Baylor holds on against Rice, 21-13
HOUSTON, Texas — Baylor moved to 3-0 on the season with a victory on the road against the Rice Owls, 21-13.
Shot out of the gate: Chris Platt came out swinging in this game. On the first drive, Platt had an exceptional one-handed catch for 12 yards on a 3rd and 5 in Baylor’s territory. Halfway through the 2ndquarter, Platt then caught a dime from Charlie Brewer and took off for a 50-yard touchdown. In the first half, Platt had 4 catches for 85 yards and a touchdown. Given Platt’s recent struggles, it was nice to see him get off to such a great start early in this game.
Struggled: Don’t get me wrong, the Bears struggled in this game as a whole. It seemed like the Baylor defense couldn’t keep the Rice offense off the field and the Baylor offensive line was dominated up front. Not to mention, the Bears’ second half felt almost like 2017. However, John Lovett specificallyhad a tough time in this game. On the Bears’ 3rd drive, he was given the ball on 4th down and 1 and fumbled before he could reach the first down. The Bears recovered, but you would still love to see Lovett hold the ball in that situation. Two drives later, Charlie Brewer caught a bad snap and pitched it to Lovett, who then dropped the ball before the Owls recovered the fumble. Lovett finished with…
Decisive Moment: Charlie Brewer’s 25-yard touchdown run at the end of the first half was a huge play in this game. Baylor’s offense was struggling and couldn’t seem to get the same rhythm going that they had in their first two contests. With just 44 seconds left in the half on the Rice 25-yard line, Charlie Brewer led a 5 play, 74-yard drive that lasted just 29 seconds. With a 16-yard completion to Tyquan Thornton, a 14-yard completion to Chris Platt, and a 19-yard completion to Denzel Mims, Charlie Brewer then capped off the quick drive with the 25-yard touchdown run. This put the Bears up 21-3 heading into the half after a somewhat disappointing performance.
MVP: Charlie Brewer was Baylor’s MVP of this game. He threw for 303 yards and 1 touchdown while completing 20 of his 27 passes. He also had 12 carries for 58 yards and a touchdown on the ground. He was lethal through the air and on the ground in his first full game of the season. He had a few inaccurate throws that could have easily been intercepted, but he managed to put up the best stat line in a tough game for the Bears.
Key stat: The Bears gained 427 yards and only gave up 242 to the Owls.Even though the Bears struggled with penalties and turnovers, they still managed to hold the Owls to just 242 yards and were able to move the ball decently well. They simply came up short with their fumbles and turnover-on-downs. The Bears had 303 yards through the air and 124 yards rushing.
Game Notes:
- Heading into the game, Baylor was 49-30-2 all-time vs. Rice dating back to 1914.
- The last time that Baylor lost to Rice was in 1992 when they lost on the road 34-31. The previous year, Rice upset 8thranked Baylor in Waco 20-17.
- The last time Baylor and Rice met was in 2016, when Baylor was ranked 21stin the country and won on the road 38-10.
- The Bears beat themselves up with penalties in this game. They finished with 5 penalties for 55 yards.
- The last time the Bears scored less than 34 points against the Rice Owls was in 1994, when the Bears beat the Owls 19-14.
Game Summary
First Quarter
3:12 BAY: TD — WR Josh Fleeks 6-yard run: Drive: 9 plays, 86 yards, 4:01 — Baylor 7 – Rice 0
1:11 RICE: Turnover — WR Cameron Montgomery fumbles, DL James Lockhart recovers
Second Quarter
8:09 RICE: FG — K Will Harrison makes 28-yard field goal: Drive: 13 plays, 55 yards, 6:47 — Baylor 7 – Rice 3
5:02 BAY: TD – WR Chris Platt 50-yard reception: Drive: 7 plays, 84 yards, 3:07 – Baylor 14 – Rice 3
1:39 BAY: Turnover — RB John Lovett fumbles, DL Anthony Ekpe recovers
0:15 BAY: TD — QB Charlie Brewer 25-yard run: Drive: 5 plays, 74 yards, 0:29 — Baylor 21 – Rice 3
Third Quarter
13:04 BAY: Turnover — QB Charlie Brewer fumbles, LB Antonio Montero recovers
3:50 RICE: FG — K Will Harrison makes 24-yard field goal: Drive: 14 plays, 55 yards, 6:35 — Baylor 21 – Rice 6
Fourth Quarter
8:42 RICE: TD — QB Tom Stewart 21-yard run: Drive: 4 plays, 46 yards, 1:17 — Baylor 21 – Rice 13