Baylor Dominated by Air Force in Armed Forces Bowl, Loses 30-15
FORT WORTH, Texas – The Air Force Falcons (10-3) defeated the Baylor Bears (6-7) in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl by a score of 30-15 on a freezing Thursday night at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
In the loss, Air Force dominated Baylor in time of possession, 40:04 to 19:57, and total yardage, 379 to 230. The Falcons also converted 8-of-16 third downs, while Baylor failed to convert a single third down, finishing the game 0-11.
Blake Shapen ended the game 11-of-23 passing for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Craig Williams carried the ball seven times for 25 yards.
On Air Force’s first drive of the game, the offense drove 55 yards down the field and scored on a 2-yard touchdown from Brad Roberts. However, the Falcons could not convert on the extra point and only led 6-0 with 5:20 remaining in the first quarter.
Baylor’s offense was unable to pick up a first down in its second possession and gave Air Force the ball back at their 42-yard line. John Lee Eldridge III broke through the defensive front for 34 yards to put the Falcons in field goal range.
Three plays later, Matthew Dapore nailed a 37-yard field goal to give Air Force the 9-0 lead with 1:13 remaining in the first quarter.
Midway through the second quarter, Shapen connected with redshirt freshman wide receiver Josh Cameron for a 31-yard gain to put Baylor in the red zone for the first time on the evening. After a failed screen attempt on third down, John Mayers missed a 38-yard field goal wide left to keep the Bears from putting points on the board.
On an Air Force fourth and short at the BU 48, redshirt freshman Jackie Marshall came up with a critical stop to give the Bears the ball back with 1:40 left in the first half.
Shapen then drove the offense 47 yards down the field and finished off the drive with an 8-yard touchdown to Hal Presley in the corner of the endzone. Baylor trailed Air Force 9-7 going into the second half.
The Falcons began to wear down the Baylor defense in the third quarter and extended their lead to 23-7. Meanwhile, the Air Force defense dominated the BU offense, only allowing 118 total yards in the second half.