Jordan Smith | Sports Writer
Baylor got off to a very fast start, which is something that the Bears haven’t done in quite a while. At the 11:55 mark, senior quarter back Seth Russell capped off an 80-yard opening drive with a five-yard touchdown to get the early lead, 7-0.
For the Bears, their first quarter consisted of getting 142 total yards of offense on 23 plays. Kansas had 22 plays for 69 yards, as Baylor’s defense forced Kansas to go zero for four on third down conversions.
Baylor’s defense came out onto the field to try to keep the lead and did more than just that. Senior cornerback Ryan Reid picked off a Kansas pass for a 64-yard pick six to make it 14-0, with Baylor on top with 8:40 left in the first quarter.
At the 2:47 mark of the first quarter, Russell leaped into the endzone while getting clipped and flipped at the end of a 26-yard run to make it 21-0 with Baylor starting to really take control of this game. The score would stay like this for the rest of the quarter and would see Baylor leading after the first 15 minutes by a score of 21-0.
Through the first quarter, Russell became the leading rusher on the Bears, accumulating a total of 60 rushing yards. Kansas through the entire first quarter had 63 rushing yards. For the first time this season, Baylor did not commit a single penalty in the first quarter of the game.
In the second quarter, things were a little bit calmer for Baylor as they tried to eat up more clock in the quarter. However, Reid once again showed up and got another interception, this one for 52 yards, with 9:27 left in the first half. But for the second straight drive, junior placekicker Chris Callahan missed a field goal to end the drive. His first miss was for 36 yards and his second miss was for 34 yards.
More positives came later in the quarter however as Russell passed to junior wide receiver KD Cannon for a 59-yard touchdown. It was Russell’s first passing touchdown of the game, but his third overall. With 6:13 left in the first half, Baylor was up by a score of 28-0.
Senior running back Shock Linwood, Baylor’s all-time leading rusher took a little bit to get himself going as Russell was taking most of his yards in the first half. With 5:49 left in the first half, Linwood was able to get a four yard rushing touchdown and with that extended the lead to a 35-0 domination of the Kansas Jayhawks.
The fun didn’t stop there however as Baylor got the ball back towards the end of the first half, and ended up scoring with 1:45 left in the half with a Russell to sophomore wide receiver Ishmael Zamora for a four yard touchdown, extending the lead to 42-0.
The first half ended with the Bears on top 42-0. Russell had 212 of the 284 total yards for Baylor. The Jayhawks had a total offense of 118 yards the entire first half thanks to the Bears’ stellar defense with two interceptions and one being returned for a pick six.
