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For the second time in the history of McLane Stadium, Baylor Football went undefeated at home throughout an entire season. The first time came in the opening year of McLane Stadium, 2014. The second time came last year, when the Bears went 7-0 at home and finished the season 12-2 as Big 12 and Sugar Bowl Champions.
The Bears dismantled Texas Southern in the 2021 home opener. After a shaky offensive performance against Texas State the week prior, BU reconciled any doubt by having 714 total yards of offense against TSU, with 419 of those being rushing. Abram Smith had 126 yards and two touchdowns, while Tresten Ebner contributed 125 rushing yards of his own. The defense shut out the Tigers for nearly the entire game until TSU squeaked a touchdown across in the fourth quarter.
The No. 19 Cyclones visited Waco for the 2021 Big 12 home opener. In the all-gold uniforms, the Bears fought hard early, but the momentum was starting to shift in the Cyclones' favor heading into halftime. It wasn’t until Tresten Ebner returned a 98-yard kick for a touchdown halfway through the third quarter that the Bears were able to make it a two-score ballgame again. Iowa State, trailing by 8, drove 75 yards to come within two points of tieing the game. On a two-point conversion, JT Woods picked off Brock Purdy in the endzone to seal the Bears' victory. It was Baylor’s first ranked win of the season against what many believed to be the first or second-best team in the Big 12 heading into 2021. Fun fact, with the win over Iowa State, Baylor is 3-0 in the all-gold uniform combo.
Coming off of a loss to Oklahoma State in Stillwater, the Bears got back on track against West Virginia in McLane. The score was tied 7-7 only three minutes into the first quarter. But it wasn’t much of a game past that point, BU led 42-13 by the end of the third quarter. The defense was suffocating, totaling six sacks, and the offense, led by Gerry Bohannon, had a career day. Bohannon threw for 336 yards on 18-29 passing with four touchdowns. While Tyquan Thorton had his best statistical game of the season with 8 receptions for 187 yards and two touchdowns, one of those being a 75-yard touchdown on the second play of the game.
Baylor welcomed No. 19 BYU, their future Big 12 mates, into Waco for the annual Homecoming game. Despite some scrappy play from the No. 19 Cougars throughout the majority of the game, the Bears started to take off halfway through the third quarter on the back of Abram Smith. Smith, had a career day rushing for 188 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries. The victory gave Baylor their second-ranked win at home on the season.
The Texas game was more competitive than maybe some would have anticipated. The Longhorns led 21-10 halfway through the third quarter, partially because of a few lapses on defense and two turnovers from Gerry Bohannon. But the Bears finally started to pick things up late in the third quarter. Baylor regained the lead on a 1-yard Ben Sims rushing touchdown. But the highlight of the day and maybe even the season was Abram Smith’s cut-back, spinning touchdown that put the Bears up two scores with under 8 minutes remaining. It was a masterclass attempt of showing all 45,000 fans in attendance how porous the Longhorns' defense was. Texas attempted to mount a comeback, but Baylor’s defense came up clutch with a big fourth-down stop to seal the victory.
Big Noon Kickoff came to Waco for the matchup against the No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners, and the hype and excitement were immeasurable leading up to the game. From the opening kickoff, Baylor’s defense dominated the Sooners. Lincoln Riley, known for his offensive genius, was limited to only 260 total yards of offense, and 75 of those came in garbage time. Dave Aranda and Ron Roberts completely overwhelmed OU’s star quarterback, Caleb Williams. Williams was held to 9-18 passing, 142 yards, and two interceptions. Abram Smith put the brunt of the offense on his back, rushing for 148 yards and two touchdowns. After the game, the students rushed onto the field in excitement, and in the famous words of Gus Johnson, “let’s get the party started in Waco.” It was arguably the largest victory of all time in McLane Stadium, and it was nice to get a bit of revenge after the brutal loss to Oklahoma in 2019.
With an injury to Gerry Bohannon keeping him out, Blake Shapen got the nod to start his first career game. Playing Texas Tech had huge implications; if the Bears won and with some help from Oklahoma State, they would be playing in the Big 12 title game. The conditions could not have been any worse; it was a cold and wet late November day in Waco. But that didn’t stop Shapen from connecting with Ebner on a 61-yard touchdown pass on the first drive to put the Bears up 7-0. For the first time all season, Baylor’s defense really struggled throughout the game. Shapen hit Ben Sims on a 9-yard touchdown to put the Bears up 10 with under 8 minutes remaining. However, the Red Raiders immediately got the score back on a 75-yard screen play touchdown. Tech got the ball back with only a few minutes remaining and put themselves in field goal position to send the game into overtime. But Tech’s usually reliable kicker, Jonathon Garibay, missed a 53-yard field goal at the buzzer. The Bears rejoiced knowing that they put themselves in a position to make the Big 12 Championship game while also finishing the season with a perfect 7-0 record at McLane Stadium.
Records at McLane Stadium in Past Seasons (Overall Record)
