Recap: Baylor Bounces Back in Orlando by Blowing Out UCF

ORLANDO — Baylor football (5-3, 3-2) broke its two-game losing streak with a dominant 41-9 road win over UCF (4-4, 2-3) on Friday night at Acrisure Bounce House.

Junior quarterback DJ Lagway had a phenomenal outing, throwing for 319 yards and four touchdowns on 16-of-25 passing while adding 23 yards on the ground. The Bears out-gained UCF in total yardage, 503-to-283.

Baylor’s had a bounce-back performance and cr eated non-stop chaos all evening, finishing with seven sacks, 12 tackles for loss, while holding UCF to 66 rushing yards on 30 attempts. The Knights were 2-of-14 on third down.

Following an interception from junior cornerback Devon Jordan — his fourth of the year — Baylor’s offense got great field position. Lagway drove the Bears down the field and connected with Florida native and senior tight end Tony Livingston for a four-yard touchdown grab. Baylor led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Lagway led the Bears to another scoring drive, highlighted by an incredible 36-yard grab from junior Dre’lon Miller, who made an athletic catch over a UCF defender. Sophomore running back Caden Knighten finished the possession with a touchdown from two yards out.

UCF’s offense had just seven yards across its first four drives and didn’t pick up a single first down. On the Knights’ fifth possession, they finally got Baylor’s defense on its heels, but the Bears tightened up in the red zone, and kicker Will Stone drilled a 39-yarder to put UCF on the board, 14-3, with 3:24 remaining in the second quarter.

From there, it became a battle of kickers to close the first half, as sophomore Rhett Armstrong nailed a 45-and-29 yarder, while Stone closed the half with the longest made field goal in UCF history at 57 yards. Baylor led 20-6 going into halftime.

The Bears scored on back-to-back drives to open the second half, courtesy of a pair of long touchdown throws from Lagway to Livingston for 21 yards and to Freeman for 77 yards, extending Baylor’s lead to 34-6. Freeman finished with a team-high 114 receiving yards on five receptions.

The Bears (5-3, 3-2) will return to Waco to face Iowa State (3-4, 1-3) for a homecoming matchup next Saturday, Nov. 7, at McLane Stadium. The game time is yet to be determined.