Baylor Routs Iowa State 71-7
WACO, Texas — The 12th-ranked Baylor Bears’ den is a dangerous place for the uninitiated to travel.
These Bears maul opponents early.
For the fifth time this season, Baylor eliminated any suspense well before halftime, this time smashing Iowa State 71-7 on Saturday at Floyd Casey Stadium.
Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty passed for 343 yards and two touchdowns. His favorite target, Antwan Goodley, caught 11 passes for 182 yards and both touchdowns. Meanwhile Bears running back Lache Seastrunk notched his fifth 100-yard game of the season, churning out 112 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries.
Iowa State (1-5, 0-3 Big 12), which hadn’t lost by more than eight points this season, looked helpless. The Cyclones managed just 174 yards of total offense and surrendered 714 to the Bears.
Baylor (5-0, 3-0) is yet to play an opponent ranked in the Top 25 this season and the five teams that have come into Floyd Casey Stadium are far from the national rankings. But Baylor hasn’t given its guests any hope, leading at the half by an average of 40.4 points and winning by an average of 56.2.
The Bears added Levi Norwood’s 52-yard punt return for a touchdown and Corey Coleman’s 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to the avalanche of points in the second half.
Baylor made a habit of crushing opponents early in its four home games. Though the Bears were a little more methodical in rolling to a 37-0 halftime lead over the Cyclones on Saturday, they were just as effective.
In fact, Baylor, which had scored 16 touchdowns of 40 yards or longer this season and had an average scoring drive of 5.6 plays, showed off its ability to sustain drives against Iowa State.
The Bears marched 80 yards in eight plays to take the initial lead. Petty threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Goodley to give Baylor a 7-0 lead.
Bears linebacker Eddie Lackey recovered Aaron Wimberly’s fumble at the Iowa State 29 to set up Baylor’s next score. With the short field, Baylor needed just two plays to reach the end zone as Petty hit Tevin Reese for a 26-yard gain and Seastrunk ran 3 yards for the touchdown.
After a pair of 22-yard field goals by Aaron Jones gave Baylor a 20-0 lead, the Bears ended the first half with a barrage of points.
Seastrunk broke loose for a 48-yard run to the Iowa State 2 and scored a play later. His second touchdown capped an eight-play, 94-yard drive.
Then it was Petty’s turn to round out the half. He threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Goodley with 1:37 remaining and moved Baylor in position for Jones to kick a 51-yard field goal on the final play.
While Baylor’s offense was moving as efficiently as usual, the defense stiff-armed Iowa State. The Cyclones finished the first half with just 58 yards and never crossed the Baylor 40.
