UNC vs. Baylor: Score and Reaction for 2015 Russell Athletic Bowl

When you think of the Baylor Bears, a high-powered running game isn't generally the first thing that comes to mind. But the Bears had a historic night on the ground Tuesday against the North Carolina Tar Heels in a 49-38 victory in the Russell Athletic Bowl in Orlando, Florida.   

No team has had worse luck at quarterback this year than Baylor. The Bears watched two signal-callers—Seth Russell and Jarrett Stidham—go down with season-ending injuries, while third-stringer Chris Johnson suffered a concussion earlier this month.

In addition, Baylor was missing leading receiver Corey Coleman and leading rusher Shock Linwood due to injuries that required surgery.

Head coach Art Briles proved his tactical acumen by completely altering his playbook to compensate for all of the Bears' absences. Known more for its aerial attack, Baylor instead relied heavily on the run Tuesday, utilizing numerous direct snaps to wide receivers and running backs.

ESPN tracked each skill-position player who lined up out of the Wildcat formation throughout the night:

The Tar Heels knew what was coming every time, and they still had no answer. Baylor carved them open for 645 yards on the ground, an FBS bowl record, per ESPN Stats & Info. According to the Bears' Twitter account, that tally is also a program record.

Running back Johnny Jefferson led the way with 299 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. The yardage represented a little over 42 percent of his total output (701 yards) from the regular season. Devin Chafin chipped in with 161 yards and a score of his own.

This stat from college football writer Matt Hinton is incredible:

SB Nation's college football account thought Baylor's offense wouldn't have looked out of place in football's early days:

Sacramento Kings forward Quincy Acy, who played for the Bears for four years, was impressed by his alma mater's ability to punish North Carolina at the line of scrimmage:

ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg couldn't say enough about the work of Briles and his staff:

As Fox Sports' Stewart Mandel noted, this game almost single-handedly makes you reassess Briles:

The even bigger surprise was the Tar Heels' inability to move the ball, especially early on, against a mediocre Bears defense.

Quarterback Marquise Williams was the main offensive spark, throwing for 243 yards and three touchdowns with an interception on 22-of-36 passing. He was also UNC's second-leading rusher, running for 81 yards and two scores on 17 carries.

Baylor led by as many as 18 points in the first half, using its running game to pound North Carolina on every possession.

The Tar Heels drew first blood with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Fritts, but rushing touchdowns by Chafin and Lynx Hawthorne put Baylor ahead by the end of the first quarter. A Nick Weiler field goal brought UNC to within one score, but Jefferson capped back-to-back drives with touchdown runs to give Baylor a 28-10 advantage.

With 35 seconds remaining in the first half, Williams found the end zone on a four-yard run.

The Tar Heels received a helping hand from the officials on the drive. Shawn Oakman picked up a personal foul on a 3rd-and-7 at the Baylor 16-yard line after he continued playing despite losing his helmet. ESPN Central Texas' David Smoak found the penalty somewhat ironic:

Instead of facing fourth down, North Carolina—with the help of another penalty—had 1st-and-goal from the 4-yard line. It capitalized immediately.

The Heels looked to be on their way to a comeback after scoring on the first drive of the third quarter. Williams hit paydirt from a yard out to close the gap to 28-24, and on Baylor's ensuing possession, Dominique Green intercepted a Johnson jump pass at the 1-yard line.

But the Bears forced UNC to punt, and Terence Williams provided some breathing room for Baylor courtesy of a three-yard touchdown run at the 3:07 mark of the third. It wasn't long, though, before North Carolina was on the verge of a touchdown. But as T.J. Logan neared the goal line, he fumbled the ball. Orion Stewart recovered for Baylor.

On the next play from scrimmage, Jefferson broke free for an 80-yard touchdown run. The play demonstrated the ease with which Bears runners found room to run in the open field, per Baylor Football:

It was also the longest run in Russell Athletic Bowl history, eclipsing Elijah Hood's 67-yard scamper from earlier in the night, per the bowl's Twitter account. And to think Jefferson isn't even among the Bears' best options when they have the full complement of their backfield, per Sports on Earth contributor David Ubben:

Bug Howard made it an 11-point game with a 27-yard touchdown reception late in the third, but Williams put the game out of reach with 10:24 left in the fourth quarter when he capped a 13-play drive with a one-yard run.

Necessity is the mother of invention, so you wonder if Briles might have stumbled onto something when he reconfigured his offense to emphasize the running game. Baylor is unlikely to be a run-heavy team in 2016 as long as Russell or Stidham is healthy, but the Bears might be able to add some wrinkles to keep opposing defenses honest.

Considering its nonconference schedule, Baylor's margin for error in the College Football Playoff race will be slim; one loss is all it will take to ruin any national championship dreams. As long as they don't suffer too many personnel departures, though, the Bears should be among the stronger contenders.

The outlook isn't so positive for North Carolina.

The Tar Heels will lose Williams, who played an instrumental role in the offense. They also have a tricky matchup with Georgia on the schedule and must play Duke, Florida State and Miami on the road.

Head coach Larry Fedora delivered the school's first season of double-digit wins since Mack Brown's final campaign in 1997, but repeating this year's success will be difficult.

Postgame Reaction

Although the Bears used a somewhat similar game plan in their loss to the Texas Longhorns, Fedora admitted he didn't expect Baylor to run the ball as much as it did.

"We thought they would do basically what they had been doing," he said, per Andrew Carter of the Charlotte Observer. "We thought they would throw it around a little bit more."

"Once we got into the groove of the game, we figured if it ain't broke, don't fix it," said Bears offensive coordinator Kendal Briles, per Baylor's official Twitter account.