Baylor Overcomes Weak Start To Rout SMU 40-13

WACO, Tx. —- Baylor scored on its opening drive every game last year except the final two games without a starting quarterback (both ending on downs.) Saturday against SMU marked a first with Seth Russell under center, as the Bears punted on the first two drives. The Bears had not punted on their opening drive since Texas Tech shootout in 2014.

“I do have to give credit to SMU,” Baylor coach Jim Grobe said. “I thought [coach] Chad Morris and his staff had a good plan. They gave us some problems early. I think at halftime we figured some things out that really helped us.”

As measured by the crowd’s reaction, the most exciting plays in the Bears' opening quarter came off two JaMycal Hasty kick returns following a pair of SMU field goals. He would later make greater impact with a four-yard touchdown for the final points of the game, winning 40-13.

The Mustangs found themselves first on the board with a 67-yard drive progressed by a facemask call on linebacker Raaquan Davis. Once the Mustangs found themselves inside the 10-yard line, Baylor held strong, allowing on a field goal. The subsequent drive for SMU ended similarly with cornerback Verkedric Vaughns redeeming himself with a third-down stop after allowing a 27-yard pass from Ben Hicks to James Proche a few plays earlier.

Marking another rarity for Baylor, the offense was held scoreless through the first quarter. There was a glimmer of hope the green and gold would be on the board within 15 minutes thanks to a 33-yard pass from Seth Russell to Chris Platt. But as was a common theme throughout the game through dropped passes and penalties, it was called back.

The Bears’ aim to get on the board was only progressed after punter Drew Glitz was roughed on a fourth-and-15 punt. The offense kicked into gear for a brief moment with Russell completing a 22-yard pass to Pooh Stricklin. Chris Callahan followed a few moments later with a 35-yard field goal.

Keeping up the bit of momentum from that first scoring drive, Baylor’s defense kept SMU out of field goal range the following drive with a tag-team sack.

In an effort to hit vintage Baylor status, Russell lined up a seam route to KD Cannon to open the drive but was dropped. Platt followed suit with a dropped slant route on third down, ending in a Galitz punt. Five minutes into the second quarter, Russell completed just 7-of-16 passes for 61 yards.

“I think [SMU was] just bringing in a bunch of different blitzes off a bunch of different edges,” Russell said. “They were disguising pretty well.”

After forcing a three-and-out thanks to a Patrick Levels tackle for loss, Russell threw an interception to SMU cornerback Jordan Wyatt, bringing SMU into Baylor’s red zone. For a third time, SMU was held without a touchdown inside Baylor’s 20-yard line. Safety Orion Stewart intercepted a third-down pass to get the offense back on the field.

Baylor had to convert three fourth-downs on the following drive only to fumble on a potential Blake Lynch touchdown.

The second chances kept coming after SMU’s Freeman was stripped on the first play, setting Baylor up at the SMU 25-yard line with 2:14 remaining in the half. After two overthrown passes, Baylor settled to tie the game with a 38-yard field goal from Callahan, virtually ending the half.

Opening the second half showed similar growing pains for Grobe and company, losing a 19-yard Linwood rush due to a holding call. The opening drive saved by an SMU face mask call sacking Russell. What should have been a turnover on downs ended in Russell dialing up Lynch for a 31-yard touchdown, the longest play of the game to that point.

“We changed some things up front offensively, and it’s 0-0,” Russell said speaking of entering the second half. “Whoever is going to step up is going to step up and win the game. Luckily, we executed on a few plays, got the points on the board, and the defense just did what they did best and stopped them.”

That momentum translated to the defense forcing a punt but couldn’t carry its own weight with Russell throwing an interception to Darrion Millines, wiping away the defense’s efforts. But once again, Baylor’s red zone defense stepped up with converted wide receiver Davion Hall returning an interception from the end zone to the SMU 38-yard line.

"Davion really stepped into a spot where someone busted coverage," nickelback Patrick Levels said. "He stepped up, caused the pick [...] that was a big play for us, most definitely."

Russell made sure Hall’s efforts weren’t for naught. Initially looking to the end zone, Russell evaded two sacks for a 19-yard touchdown scamper. Following Newton’s first law of motion, Orion Stewart picked off SMU’s third play of the ensuing drive. He returned it 33 yards for a touchdown to put the Bears up 26-6 after a missed Callahan PAT.

“[Orion’s] a guy that you can alway count on to get us the call,” linebacker Aiavion Edwards said. “It’s just awesome to have him back there and just to find the ball wherever it’s going or to come downhill and make plays.”

Grobe shared similar sentiments of his senior defensive back.

Nearly putting a nail in Baylor’s 20-point run was a 32-yard dash from SMU running back Braeden West entering the red zone. The subsequent play saw Hicks connect with Cortland Sutton for 20 yards, the first touchdown SMU scored inside Baylor’s red zone in five tries.

Following Baylor’s ensuing three-and-out, SMU followed suit, setting up Baylor to take a 27-point lead on the wings of a 32-yard strike to Cannon. He would finish the game with 93 yards on 10 receptions with Lynch leading with 95 yards on six catches.

Cautiously putting the game away with 12 minutes remaining, Baylor made use of short runs and screen passes to chew up the clock. The 16-play drive ended inside SMU’s one-yard line  after a Russell keeper on fourth-down. From there, efforts on both sides to pad stats declined, with Baylor winning the yardage battle 515 to 405. Though, Baylor was aided by 101 yards in penalties compared to 40 from SMU.

“I felt from an effort standpoint, when it came time to win a football game, [our players] found a way to do it, and that’s the bottom line,” Grobe said. “But I don’t think we played as well as we can play today."