College Football Bowl Results: Baylor Ends Solid Season with Holiday Bowl Win

It certainly wasn't something I saw coming.

Heading into the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl, it seemed like the UCLA Bruins football squad was primed for a 10-win season.

They were going up against a Baylor Bears defense that allowed an incredible number of points and were playing in California, which should have played to the Bruins' advantage.

Not so fast.

The red-hot Baylor Bears came out firing on all cylinders on Thursday night, routing the No. 17 Bruins 49-26 and dominating on both offense and defense.

The Bears—who came in on a three-game winning streak that saw them beat No. 1 Kansas State, Texas Tech and No. 23 Oklahoma State—jumped out to an early 21-0 lead and never looked back.

Even their defense, which came into the game 117th in the nation in points allowed per game, held strong, stymieing the Bruins' running game, allowing UCLA a grand total of 33 rushing yards.

The success against the run also helped the bears anticipate and prepare for the passing game.

And boy did they do that well.

Sure Brett Hundley still finished the game with 329 passing yards and three touchdowns, but in the early stages when it mattered, Baylor had an answer for him, allowing just one first down in the first quarter while the offense built a comfortable lead.

Baylor's defense also came up big on just about every third- and fourth-down situation in the game.

UCLA managed to convert just one of their 17 third-down opportunities and were 3-for-8 on fourth downs.

The Holiday Bowl thumping was UCLA's third consecutive loss to end the season, giving them a 9-5 record on the year.

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