . and see the defense had our backs."
            That was the kind of response and complementary football that Aranda wanted to see from his Bears, who had an 86-yard punt return called back on a holding call, wasted another opportunity with a turnover and got flagged for pass interference on the Jayhawks' only real drive of the game. 
            "The competition to this point has been ourselves and penalties, and turnovers bit us today," Aranda said. "We went into halftime knowing, 'Hey we are our biggest adversary right now. We have to stop fighting us.' . . . You come out of halftime knowing we'd be on the hunt."
            Making just his third career start and second on the road, Bohanon was an efficient 19-of-23 for 269 yards and two touchdowns and also scored on a nine-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter that pushed Baylor's lead to 35-7. 
            "We didn't really make any (halftime) adjustments," Bohanon said. "We just made up our mind that we were going to come out and play hard and be the most physical team. We all knew we didn't play our best football in the first half."
            Baylor actually dominated most of the first half, taking a quick 7-0 lead when Bohanon found tight end Ben Sims in the back of the end for a 14-yard touchdown pass on the opening series of the game. 
            Trestan Ebner, who scored on two kick returns in last year's 47-14 win over the Jayhawks, broke off an 86-yard punt return after the first of six three-and-outs by the Jayhawks. But, it was nullified by a holding penalty that brought the ball all the way back to the 14-yard line. 
            With big gainers by Abram Smith and Trestan Ebner, who combined for 198 yards on 28 carries, the Bears threatened again. Bohanon converted a fourth-and-5 with a six-yard pass to Josh Fleeks, but two plays later, safety Kenny Logan forced a fumble by Sneed that was scooped up and returned 16 yards by cornerback Ra'Mello Dotson. 
            Set up by a 50-yard punt return by Ebner, Baylor stretched its lead to 14-0 early in the second quarter when tight end Gavin Yates scored on a two-yard dive out of the fullback position. 
            Offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes has also used linebacker Dillon Doyle and defensive end Brayden Utley as fullbacks in power sets this season. This was the first time a Baylor player has scored a touchdown from the fullback position since Jerod Monk scored from one yard out against Kent State on Oct. 3, 2008. 
            "I think the ability to lead block and then take a dive play is something they all look forward to on Thursdays when we practice short-yardage and goal lines," Aranda said. 
            After netting just 26 yards on 11 plays in their first three offensive series, the Jayhawks had their only sustained drive of the day when they went 81 yards on 11 plays. Quarterback Jason Bean twice converted on third down and then hit receiver Trevor Wilson on a quick slant for a five-yard TD pass that made it a 14-7 game. 
            Despite better than a 2-to-1 difference in total yards (219-100), Baylor limped into the halftime break with a one-score lead. 
            Playing a much cleaner second half, including no penalties, the Bears scored on five of their first six drives and put away a game that was up for grabs after two quarters. 
            The defense started with a three-and-out, with linebacker Matt Jones dumping Bean for a three-yard loss on third-and-5 from the 30. 
            "I was on a stunt," Jones said. "I hit the B gap, and the next thing you know, the quarterback's right there. I just lowered my shoulder and hit him."
            On the Baylor offense's first play of the second half, Bohanon completed a short out to Sneed that he turned into a 69-yard touchdown. After safety Ricky Thomas missed him with a diving attempt at the 45, Sneed was escorted the rest of the way by fellow receiver Tyquan Thornton. 
            "R.J. is a guy who is full of surprises," Bohanon said. "But, it's really not a surprise. If you throw R.J. a two-yard pass, he's going to try to take it the distance."
            Smith, who topped the 100-yard mark for the third-straight game (16-122), did the bulk of the work on an eight-play, 60-yard drive and capped it with a four-yard TD run that gave the Bears a 28-7 cushion less than six minutes into the third quarter. 
            "Those boys are rolling," said Bohanon, when asked about the offensive line paving the way for 307 yards rushing and 576 yards total. "Those big boys are going to play hard. . . . You just look in their eyes, and you see so much fight in them."
            Baylor's second turnover slowed down the second-half scoring spree, but it sure didn't stop it. 
            After Bohanon's nine-yard TD run, the Bears tacked on a 20-yard TD run by Taye McWilliams and a 48-yard field goal by freshman kicker Isaiah Hankins. 
            The defense did its job as well, holding Kansas to just eight first downs and 166 total yards, the fewest the Bears have allowed since giving up just 78 to Northwestern State in the 2016 season opener. 
            "We were just being us," Jones said. "The first two games, we came out and we feel like we tip-toed into it. This game, we came out from the start. We played green the whole game from the start to the finish . . . everyone played green."
            Baylor returns home to host 14^th-ranked Iowa State (1-1) at 2:30 p.m. next Saturday, Sept. 25, at McLane Stadium. The Cyclones, who fell out of the top 10 after losing to in-state rival Iowa, 27-17, bounced back to blow out UNLV, 48-3, Saturday night in Las Vegas.