Baylor vs. Iowa State: Score and Twitter Reaction

The 13th-ranked Baylor Bears (5-0) averted disaster Saturday when they slipped past the Iowa State Cyclones, 45-42, thanks to a game-winning 19-yard field goal as time expired at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa. 

Here's a look at Chris Callahan's game-winner: 

Baylor is now 5-0 for the fourth straight season, while the Cyclones dropped to 1-4. That said, Iowa State put up an impressive fight for a team that couldn't find its groove during the first four weeks.

The Cyclones entered Saturday's showdown with the nation's 107th-ranked scoring offense (21.8 points per game), and that figure included last week's 44-point outing against San Jose State, which has a weak defense. 

As a result, it wasn't hard to envision a world in which Iowa State had its doors blown off against a Baylor defense that allowed a meager 13.5 points per game over its first four contests. 

However, the Cyclones weren't fazed. 

In an unexpected turn of events, Iowa State smoked the Bears defense for 14 points in the game's first 12 minutes, including a 43-yard touchdown pass from Joel Lanning (17-of-23, 261 yards, two touchdowns) to Deshaunte Jones that opened the scoring. 

As the Houston Chronicle's John McClain observed, Iowa State had no trouble moving the ball against a defense that faced only one real test—Oklahoma State—in advance of Saturday's clash: 

To Baylor's credit, the Bears kept pace even without star wide receiver KD Cannon, who was absent because of a groin injury. Quarterback Seth Russell (266 total yards, three total touchdowns) and running back Shock Linwood (25 carries, 237 yards, one touchdown) flustered the Cyclones defense through the air and on the ground, and the pair combined to account for two of the Bears' three first-half touchdowns. 

While Iowa State could have grown concerned as Baylor's offense started to rev its engine, a Mike Warren (30 carries, 130 yards, two touchdowns) score from four yards out helped thrust the Cyclones back ahead by 14 just minutes into the third quarter. 

Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman was among those impressed by the Cyclones' newfound effectiveness with the ball: 

Iowa State maintained a 14-point edge entering the fourth quarter, but the Bears hit their stride with the game on the line. 

Russell plunged in for a one-yard score to help narrow the deficit to seven, and then Terence Williams—who rushed for a career-high 126 yards to go with two touchdowns—helped knot things at 42 to cap off a drive that saw him and Linwood gash Iowa State's defense repeatedly. 

With the running game buoying Baylor's offense at that point, SB Nation's Our Daily Bears didn't hesitate to bestow the most prestigious of labels on Linwood: 

Following a third straight stop of the Cyclones offense, the Bears regained possession with just under five minutes left and didn't look back. 

Russell engineered a beautiful 18-play, 83-yard drive that allowed the Bears to march deep into Iowa State territory, and Linwood's powerful running helped set up the game-winning chip shot. 

Baylor will now enjoy a bye week before it hosts the Kansas Jayhawks for a Big 12 showdown on Oct. 15.

If the Bears can make good on their status as favorites in that game and maintain an undefeated record, their meeting with the Texas Longhorns on Oct. 29 in Austin will be compelling.   

Postgame Reaction

"Credit to Iowa State," Russell said, according to the Associated Press' Luke Meredith. "They punched us in the mouth several times. We were speaking on the sidelines (saying) 'this is still our game. We're still going to fight.' And we did."

"Our defense stepped up big," Russell added after the Bears held Iowa State to eight yards in the fourth quarter, per Meredith. 

"I don't know what changed," Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said after the Cyclones offense stumbled late, per Meredith. "I just think a couple of guys had chances to make plays and just didn't make them."