BOULDER, Colo.—The Baylor Bears are actually thinking about a bowl and it’s only October.
They took a big step closer to ending a 16-year drought, moving within a game of bowl eligibility.
Jay Finley rushed for a career-high 143 yards and Chance Casey batted down a last-second pass in the end zone, helping Baylor to a 31-25 win over Colorado on Saturday in the final meeting between the two schools as members of the Big 12.
The Bears (5-2, 2-1) haven’t been to the postseason since the Alamo Bowl in 1994.
And yes, that’s definitely weighing on their minds.
“It puts a smile on your face, but we have to bunker down, make sure we stay consistent with our preparation,” said quarterback Robert Griffin, whose team is 5-2 for the first time since 1995.
This win was far from easy.
Baylor needed to fend off a late charge by the Buffaloes (3-3, 0-2), who had the ball on the 19-yard line with 5 seconds remaining, only to have Casey knock away a pass intended for Toney Clemons.
“I was having a lot of games flash through my head right there at the end,” Baylor coach Art Briles said. “When I saw the back judge give the safe signal, I thought, ‘Boy, good.’
“It wasn’t a gift. We had to fight hard and earn every bit of it.”
Griffin has been the focal point of Baylor’s attack this season, having a hand in a majority of the team’s offensive scores. That’s why teams scheme and plot to bottle him up.
“They’ve got to respect him, especially with his speed,” Finley explained. “But pick your poison with us. Today, they got beat both ways.”
Finley gave the Buffaloes fits, scoring twice, and Griffin was his typical hard-to-defend self, high-stepping his way to a season-high 137 yards rushing and throwing for another 234. He entered the game fourth in the nation in total offense, averaging 329 yards a game.
The tandem helped the Bears finish with a season-high 309 yards rushing.
“I just didn’t expect them to run like that on us,” defensive lineman Marquez Herrod said.
Rodney Stewart had a big day for the Buffaloes, gaining 125 yards and scoring twice. Quarterback Tyler Hansen bounced back from being benched late in last weekend’s 26-0 loss at Missouri. He finished with 207 yards passing and one touchdown, a 7-yard strike to Scotty McKnight with 5:14 remaining to draw the Buffaloes to within 28-25.
But the Bears responded with a drive that resulted in a 38-yard field goal by Aaron Jones, his third of the night.
Baylor hardly played a perfect game, turning the ball over three times and committing nine penalties for 71 yards. That’s typically not the recipe for a win.
“We didn’t really play that clean across the board,” Briles said. “But we were hot enough offensively.”
The speedy Stewart showed off his elusiveness in the first half, darting right and then cutting back left for an 18-yard score in the first quarter. He later made a Baylor defender miss near the goal line and dove for the pylon for a 6-yard TD.
After Stewart’s first touchdown, coach Dan Hawkins gambled and attempted a 2-point conversion. He sent out his son and backup quarterback Cody, whose pass was low and incomplete.
Any regrets?
“No,” Dan Hawkins said. “We did it against Georgia and it worked.”
Colorado went for 2 points again in the second quarter, only to have Hansen tackled short of the end zone.
Hansen defended his coach’s decisions to go for 2 points early in the contest.
“I was OK with it,” he said. “It didn’t go our way. But if it did we’re saying, ‘Hey, that’s a great call.’ That’s kind of a tough deal, but I liked it. I like to be aggressive.”
At 3-3, the Buffs realize their margin for error just got slimmer for making it to a bowl.
“I think these guys are pretty resilient,” Dan Hawkins said. “We talked about how the schedule matches up. We talked about this at the start of the season, how there is no easy day and how every day is going to be a grind.
“So if we win by two or lose by two you better redial and be ready to go.” Although the Bears need just one more win to become bowl eligible, the road ahead won’t be easy. They host Kansas State next weekend and end the season with home games against Texas A&M and Oklahoma. In between are road games at Texas and Oklahoma State.
Asked how big this win over Colorado was for the program, Briles said, “They’re all big.”
“But it kinds of sets us apart a little bit,” he said. “Really, for getting victory No. 5, we haven’t done that the last couple of years. We need to take full advantage of where we’re at.”
