Baylor Routs Kansas
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WACO, Texas — Baylor notched the kind of win it needed, while Kansas felt the all-too-familiar sting.
Baylor scored a touchdown and two field goals off turnovers in the first half on its way to burying the Jayhawks 60-14 on Saturday at McLane Stadium.
The Bears (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) fell on the road at West Virginia two weeks ago as they drew 215 yards in penalties. That put a dent in Baylor’s College Football Playoff and Big 12 championship hopes and the Bears had a bye week to think about it.
But 12th-ranked Baylor took a step toward getting back in the hunt as it demolished Kansas (2-6, 0-5). The Bears outgained the Jayhawks by 365 yards and just as significant, Baylor was penalized just six times for 54 yards.
“We got caught in a situation a couple weeks ago when the cloth is flying and today it was a little bit different,” Baylor coach Art Briles said. “Some of that is determined by how the flow of the game is going.”
Though Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty usually produces the highlight-reel plays, sophomore running backs Devin Chafin and Shock Linwood did much of the damage in the pivotal moments against Kansas.
Chafin rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns, and Linwood added 81 yards and
a touchdown as each had 14 carries. Petty completed 15 of 27 passes for 277 yards and three scores.
“Pretty proud of that because Kansas is a good run defense,” Briles said. “They’ve been a really good run defense all year. For us to be able to move them up front a little bit, create some space for our running backs was really kind of comforting because it opens up everything else.”
Meanwhile, Baylor’s defense held Kansas to 16 rushing yards on 27 attempts. Jayhawks’ quarterback Michael Cummings passed for 288 yards and two touchdowns. But Baylor kept Kansas from getting comfortable on offense, mostly because the Jayhawks couldn’t do anything on the ground.
Baylor middle linebacker Bryce Hager filled the gap well, leading the Bears with six solo tackles and eight total.
“Once a guy makes a play or two everybody else feels a little more confident in doing it,” Briles said. “I thought our guys were pretty tenacious up front and that’s something that we wanted to be. Those guys are good and they’re powerful and they played that way today.”
Petty put Baylor on the board in the Bears’ typical lightning-quick fashion in the first quarter. He tossed a hitch pass to sophomore running back Corey Coleman, who picked up one key block and raced past the Kansas defense for a 72-yard touchdown.
Then the Baylor defense and running game went to work.
After Coleman’s touchdown, Baylor defensive end Shawn Oakman recovered a fumble at the Kansas 18 to stop the Jayhawks’ ensuing possession. Chafin rushed four straight times to cover the 18 yards and scored the touchdown.
Baylor kicker Chris Callahan’s extra-point attempt banged off the left upright, holding the Bears’ lead to 13-0, but Callahan redeemed himself before halftime by connecting on four field goals.
Two field goals came after Baylor’s defense recovered fumbles.
Baylor’s Silas Nacita forced and recovered a fumble by Kansas kick returner Darious Crawley that resulted in a 27-yard field goal.
Bears defensive end K.J. Smith sacked Kansas quarterback Michael Cummings, causing a fumble that defensive tackle Byron Bonds recovered. Again Callahan followed with a field goal, this time from 33 yards.
Kansas interim coach Clint Bowen said he was frustrated that his team made mistakes that kept them from staying in the game longer.
“What gets you down is that we knew we were playing a very good football team and we had to come out and match that,” Bowen said. “We didn’t come out and do the things that you do. You have to take care of the football. We can control whether we hold on to the ball or not hold on to the ball. We didn’t control the things that we can control to give ourselves a chance.”
After somewhat inspired performances against West Virginia, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, Kansas suffered its first blowout loss since Bowen took over following the firing of Charlie Weis.
“We’re going to go right back to work tomorrow,” Bowen said. “We’re going to stay to the plan. We have a plan to continue to work to continue to prepare, to continue to try and win football games. There’s no doubt that we’re on a path here to improve Kansas football and they’re 100 percent on board.”
It wasn’t the dramatic avalanche of points Baylor tends to drop on opponents especially in its home stadium. But the Bears’ 29-7 lead with 8:31 left in the second quarter had subdued the Jayhawks.
Chafin scored his second touchdown of the first half on a fourth-and-1 dive and Callahan hit his longest field goal of the half from 37 yards to boost Baylor’s lead to 39-7 at halftime.
Petty threw two more touchdown passes in the third quarter — 49 yards to Coleman and 10 yards to senior receiver Levi Norwood.
Cummings completed 21 of 30 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns for Kansas, which was held to just 16 rushing yards on 27 attempts.
