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Baylor vs. Missouri, In-Game
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Jeff Brown
5:23 p.m. -- It doesn't get any easier for the Bears next week, either, as Baylor heads down I-35 to Austin to take on currently top-ranked Texas. The Longhorns face #7 Texas Tech in Lubbock tonight. The Bears-Longhorns match-up will likely be picked up for TV, but that decision hasn't been made yet; stay tuned to BaylorBears.com tomorrow for that information. Until then -- sic 'em, Bears!
5:17 p.m. -- The Bears are clearly an improved team. Ranked 14th in the nation, the Tigers came in favored by 21 points, and barely escaped with the win. The talent is improved; next up for this squad is learning how to win the close ones.
For that matter, this was Missouri's first close win of the season, too. Their next closest victory was by 10 over Illinois in the season opener, and in their first six wins, the Tigers' average margin of victory was 37.5 points. Last week, Mizzou beat Colorado 58-0.
But in the end, a loss is a loss, and the Bears drop to 3-6 on the year, 1-4 in Big 12 play.
5:12 p.m. -- But... the first interception of Griffin's career will end this one, with the Bears out of timeouts. Missouri's middle linebacker dropped back into coverage and was just in the right place at the right time as Griffin attempted to force the ball across the middle.
Griffin's streak was snapped on his 210th career attempt, and it hurts -- surely no one more than the freshman. Not because of the streak, but because it meant a loss for the Bears. Missouri will run the clock out, and this one's a final.
FINAL: MISSOURI 31, BAYLOR 28
5:07 p.m. --Baylor's defense bent but didn't break, holding Missouri to a field goal with 2:31 left. The Bears are out of timeouts, but 2:30 is enough time to score -- you just have to go out there and do it.
The Bears nearly kept the Tigers off the board completely; Jordan Lake nearly picked off Daniel's third-down pass, breaking on the ball perfectly and just having it hit off his hands.
MISSOURI 31, BAYLOR 28
4:58 p.m. -- A friend in the press box just noted that this is the first close game at Floyd Casey Stadium this year. In fact, the Bears' loss at UConn earlier this season (31-28) is the only final that's been within 10 points.
Among the Homecoming crowd today are former Baylor standout wide recievers Dominique Ziegler and Trent Shelton. With six Baylor receivers recording multiple catches today, this is the kind of game those two would have loved.
4:47 p.m. -- Jay Finley turned a short pass into a 36-yard touchdown play as the Bears tied it up at 28 with 9:54 to go. Let's look at the QB numbers again:
Chase Daniel: 24-of-29, 272 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT
Robert Griffin: 26-of-33, 283 yards, 2 TDs; also 33 yards and 1 TD rushing
Griffin is about 10 yards shy of his career high passing yardage.
And before I could post this, Daniel added another INT to that total -- only the second time this year an opponent has picked off more than one of his passes. Baylor ball near midfield!
4:39 p.m. -- Missouri took the lead on the first play of the fourth quarter, as Daniel hit tight end Chase Coffman in the back left corner of the end zone for a touchdown. Coffman is a beast -- 6-foot-6, 255 pounds -- and has used that size to record more receptions than any other TE in NCAA history.
MISSOURI 28, BAYLOR 21
4:27 p.m. -- End of the third quarter, tied at 21. By the way, in addition to seeing a great football game here today, the crowd of 35,142 is also enjoying absolutely PERFECT weather. 78 degrees at kickoff, and about 83 degrees now, with bright sun and a cool breeze.
4:18 p.m. -- And with a touchdown pass complete to Brad Taylor, this place IS rocking. This time, the Bears overcame a big clipping penalty that looked like it cost Baylor a first down. But instead of falling apart, BU calmly picked up the first down (again) on the very next play.
During the drive, Griffin also set a new NCAA record for most pass attempts without an INT to start a career.
And if you're checking other scores on ESPN.com, you'll see this game now listed as an "Upset Watch," as the Bears and 14th-ranked Tigers are tied at 21 with 3:30 to go in the third quarter.
BAYLOR 21, MISSOURI 21
4:12 p.m. -- And fresh off the score, the Bears forced Missouri to punt for the first time all day. A big sack on first down set up 2nd and 20; a five-yard completion and a short scramble by Daniel was all the Tigers could put together, and the Bears will start at their own 34.
Coming into today, over the past game and a half, stretching back to halftime against Texas, the Tigers had only punted once in their last 16 possessions; that stretch included two interceptions and 13 scores. Now if Baylor can put together another scoring drive right here, Floyd Casey will really be rocking.
3:45 p.m. -- The Homecoming game always features plenty of ceremony at halftime, including the announcement of this year's Homecoming Queen: Student Foundation's Jacki Jensen, a senior from Dubuque, Iowa.
The 1988 Baylor men's basketball squad was also honored. The team was the last BU team to make the NCAA Tournament until the Bears earned a berth last season. Former NBA stars Darryl Middleton and Micheal Williams are among the players from the '88 team in attendance today. (Speaking of men's basketball, Baylor just missed making it into the preseason polls released last week; the Bears are the third team receiving votes in the AP poll and the fourth team with votes in the coaches' poll.)
3:37 p.m. -- Nice performance of Baylor's alma mater and fight song during halftime by the Baylor Golden Wave Marching Band, including band alumni back for homecoming. The extra performers helped the group spell out the script Baylor stretching from one 15-yard line to the other. Alumni twirlers joined the regular crew, as well, for the display.
3:30 p.m. -- Turnovers have kept the score down just a bit, but these two teams have rolled up the stats as halftime rolls around. Mizzou already has 316 yards of offense, including 204 yards passing for Chase Daniel, while the Bears have 206 yards of offense -- most of those (145) in the air.
Penalties have been the Bears' No. 1 problem: five for 55 yards in the first half. Three sacks have also hurt the Bears, as Griffin has rushed for a negative 15 yards on nine carries.
HALFTIME: MISSOURI 21, BAYLOR 7
3:18 p.m. -- You've probably seen the "House Divided" bumper stickers and license plate frames on cars around the state, mostly on vehicles where one spouse attended Texas and the other Texas A&M. But here's another version I just heard about in the press box today.
Baylor alum Scott Loyd (class of 1992) married a Missouri grad named Jennifer earlier this morning at the Armstrong Browing Library on Baylor's campus. They scheduled the wedding for 9:30 this morning so that they could make it to the game this afternoon, and they're in the stands right now.
3:13 p.m. -- Another Missouri turnover stopped the Tigers' last drive; this time, it was Antonio Johnson forcing the MU running back to fumble. A 10-yard sack kept the Bears from doing much on the drive, but Derek Epperson's 53-yard punt pinned the Tigers inside their own 10 yard line.
The boomer was Epperson's 13th punt of 50+ yards this year. Coming into today, he ranked second in the Big 12 and 16th nationally in yards per punt, which is why he is a semi-finalist for the Ray Guy Award. That marks the third time in the past five years that a Bear has been at least a semifinalist for the award, after Daniel Sepulveda (now with the Pittsburgh Steelers) won the award in 2004 and 2006.
3:01 p.m. -- Way to bounce back, Bears! Baylor kept the momentum going by following up Pawelek's INT, the Bears put together a 13-play, 80-yard drive that concluded with Griffin pushing it in for the touchdown.
With 10 minutes to go in the first half, Chase Daniel is 10 of 14 for 119 yards and 2 touchdowns. Robert Griffin is nearly as good, completing 10 of 12 attempts for 103 yards and the one rushing TD. Each QB has one turnover. And don't forget: Daniel is a senior, while Griffin is still and an 18-year-old freshman.
MISSOURI 14, BAYLOR 7
2:52 p.m. -- Maybe that's the beginning of what Baylor needs. On the first play of the 2nd quarter, with Missouri facing 3rd and goal from the Baylor 8, Daniel's pass over the middle was picked off by Joe Pawelek.
The pick was JoePaw's 3rd INT of the year and only Daniel's seventh of the year. In fact, the Missouri QB had three of those seven interceptions against Oklahoma State; no other opponent has picked him off more than once.
2:41 p.m. -- Penalties and now an unforced turnover are costing the Bears here in the first quarter. Baylor again drove deep into Missouri territory before a pair of false starts nearly short circuited the drive. A horse collar call on Mizzou gave the Bears a break, setting up first down inside the Tigers' 20, but two plays later Griffin fumbled on 2nd and 5 from the 13-yard line and Missouri recovered.
Missouri is driving again, already moving to midfield. The Bears have shown that they can move the ball against the Tiger defense, and they should be able to put some points up, but they're going to have to make a better stand on defense to stay in this game.
MISSOURI 14, BAYLOR 0
2:25 p.m. -- Chase Daniel was nearly perfect on Mizzou's first drive, completing 6 of 7 passes for 51 yards and a touchdown as the Tigers went up 7-0 in the first four minutes. Robert Griffin did his best to answer, completing 3 of 4 attempts for 26 yards and appearing to scamper to a first down around the MU 30-yard line. However, a penalty for a chop block cost the Bears not only the 10 yards Griffin picked up on the play, but 15 more, and a sack two downs later ended Baylor's first drive as the Bears were forced to punt.
We'll obviously be keeping an eye on these two quarterbacks today, as will a good-looking crowd. Missouri fans dressed in black (which doesn't really stand out) and gold (similar to Baylor's championship gold) really blend into the BU crowd.
MISSOURI 7, BAYLOR 0
2:07 p.m. -- Well that was something new... As the Baylor Line ran on to the field from the southeast corner of the stands, they were stopped right at midfield. Members of the Line then lined up as the players descended through the stands, down the aisles near each 40-yard line from the concourse to the field.
Once on the field, the players gathered in a group near the 25-yard line and were quickly surrounded by the Line, where they led the crowd in a "sic 'em, Bears!" before the team headed to the sideline and the Line headed to the stands. We'll see next week whether this was a Homecoming special event or the start of a new tradition.
My wife, sitting in the stands with a friend, text-messaged me: "That intro was AWESOME!" Watch for pictures later today at BaylorBears.com and next week on Baylor Proud.
Baylor vs. Missouri, Pregame
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Jeff Brown
1:49 p.m. -- For those of you at home wondering if/where you can find live video of today's game on the Internet, the unfortunate answer is that it doesn't exist. Today's game is one of the few Baylor games this year that has not been picked up for television, and Baylor is prevented from streaming live video by Big 12 rules. However, archived video of today's game will be available on BaylorBears.com shortly after the conclusion of the game; to watch, click on the Audio/Video link in the left column of this page.
During the game, though, you can always listen online (for free) here at BaylorBears.com; click on the Audio/Video link at left to listen in. And of course, you can also keep following along with the GameTracker for live stats and this blog for in-game commentary. Enjoy!
1:42 p.m. -- In addition to the usual features, Snickers Touchdown Alley was packed today with tents hosting reunion lunches for Baylor graduates from classes ending in the year 3 or 8, including the 50th Anniversary Class of 1958 and the 25th Anniversary Class of 1983, as well as a tent for our newest grads from the Class of 2008.
My wife and I enjoyed a barbecue lunch from Uncle Dan's in the Bear Hunters tent among a host of other volunteers who represent Baylor at high school college fairs and help recruit students to Baylor. Interested in joining us next year? Click here.
1:30 p.m. -- Besides the obvious match-up of quarterbacks (true freshman Robert Griffin vs. senior Heisman candidate Chase Daniel), another individual pairing to watch today will be Baylor running back Jeremy Sanders and Missouri receiver Danario Alexander.
The pair played together at Marlin High School just outside Waco, where Sanders (then a QB) completed 49 passes for 850 yards to Alexander. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch had a nice story on the pair earlier this week.
1:20 p.m. -- If traffic driving around Waco last night and this morning is any indication, we should have a nice crowd here for Homecoming. The first 20,000 fans here today get gold Baylor car flags, courtesy of Texas Farm Bureau; hopefully our fans will get a chance to wave those often today.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Brad Sheffield
Baylor returns to action Saturday, Nov. 1, hosting No. 14 Missouri for a Big 12 Conference inter-division game. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. CDT at Floyd Casey Stadium. This is Baylor's final game against a Big 12 North opponent this season. The game, which is not televised, is part of homecoming festivities on the Baylor campus.
The Bears (3-5, 1-3 Big 12) look to snap a two-game skid after dropping a 32-20 decision at Nebraska last Saturday. Baylor, which has not lost three straight games this season, is 3-2 at home this season, including a 1-1 mark in Big 12 home games.
The Tigers (5-2, 2-2 Big 12) snapped a two-game losing streak with a 58-0 shutout at home against Colorado last Saturday. Missouri is 1-1 on the road this season, winning at Nebraska (52-17) and falling at Texas (56-31). The Tigers are ranked 14th nationally in the Associated Press Top 25, the USA Today Coaches' Poll and the BCS Standings.
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