By Shehan Jeyarajah
Sports Editor
No. 7 Baylor used a balanced offensive effort to take care of business against the Iowa State Cyclones 49-28 in Ames, Iowa.
Behind senior quarterback Bryce Petty, the Bears attacked early and often. Petty led Baylor on its second drive 67 yards down the field, where sophomore running back Shock Linwood punched it in for a score. On the next drive, Petty hurdled Iowa State defensive back Kamari Cotton-Moya for the second score of the game. Less than halfway through the first, Baylor led 14-0.
Iowa State struck back with a passing touchdown from quarterback Sam Richardson to Dondre Daley, but sophomore wide receiver Corey Coleman, Linwood and freshman running back Johnny Jefferson each scored touchdowns to push Baylor’s lead to 35- 7 at the half.
Iowa State came out ready to play in the second half, albeit largely with the game already decided. Richardson broke away for a 47-yard run just over a minute into the second half to cut the lead to 35-14, but Linwood responded with his third touchdown of the day to keep the lead at 28.
Running back Aaron Wimberly ran for a score and receiver Tad Ecby took a Richardson pass 51 yards to the house, but Petty added another rushing touchdown to ice the game at the end of the third.
In his second game back from injury, Petty threw for 336 yards and a touchdown, while adding rushing scores of one and 16 yards. He also had a pass picked off that bounced off the hands of Lynx Hawthorne, his first interception of the season and only the fourth of his career.
Linwood broke out of his slump to rush for 82 yards on 15 carries, including three scores. Along with Petty and Jefferson’s scores, Baylor had six total rushing touchdowns on the day.
In the losing effort, Iowa State quarterback Sam B. Richardson accumulated over 300 total yards of offense (212 passing, 99 rushing), and three all-purpose touchdowns, including two in the second half.
Outside of Richardson, the Iowa State offense fell flat. Running backs combined for only 28 yards on 20 carries.
Baylor’s defense sacked Richardson three times, and ended with six tackles for loss on the day. Iowa State had two tackles for loss, but Baylor still has not allowed a single sack on the year.
No. 7 Baylor will continue its road trip at 2:30 Saturday against the Texas Longhorns. The game will be regionally broadcast on ABC.
