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Baylor vs. Washington State, In-Game
Friday, Sept. 12, 2008
Jeff Brown
10:56 p.m. -- And that'll do it, folks! For the second straight week, the Bears have put up a very impressive showing on offense -- this time against a legitimate opponent in Washington State.
This game turned out as I'd hoped, making me all the more happy that Baylor was able to get it on television -- and a national broadcast, to boot!
That's about it for me here, but make sure to check back at BaylorBears.com later tonight or tomorrow morning for the recap and all the notes from tonight's game. Baylor's media relations staff may be up all night looking up some things, given the showing by Griffin and the team's offense in general.
That was fun; let's do this again next week at UConn (7 p.m., ESPN2)!
10:50 p.m. -- One more star of the game for tonight: Baylor's run defense. After giving up 156 yards to Wake Forest in week one, the Bears held Northwestern State to just 52 yards on the ground last week (on 37 carries), and with less than two minutes to go, have limited the Cougars to 77 yards on 39 carries.
Those numbers stand out even more against Baylor's numbers when running the ball on offense: 94 yards in week one, but 207 yards last week and a school-record 426 yards (and counting) this week.
10:43 p.m. -- The already sparse crowd has really thinned. I'm disappointed that, once again, the students -- most noticeably the Baylor Line -- have almost disappeared. I'd guess only about 1/3 or 1/4 of the Line members who were here at the start of the game are still hanging around with five minutes left on the clock.
Students, please consider this my personal appeal to you. You've got a better team than expected to root for, and probably the most explosive Baylor football player the school has seen in decades as a classmate. Come out, cheer hard, and stay the whole game. As a fan who has suffered through more than a few losses over the years, don't take this success for granted, and don't jump off the bandwagon if it hits a few bumps. This is your school, and these are your peers out there on the field. Let's root them on together, and enjoy wins like this together. Thanks to those of you who stuck these first three games out!
10:30 p.m. -- Robert Griffin is the man.
Griffin broke off his second 58-yard run of the game, leading to a Baylor field goal. Make sure you read the game notes posted at BaylorBears.com after this one's over, but here's one for you: In just his second career start, Griffin has broken the school record for rushing yards in a game with 217 -- and on just 11 carries. The previous record was 210 yards by Jerod Douglas against Texas in 1994, but he (and every other Bear who has ever rushed for more than 130 yards in a game) required at least 15 carries.
Griffin took a hard hit at the end of the run, and Blake Szymanski came in at QB to finish the drive (leading to the FG). I doubt we see Griffin again tonight, with just over 6 minutes left on the clock. No need to risk anything with the youngster.
BAYLOR 45, WASHINGTON STATE 17
10:15 p.m. -- Washington State's quarterback change hasn't worked out so far tonight, and senior Gary Rogers -- the Cougars' starter in the first two games but sitting the bench so far tonight -- just came in for WSU. At 6-7, 222, Rogers is a big guy, and he's showing a nice arm on his first drive.
Starter Kevin Lopina is 17-of-26 for 174 yards tonight but with two big interceptions and no touchdowns. The Bears have put up impressive numbers tonight -- in fact, this is the first time Baylor has had back-to-back 40-point games since 1994 -- but this one's not done yet.
Oh yeah --
BAYLOR 42, WASHINGTON STATE 14 on true freshman Kendall Wright's first career touchdown run.
10:02 p.m. -- This will be overshadowed by Griffin's performance tonight, but in addition to finding a pretty good young QB, I think we've got a pretty decent young punter, too.
Sophomore Derek Epperson averaged 44.8 yards per punt in the Bears' first two games, and tonight so far he's got three more kicks averaging 47.0 yards per attempt. His 62-yard punt in the third quarter tonight was his 10th career punt of 50 yards or more; with two and a half more years to go at Baylor, he's already 10th in school history in that category.
Special teams aren't sexy, but they've gotta be good if you're gonna be a winning team.
9:47 p.m. -- Tonight is the Robert Griffin show. Griffin again faked the handout, deked the defensive end and just flat outran everyone to the end zone -- a 58-yard run.
I'm running out of words to describe this guy. It's hard to believe he's just 18 years old. Even if you weren't interested in Baylor at all, watching Griffin is worth the price of admission.
Griffin is up to 156 yards rushing on 9 carries, including two touchdowns. Oh, and he's also 7-of-14 for 129 yards passing. His rushing total could go up or down, but if he came out of the game right now, it would be the most rushing yards ever by a Baylor quarterback in a game, and the 18th-most ever by a Baylor player.
BAYLOR 35, WASHINGTON STATE 14
9:33 p.m. -- Speaking of weather, it's definitely cooling down here as the second half begins. A nice breeze has picked up outside, dropping the temperature into the low 80s.
Two fans on the student side are actually flying kites from their places up near the top of the stands. That's definitely something I've never seen at a sporting event before.
9:28 p.m. -- Those of you listening to Athletics Director Ian McCaw's halftime interview on the broadcast heard this story, but I thought I'd share it here, too.
McCaw and Washington State athletic director Jim Sterk worked together at Tulane in the '90s, which I'm sure helped the two schools work out the unusual circumstances surrounding tonight's game. But this isn't the first time the two have worked together to avoid a hurricane; back in 1992, when a hurricane threatened New Orleans, McCaw's and Sterk's families actually evacuated the city together. They avoided the storm safely that time, and thanks to their work together this week, the Bears and Cougars will avoid this storm, too. By the way, while the first half was underway, most every TV was switched over to the broadcast of the game. But as soon as the half concluded, most of those same TVs were quickly switched back to hurricane coverage. Ike is definitely on everyone's mind here.
9:07 p.m. -- In case you thought Griffin could only run... With the clock ticking down and the Bears at their own 25 yard line, the true freshman put up a beautiful spiral that traveled 65 yards in the air into the waiting arms of David Gettis for a 61-yard completion. A missed field goal by Parks kept the Bears from adding to their lead, but Baylor will still head to the locker room at the half with a two-score lead.
The scoring came so fast and furious toward the end of the half that I didn't even get to mention Jay Finley's 46-yard-run for the Bears' third touchdown. At the half, Baylor has 328 yards of offense, including 203 yards on the ground (on 19 carries). The Bears haven't rushed for 300 yards in a single game as a team since 1997 against Fresno State; stay tuned for the second half!
HALFTIME: BAYLOR 28, WASHINGTON STATE 14
8:47 p.m. -- Griffin came off limping a tad again on the
Bears' fifth drive after getting sacked on 4th down, leaving a few of us up here a little worried. But I think he's okay; Griffin might have just knocked his earlier run out of the lead in the highlight reel with this one -- a 57-yard burst to the 13-yard-line that set up Jeremy Sanders for his first career touchdown.
Griffin has 98 yards on eight carries. The last Baylor quarterback to rush for 100 yards in a game? A guy you might have heard of named Cody Carlson, against a little team you might know called USC, back in 1986.
BAYLOR 21, WASHINGTON STATE 14
8:37 p.m. -- Midway through the second quarter, and the Cougars have yet to punt tonight. WSU's drives have ended in two touchdowns, two interceptions and a fumble. The Bears nearly stopped them this time, forcing a 4th and 1 near midfield, but the Cougars went for and picked up the first down.
BAYLOR 14, WASHINGTON STATE 14
8:24 p.m. -- Scary moment there as Griffin took a hit just after getting rid of the ball and came up limping a bit. He walked it off and stayed in, but that's one thing Baylor cannot afford this year -- an injury to Griffin. And he's going to take some hits, too, as much as he runs the ball.
8:18 p.m. -- End of the first quarter, and a couple of WSU turnovers -- a Baylor interception on a severely overthrown pass by Lopina, and an ill-timed snap that Lopina wasn't expected and was recovered by the Bears -- have allowed the Bears the lead. Well, those, plus some nice running by Griffin and company.
But the Cougars are driving again, once more picking up 10 yards at a time on outside passes, just as they did on their first drive. Lopina is 6-of-8 for 74 yards so far (though credited with both turnovers). The Bears have done a nice job so far against the running game, holding WSU to 29 yards on 14 carries, but I think Baylor's got to disrupt the passing game for the Bears to win.
8:06 p.m. -- WOW - Okay, THAT play probably could use replay to really give it justice. You'll probably see Griffin's fist touchdown pass of the night tonight on SportsCenter. WSU broke through Baylor's line and would have had a sack on an average-speed QB. But Griffin just outran the defense, running towards the Baylor line, then cutting back towards the WSU bench.
Dan Gay made a heck of a block to knock off one defender pursuing Griffin, who -- as he approached the far sideline -- completed a 27-yard touchdown pass to Ernest Smith WHILE JUMPING IN THE AIR OFF HIS BACK FOOT. Three different people right around me immediately commented that Baylor hasn't seen a quarterback like that since J.J. Joe.
BAYLOR 14, NORTHWESTERN STATE 7
7:59 p.m. -- Baylor came out with the opposite gameplan, just running the ball down the Cougars' throats. Robert Griffin ran the ball four times for 31 yards, including a one-yard touchdown run. Griffin, Jay Finley, Jeremy Sanders and Kendall Wright combined for eight carries and 59 yards of the Bears' 83-yard drive.
Griffin in particular really made things happen with his feet, turning at least one busted play into a long run and a first down. This kid is exciting, folks; the TV replay doesn't completely give his abilities justice.
BAYLOR 7, NORTHWESTERN STATE 7
7:45 p.m. -- Washington State had no trouble moving the ball downfield on their first drive, getting a big return into Baylor territory. The Cougars were 3-of-3 on third down; that's a trend the Bears can't let continue. It looks like WSU studied the game film from Baylor's loss to Wake Forest in week one. Wake Forest's QB dinked and dunked the Bears to death, making good use of the passing game and taking what the Baylor defense gave them. Through the first 3:30 tonight, this game is far too reminiscent of that game for this Bear's taste.
WASHINGTON STATE 7, BAYLOR 0
7:36 p.m. -- For the second straight game, Robert Griffin led the Bears out of the tunnel as the team ran onto the field from the locker room.
Student attendance looks to be fairly good, though the Baylor Line is down in size again from last week. The overall crowd, though, looks weaker than I expected, at least on the student side. (The alumni side is difficult to see from up here in the press box.) Actual attendance may be closer to 10-15,000 tonight, which is a shame, because I really think this should be a good game here tonight.
Baylor vs. Washington State, Preview
Friday, Sept. 12, 2008
Jeff Brown
7:17 p.m. -- Even with fellow Big 12 school Kansas also playing tonight on ESPN2, the vast majority of TVs in the press box and suites here are tuned not to sports but to CNN and the Weather Channel, with fans and members of the press alike keeping an eye on Hurricane Ike. I know at least a few of evacuees from the Texas coast are in attendance tonight. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those in southeast Texas affected by the storm.
It's a little overcast here, as the northmost bands of Ike start to make their way towards Waco, but the rain is expected to hold off here 'til early Saturday.
7:01 p.m. -- Washington State just announced their starting quarterback, and it's a change from the Cougars' first two games. RS junior Kevin Lopina will be under center to start tonight after seeing his first collegiate action off the bench last week. Against Cal, Lopina was 3-of-7 for 32 yards with an interception; he also rushed four times for 12 yards.
Lopina takes over for RS senior Gary Rogers, who appeared in all 12 games last season for WSU as the Cougars' backup QB. Rogers was 22-of-45 for 160 yards total with three interceptions and one touchdown in WSU's first two games, both blowout losses (39-13 vs. Oklahoma State and 66-3 vs. Cal).
6:32 p.m. -- It'll be interesting to see what kind of crowd we get tonight, given the date and time change and the weather across the state (particularly to the south). Most people's estimates here in the press box seem to be 20,000 or so, which is a little disappointing considering that we might have had 35,000 or so if weather had been good tomorrow.
Still, it's nice that Baylor's administration was able to work it out with Fox Sports Net to keep the game televised, even with the schedule change and FSN's inability to get a crew from Houston up to Waco. Kudos to Ian McCaw and his staff for working that one out.
6:00 p.m. -- Friday night in Texas usually means high school football, but tonight in Waco, it's all about the Bears and Cougars. 7:30 p.m. kickoff; if you can't make it out, you've got plenty of options for following along. Of course there's this blog -- which we hope you'll keep up no matter which of the other ways you choose -- plus:
* A live TV broadcast on Fox Sports Southwest (regionally) and Fox College Sports (nationally);
* Radio stations along the Baylor-ISP Radio Network;
* Free live streaming video on BaylorBears.com; and
* Free live streaming audio on BaylorBears.com.
9:45 p.m. Monday, Sept. 8, 2008
Brad Sheffield
Baylor returns to action Friday, Sept. 12, hosting Washington State for an 7:30 p.m. CDT kickoff at Floyd Casey Stadium. This is the third of four non-Big 12 Conference games for the Bears and the second of four non-Pacific 10 Conference games for Washington State.
The Bears (1-1, 0-0 Big 12) look to continue their winning ways after snapping a nine-game losing streak with a 51-6 victory over Northwestern State last Saturday night. Baylor has won 14 of its last 18 non-conference home games, dating back to the 2000 season.
The Cougars (0-2, 0-1 Pac-10) dropped a 66-3 decision at home to California last Saturday. This is Washington State's second game this season against a Big 12 foe. The Cougars opened their season with a 39-13 loss to Oklahoma State in Seattle two weeks ago.
All Baylor football games are broadcast live on the Baylor/ISP Sports Radio Network; Waco's 1660 ESPN Radio is the network's flagship station. Live streaming audio and GameTracker also are available for all Baylor football games online at www.BaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor Athletics and a member of the CBS College Sports network.
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