Two teams, long the bottom-feeders of their respective divisions, but recently showing signs of life. Both driven by high-powered, Big 12 offenses with similar statistics in every meaningful category. Both coming off frustrating losses to ranked opponents.
Most reasonable people probably would have predicted a shoot-out, a close match where the team with the last big drive wins.
But, of course, they would have been way off. But hey—this is college football we're talking about, right?
"I hate to say this was a must-win, but we needed it," Baylor head coach, Art Briles, said. "Any Big 12 victory is hard to come by, and this was a good step in the right direction. We’ve felt all along we’re a good football team, and maybe we’re starting to show it a little bit."
Maybe. After all, out-scoring a Big 12 opponent by 28 points only ties Baylor's highest margin of victory since joining the conference.
It started with a TD in the first quarter and Baylor never looked back. It wasn't until halfway through the fourth quarter when ISU avoided complete embarrassment by putting together a TD drive to bring up the final score of 38-10.
I will dispense with the play-by-play. Honestly, the drive summaries speak for themselves:
ISU: Punt, Punt, Punt, FG, Punt, Punt, Punt, Punt, TD, Int.
To summarize, Iowa State head coach, Gene Chizik, gave one of the most depressing post-game quotes I've ever heard: "I don't really have a word to describe the game honestly. It was bad football all the way around; offense, defense and obviously special teams. We were not clicking and we were not in sync, anywhere."
BU: Punt, TD, TD, TD, Halftime, TD (kickoff return), Punt, FG, Punt, Knee.
"That’s the most complete game we’ve played all year," Briles concluded. "We were very crisp from an offensive standpoint and everybody acted like they knew what they were doing. Our defense did an outstanding job of making plays when they had to. Baker’s kickoff return really ignited the crowd."
Clearly, Briles' Bears came to win. Chizik's Cyclones just came to visit.
Granted, any team can have a bad week, and that seems to be the case here. But superior teams also cause lesser teams to look bad.
Here's how Baylor did it.
The Robert Griffin Show
Robert Griffin completed 85 percent of his passes for 278 yards and two TDs. Whatever criticism of his passing may have been whirling around in Iowa (Matt Gubbels, writing for Iowa State Daily, made up this little gem: "Baylor has shown no ability to throw the ball") is quickly drying up.
There have been two basic approaches to containing Griffin so far this season: blitz or spy. The Cyclones tried both.
When they spied him, Griffin was content to sit back and pick apart the secondary. When they rushed, three sacks notwithstanding, Griffin actually made his most spectacular throws of the night (including a 34-yard bomb on 3rd-and-long).
Although Griffin actually had negative rushing yardage this week, he still managed his sixth straight game with a rushing TD—out of six total games.
11 comments Last one added 8 months ago — Leave a Comment
Nathan Hays 8 months ago
I agree, and nice work, Tim. The Bears are sure going to have some trouble against OSU this coming game, especially when the latter is coming off a spectacular win against Mizzou. What do you think the Bears need to concentrate on in order to have a chance against the Cowboys? Can Griffin hold his own against the brick wall of OSU defense?
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Timothy 8 months ago
Thanks Nathan. Sometimes a team coming off a big win has a letdown in the next game. It's just human psychology. If Baylor has a shot to win, it will be next week. As far as the OSU defense, Baylor will have to step up and play like they did at UConn. Except they need to play even better and win. That's no small order, but it's doable.
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Nathan Hays 8 months ago
What do you think the Bears need to concentrate on specifically?
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Tim Azevedo 8 months ago
The Bears need great performances from their defensive leaders, especially Joe Pawelek who has gotten double digit tackles in every game except against ISU.
They've gotten lucky a few times with fumbles that have been recovered. They will need to step up the ball control because good teams will pick those up.
They will need to contain OSU's running game. Speaking of which, Griffin and Finley will probably need to pick up some serious rushing yards of their own.
Finally, we really, really need a solid performance from special teams. Every team we've played has had a huge advantage in terms of field position because of our special teams play, or lack thereof.
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Jeff Contizano 8 months ago
Kudos to Art Briles and the work he's doing at Baylor. And Griffin, what a stud he's been! I'm rooting for the Bears all the way, I hope they head to a bowl game this year, and a bright future as well.
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Tim Azevedo 8 months ago
Glad to hear it. Hopefully the Bears have a couple of really great games still in them.
We'll see about that bowl game. I wouldn't bet money on it, but I wouldn't bet against it either.
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Zach Lovelady 8 months ago
hey Tim good article a bit lenghty but good. I will say this for all the Bear fans out there, I am a SEC fan but in general I love college football. You know I hate the term bottom feeder it is unfair and degrading the players on teams like Baylor work just as hard as the players on teams like Texas and it is not their fault that their school doesnt draw the same level of talent as the top tier teams. Whether it be because of academic requirements or location. What I am looking for when I watch teams like Baylor, Vandy, etc... is what kind of heart and determination do they play with and if those things are where they should be they are gonna win some games and compete in the games they lose. I am also hearing that the QB at Baylor could be a Heisman hopeful next year.
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Tim Azevedo 8 months ago
Great comments, Zach. I totally agree about "bottom-feeder." College football is still an amateur sport and the heart is what seperates it from pro sports (and makes it better, in my mind). Still, it is frustrating to have your team finish in the bottom half of the division constantly. Especially if they are teams with a winning history like Baylor and ISU.
On the QB Griffin, he sure has gotten a lot of attention this year. If he continues to improve, I agree that he should be on the Heisman watch list next year.
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Ken Armer 8 months ago
Great recap Tim, it was a great game for Baylor.
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Tim Azevedo 8 months ago
Hey thanks, sorry it took so long to reply to you. I don't check on these old articles very often. You go to most of the games in Waco?
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Ken Armer 8 months ago
I usually do, but with my work schedule, have been unable to much of this year.
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