By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Editor
Baylor found itself trailing 25-24 with over a minute left in the fourth quarter against Kansas. Junior quarterback DJ Lagway completed a miraculous pass to fifth-year receiver Gavin Freeman in triple coverage to give the offense some life.
The Bears drove down to set up sophomore kicker Rhett Armstrong with a 44-yard field goal for the win. Jayhawk defensive tackle Blake Herold got a hand on the ball, rejecting the kick to secure a 25-24 win for Kansas.
“It was a low kick,” head coach Dave Aranda said. “In the interior, we have to do a better job if they’re jumping over us. We got to rise up when they’re jumping.”
The block capped off an 11-point comeback for Kansas (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) against Baylor (4-3, 2-2 Big 12), snapping the Bears’ 14-game win streak against the Jayhawks.
“[We’re] gutted in the locker room,” Aranda said. “[I’m] proud of the effort and the fight. When it came down to plays that matter the most, we got to execute those plays better.”
Kansas’ last win over Baylor came in 2007, when the then-No. 20 Jayhawks dominated a Bears team that finished 3-9.
Baylor started to pull away in the third quarter. Junior cornerback Devon Jordan scored a pick-six on the first defensive drive of the quarter, and Lagway lobbed a ball to fifth-year receiver Jayden McGowan to jump ahead 21-10 with less than 7 minutes left in the third.
Kansas’s offense answered right away. Kicker Martin Connington connected on a pair of field goals while quarterback Isaiah Marshall found receiver Nik McMillan for a 34-yard touchdown to open the fourth quarter.
The Bears had an opportunity to put the game away, starting a drive with under five minutes remaining. Instead of ticking off as much time as possible between plays, Baylor continued its up-tempo offense. The drive finished with an Armstrong field goal to give Baylor a 24-19 lead with two and a half minutes on the clock.
The Jayhawks raced down the field as Marshall capped off a 6-play, 71-yard drive with a touchdown run to take a 25-24 lead inside the two-minute timeout.
Kansas wore down the Bears’ defense, scoring on four of its last five drives.
“As the game went on, I think we got tired,” Aranda said. “They are a team of gadgets and kind of a collection of the hardest plays to defend. That’s their deal. And so, it’s very much a taxing offense.”
Kansas’ offense entered Saturday as one of the most explosive units in the country, ranking eighth with 69 explosive plays. That style of play proved to be trouble for the stalwart Bears defense.
Baylor gave up five completions of over 20 yards with two touchdowns and five runs for over 10 yards and another score. The Bears could not keep up, allowing over 20 points for the first time this season.
“Coming into the game, they led the Big 12 in explosive plays,” Aranda said. “It’s a collection of really tough plays that Kansas does. And every game, you get a new collection.”
The defense uncharacteristically lost at the line of scrimmage throughout the game. The Jayhawks racked up 209 yards on the ground, 70 more rushing yards than the Bears had allowed this season. Running back Dylan Edwards led the way with 156 yards on 20 rushes.
“No, sir, to be honest,” junior linebacker Kyland Reed said about whether Baylor expected Kansas to be that effective on the ground. “We expect to come out dominant, physical, stop the run. That’s something we value. So, anything that wasn’t besides that, we got to … get it fixed.”
Baylor struggled to find its groove on offense after its lackluster showing against TCU. The Bears turned the ball over on downs twice throughout the first half, losing possession on the opening drive and early in the second quarter.
Both times the Bears were on the edge of field goal range, but they decided to gamble on fourth-and-2 at the Kansas 34. Lagway missed a back-shoulder throw to fifth-year receiver Louis Brown IV after facing pressure on the first failed fourth down. Lagway then got sacked to come up empty-handed again.
“We were still thinking, ‘Hey, we can break this thing loose on offense and really score some points,'” Aranda said. “When it became apparent that we … we’re really struggling to execute on them, then we were saying we need the points.”
McGowan sparked Baylor’s only breakthrough in the half. He returned a kickoff to the Jayhawks’ 39-yard line. Senior running back Dawson Pendergrass punched it into the end zone on a 1-yard run for the Bears’ only score.
The secondary benefited from multiple poorly thrown deep balls and dropped passes to hold the Jayhawks to seven points.
Marshall’s accuracy issues proved to be the main drawback for Kansas in the first half. He went 9 for 17 in the first half, including an interception to senior safety Micah Gifford on an overthrown ball on the Jayhawks’ first drive.
The run game was more productive against Kansas than last week. Lagway led the team with 47 yards on 11 rushes out of the 122 total rushing yards. Offensive coordinator Jake Spavital called multiple designed runs for Lagway.
“It’s been a long process with the training staff, medical team, finding a good solution to help me continue to get feeling better each week,” Lagway said. “I wasn’t all the way there today.”
Baylor’s road trip continues next week against UCF at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Acrisure Bounce House in Orlando, Florida.
