Sports Editor
The No. 15 Baylor Bears survived a scare from the Kansas State Wildcats to win 35-25 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kan. on Saturday.
The win marks the first time the Bears have ever won a game at Kansas State.
Playing its first road game of the year, Baylor started out the game with 12-play, 59-yard scoring drive where the Bears held the ball for the first 4:27 seconds of the game. Junior quarterback Bryce Petty finished off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.
Kansas State answered when sophomore quarterback Daniel Sams rushed the ball into the end zone for a one yard rushing score to tie the game up at 7-7.
Baylor was forced to punt on the next two possessions and then Petty found senior receiver Tevin Reese on a 93-yard touchdown strike over the middle of the field.
Down 14-7, Kansas State added on a field goal to cut Baylor’s lead to 14-10.
Baylor’s prolific passing offense started to click as Petty found junior receiver Antwan Goodley open on a crossing route, and then Goodley threw a stiff-arm and turned on the jets to blow by Kansas State defenders to take it to the house. Goodley’s score gave the Bears a 21-10 lead at the half.
Down 21-10 in front of its home crowd, Kansas State responded with a resilient third quarter.
Junior defensive end Ryan Mueller ran down Petty as the quarterback tried to scramble to the left sideline. Mueller swiped at the ball and striped the possession from Petty. To top it all off, the loose ball landed right in Mueller’s hands for a fumble recovery and to give the Wildcats the ball deep inside Baylor territory.
The Baylor defense stepped up to the challenge and limited Kansas State to another Cantele field goal, 21-13.
Sams scored another rushing touchdown for the Wildcats, and down 21-19, Kansas State decided to go for two but Sams’ pass fell incomplete.
Once again, Sams scored on another rushing touchdown and Kansas State took a 25-21 lead.
Sams carried the Wildcats offense with 199 rushing yards on 30 carries. Sams also added three rushing touchdowns.
Kansas State tried to convert another two-point conversion, but the rushing attempt was thwarted by senior linebacker Brody Trahan’s score-saving tackle to keep Kansas State’s lead stagnant at 25-21. This marked the first time all season that the Bears have trailed in the second half.
In the fourth quarter, the Bears offense turned to senior Tevin Reese to take the lead. Petty fired a bullet to Reese who raced down the field for a 54-yard touchdown score to help the Bears regain the lead 28-25.
Kansas State had the ball with a chance to tie the game or possibly win it and senior safety Ahmad Dixon erased that possibility with a clutch interception to essentially preserve Baylor’s win.
With Kansas State out of timeouts, the Bears anchored down the win by plugging away with the ground game. With 1:16 to play, senior running back Glasco Martin scored on 21-yard rush where Baylor’s offensive line executed perfect trap blocking, thanks to the effort of senior All-American left guard Cyril Richardson.
With the Bears 35-25 lead, Kansas State tried desperately to score but to no avail as the clock ran out on the Wildcats and sealed Baylor’s first road victory of the season.
Petty passed for 332 yards and completed 12 of 21 attempts for three touchdowns and zero interceptions. Petty also added a rushing score.
Martin led the ground game for the Bears with one score on ground and 70 yards on 16 carries.
Junior running back Lache Seastrunk finished with 59 yards on 12 carries.
Reese led all receivers in the game with 184 yards on five catches for two touchdowns.
Goodley caught four passes for 129 yards and had one touchdown.
Baylor and Kansas State’s offenses had nearly the same output. Baylor generated 446 yards of total offense and Kansas State had 445 yards of total offense.
Baylor had 332 passing yards and 114 rushing yards. Kansas State earned its yardage in opposite fashion with more strength in the running game with 327 rushing yards and 118 passing yards.
The Bears survive their first road game of the season with a 35-25 win in Manhattan.
Next Saturday, it’s homecoming for the Bears at Floyd Casey Stadium as the Iowa State Cyclones come to town.
