By Carson Vercoe | Sports Writer
One negative from junior quarterback Nate Bennett’s performance against Prairie View A&M was the missed opportunities on the deep ball.
Multiple throws that went over a receiver’s head or were dropped had Baylor fans wondering what would have happened if they connected.
Bennett found the answer Saturday afternoon: touchdowns.
Bennett connected on three perfectly placed long touchdowns as Baylor (2-1) won 36-19 over Louisiana Tech (1-2).
“Real beautiful balls from Nate,” head coach Dave Aranda said. “Just the touch he has on the deep ball is a special thing.”
Bennett finished 21-for-24 with 253 yards and three passing touchdowns, plus a 25-yard touchdown run.
“At the end of the day, I’m just thankful. I’m blessed; God’s good,” Bennett said. “And when God speaks, you listen, and so it’s pretty fun to see all that come full circle.”
The Bears got the offense rolling right from the kickoff. A couple of penalties, along with 15 rushing yards from senior running back Dawson Pendergrass, helped get the Bears to the 25-yard line in Louisiana Tech territory. With the pocket collapsing, Bennett wove through and ran for a 25-yard touchdown, setting the tone early.
The Bulldogs responded with a lengthy drive of their own. Quarterback Trey Kukuk ran the offense with both his legs and his arm, rushing for 28 yards and throwing for 39 yards.
Louisiana Tech capped the drive with a wildcat-formation touchdown to running back Andrew Burnette, tying the game at seven.
Despite the response, the Baylor offense kept ticking going into the second quarter.
A couple of big throws from Bennett to fifth-year wide receivers Gavin Freeman and Louis Brown IV helped the Bears get into the offensive side of the field. The Bears got the ball to the two-yard line before Pendergrass punched it in to take the lead.
After a defensive stop and a wayward punt, the Bears started their drive off at their 49-yard line. This time they didn’t need a long, methodical drive to get the job done; they needed one play.
Brown IV beat his defender on a double-move and was wide open downfield. Bennett picked it up and sent a perfect ball into Brown IV’s hands for a touchdown, sending McLane Stadium into cheers as the Bears took the lead 13 -10.
“We were talking on our sideline, like, ‘Let’s let it fly to Louis; they are playing down on it,’” Bennett said. “If they had a different coverage, I would have got back through, but as you said, when I saw Louis give the eyes pumping it, I’m like, we got it.”
After an 11-play drive, the Bulldogs attempted a 34-yard field goal but missed the opportunity to cut the lead to 10.
After the missed field goal, the Bears built a promising drive, reaching the Louisiana Tech 47-yard line.
But with a minute to go, both offenses got sloppy.
An illegal blindside block sent the Bears back 15 yards, followed by a fumble by Bennett, turning it over. Louisiana Tech responded by throwing an interception to junior cornerback Devon Jordan after a miscommunication.
“I felt amazing, man. I have to take advantage of it,” Jordan said. “I feel like those balls are one of the hardest too, cause it was an easy pick.”
Both teams went into halftime unpleased with their two-minute drill performances.
The Bears came out ready to fire after halftime.
The defense got a crucial fourth-down stop to open the half with a great tackle from senior safety Micah Gifford.
“Micah is an absolute warrior,” fifth-year defensive end Kyler Jordan said. “Micah is on all the special teams, and you’re not ever going to hear him complain. He is going to go out there, and he’s going to leave everything he has out there.”
The offense followed with two solid rushes, then another deep pass from Bennett to fifth-year wide receiver Jayden McGowan to extend the lead to 19.
“We were able to hit on some haymakers and knock the guy down, so to speak,” Aranda said.
The Baylor defense once again was too much for the Bulldogs, getting another stop on fourth-and-1 and forcing another turnover on downs.
“We started playing in tighter coverage,” Devon Jordan said. “[We’re] trusting our abilities, our dogs outside.”
Baylor got the ball in the Louisiana Tech half but settled for a 23-yard field goal from sophomore Rhett Armstrong to go up 29-7.
Louisiana Tech got the ball back and got things rolling. They started from their own 25-yard line and moved the ball all the way down to the Baylor 6-yard line. The Bulldogs looked to get back on the board, but a strip-sack from nickelback sophomore Bo Onu was recovered by fifth-year linebacker Garrick Ponder, giving the ball back to the Bears.
Louisiana Tech found some life against the tough Bears defense when Kukuk threw a touchdown pass to tight end Eli Finley to cut the lead to 16.
The fourth quarter slowly started slipping away from Baylor.
Senior tight end Tony Livingston caught a pass from Bennett but lost control of the ball, fumbling it and giving the Bulldogs possession. Louisiana Tech then marched down the field and scored a touchdown on a handoff to wide receiver Jalen Mickens, cutting the lead to 10.
The Baylor offense wouldn’t stay silent for long.
The Bennett-to-McGowan deep-ball connection continued to work when Bennett hit McGowan for a 36-yard touchdown, putting the lead back to 17.
The McGowan touchdown proved too much for Louisiana Tech, as Baylor rode out the time to victory.
McGowan finished his productive day by catching two passes for 79 yards and scoring two touchdowns.
The defense didn’t have its best day, giving up 362 yards with only one sack, but it forced two turnovers, helping the Bears win.
The Bears will end their homestand against Colorado at 11 a.m. on Saturday at McLane Stadium.
