Saturday, September 20, 2008
By John Werner
Tribune-Herald staff writer
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — Unfazed by playing on the road for the first time, Baylor put a scare into the Connecticut Huskies that they won’t soon forget.
The Bears just couldn’t seal the deal.
Taking advantage of a questionable call against the Bears, Donald Brown scored on a three-yard run with 6:04 remaining as the Huskies pulled out a 31-28 win to extend their home winning streak to 10 games before 38,870 fans Friday night at Rentschler Field.
Baylor vs. UConn
- » Baylor football runs out of bullets against Connecticut, 31-28
- » Notebook: 4-0 Huskies have the feel of home turf
- Updated team stats
- Full game summary
The defending Big East co-champions couldn’t exhale until Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin’s fourth-down pass fell beyond the reach of Kendall Wright with 1:01 remaining in the game. The Huskies improved to 4-0, but it was a battle the whole way against the Bears (2-2) in the nationally-televised ESPN2 game.
“Playing Connecticut this close for so long on national TV will probably get some people to notice us,” said Baylor receiver Justin Akers, who caught two touchdown passes. “But if we had won, we would have gained a lot more respect.”
The Bears grabbed a 28-24 lead when Griffin hit Wright over the middle for a 19-yard touchdown with 11:13 remaining in the game. Wright had his biggest night of the year with six catches for 114 yards.
But Baylor got into trouble when Joe Bennett was dropped for a one-yard loss on a punt return at the 7. Griffin narrowly escaped getting sacked for a safety by Julius Williams, and the Bears were forced to punt.
Connecticut’s Jasper Howard called for a fair catch, but fumbled Derek Epperson’s punt. Teammate Marcus Campbell recovered at Baylor’s 44. However, Baylor’s Jake La Mar was called for interfering with Howard on the fair catch, even though television replays showed that he didn’t touch him.
Baylor was flagged for a 15-yard penalty, giving the Huskies possession at the 29. A pass interference call against Baylor cornerback Dwain Crawford gave the Huskies a first down at the 9 to set up Brown’s go-ahead touchdown run.
“It was a bad sequence of events,” Baylor coach Art Briles said. “Their defense did a great job stopping Robert (Griffin). A call (on the punt return) not going our way, and we get a 15-yard penalty tacked on to it, which puts them on the 29-yard line on a short field — that was the worst part of it.”
Despite a gutty effort, Briles and all his players took the loss hard.
“Any time you don’t win, you take it hard,” Briles said. “I feel terrible for our guys because we’re trying to get bowl eligible and a win could have been a positive step in that direction.”
Running to escape Connecticut’s pressure all night, Griffin hit 14 of 25 passes for 208 yards and three touchdowns. The freshman from Copperas Cove also ran for 46 yards on 23 carries with many of his yards coming on scrambles.
After Brown’s touchdown for the Huskies, Griffin moved the Bears 41 yards to Connecticut’s 39. But after Griffin scrambled out of trouble, Wright couldn’t hang on to his third-down pass at the 22. Griffin’s long fourth-down pass was just out of Wright’s reach down the left sideline.
“We’re not satisfied losing by three,” Griffin said. “We’re not satisfied with losing a close game to a pretty good team. We were confident that we were going to pull this game out.”
After surpassing 200 yards against Temple and Virginia, Brown piled up 150 yards and two touchdowns on 34 carries against the Bears. Quarterback Tyler Lorenzen also added 73 yards and a touchdown on eight carries while hitting 13 of 23 passes for 125 yards.
“Give credit to UConn because they are a good football team, but our defense didn’t hold up our end of the bargain,” Baylor middle linebacker Joe Pawelek said. “He (Brown) is a great back, but we’ve got to stop the run better.”
The Huskies took the lead for the first time when Tony Ciaravino nailed a 39-yard field goal with 10:11 left in the third quarter.
But the Bears answered with an eight-play 72-yard drive that ended with Griffin’s two-yard touchdown run for a 21-17 lead with 6:48 left in the third quarter.
The key play of the drive was Griffin’s 33-yard pass to a wide open Wright to the 25. After Griffin ran three yards for a first down at the 17, Jay Finley picked up six yards for another first down at the 2 to set up Griffin’s touchdown run.
But once again, the Huskies responded with a touchdown as Lorenzen roared out of the shotgun for a 34-yard touchdown run down the left sideline to take a 28-24 lead with 5:16 left in the third quarter.
The game was a shootout from the opening kickoff when Robbie Frey put the Huskies in great position to score by returning it 54 yards to Baylor’s 36.
With Lorenzen hitting Brad Kanuch for first-down passes of eight and 10 yards, the Huskies moved to Baylor’s 7. Brown picked up two yards and Lorenzen added three to push Connecticut to the 2.
But Pawelek came up with a big defensive play when he stepped in front of Lorenzen’s pass to Darius Butler over the middle. Pawelek returned the interception to Connecticut’s 33 to set up Baylor’s offense.
With Griffin leading the way, the Bears moved 67 plays on nine plays for the game’s first touchdown.
Griffin hit Finley over the middle for nine yards on a third-and-nine play to keep the drive going at Baylor’s 43. Jacoby Jones converted a third-and-two situation when he blew up the middle for 14 yards to the 18.
Griffin then spotted Akers behind Connecticut’s defense for a 16-yard touchdown near the right corner of the end zone. The officials initially ruled Akers out of bounds but called it a touchdown after reviewing the play to give the Bears a 7-0 lead with 7:53 left in the first quarter.
It was the first touchdown pass that the Huskies had allowed this season.
With Brown running seven times for 40 yards, the Huskies moved 80 yards on 12 plays for their first touchdown.
Lorenzen found Kashif Moore wide open near the right sideline for 19 yards to give the Huskies a first down at the 12.
Two plays later, Lorenzen ran for a seven-yard touchdown out of the shotgun formation to tie the game at 7-7 with 12:11 left in the second quarter.
But the Bears responded with an eight-play, 76-yard drive that featured three key passes by Griffin.
Griffin kept the drive alive by hitting Wright along the right sideline for 10 yards on a third-and-nine play to the 35.
After Finley busted loose for 24 yards, Griffin found Wright wide open over the middle for 27 yards to Connecticut’s 19.
Griffin finished off the drive by finding Akers wide open over the middle for a 14-yard touchdown to give the Bears a 14-7 lead with 8:38 left in the second quarter.
For the second time in his career, Akers caught two touchdowns in a game after doing it for the first time against Rice last season.
Ignited by Butler’s 29-yard kickoff return, Connecticut stormed back by moving 54 yards for a touchdown.
Brown again carried the load as he ran eight times for 32 yards including a one-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 14-14 with 3:14 left in the second quarter.
Baylor’s offense finished with 201 first-half yards, even though injured guard Jordan Hearvey didn’t suit out for the game.
jwerner@wacotrib.com
757-5716
Comments
By Scott Davidsen
Sep 21, 2008 12:17 AM | Link to this
Even though Baylor lost to UConn, it was a great effort. Robert Griffin took a licking, but kept on ticking with solid all-purpose yardage, and directly involved in all 4 Baylor touchdowns.
By David '80
Sep 20, 2008 8:02 PM | Link to this
Hallelujah...Baylor throws its 1st pass to a tight-end in 20+ years AND scores!!!! Another Baylor miracle. Briles has these guys playing real life football. Yes they're a young team but Baylor hasn't had its "football act" together this good since the early '80s. I BELIEVE....sic 'em Bears!!!!!
By KDF
Sep 20, 2008 6:39 PM | Link to this
I want Baylor to win. Most of these blogs are appearantly from students or some pretty hard-core fans. Each year I keep reading how this is the year, or when these kids develop, or the Big 12 is going to be suprised, or this is the coach we've been looking for. My goodness folks, I keep hearing the same things over and over and over again. Baylor stinks in Big 12 football, and their records are the proof. <
By Eatem Up
Sep 20, 2008 5:52 PM | Link to this
Get used to this; I'm an old Houston Coog. Art will break your heart, again and again. He should have you winning against ho-hum teams...IF he has a very special QB. But on the big games...he just doesn't pull it off. He will bring you close enough that you can taste it. Poor special teams and poor discipline are hallmarks of his teams. By discipline, I'm not referring to off-field shanenigans, but rather on-field discipline.
I like Art, I think he's a good guy. He would really shine as an OC; but his teams seem to lack multi-dimensional strength. I hope that he will grow with Baylor and become a more complete coach.
By eric
Sep 20, 2008 5:19 PM | Link to this
Lets all give congratulations to Baylor on games that are interesting to the last second so far this season....something that has not happened in decades...not just 12 years... Now, this is a learning season...so lets get ready for some losses. But lets also get ready for a couple more wins. Ill say it here first...Baylor upset A&M and come close to beating Texas this year alone.
And FRED... I guess the reason why you Bash all the people of Waco and Baylor is that you don't really have anything 'up'...or 'downstairs'. I know is must be hard living alone and having a non-existent life. But...step outside once in a while...get that 'pale skinned unhappy a##" outside and enjoy something for a change? Maybe if you get a tan and get out once in a while you might meet a girl and get lucky....or at least get a kiss to lighten your attitude up. Or perhaps you can get a dog at the pound. They have unconditional love...something you wont find just sitting in your underwear watching 'adult' shows and typing to the Trib.
Oh...I know...too difficult for you... easier to complain and to get off on people taking you to task then doing nothing about it.
By fan man
Sep 20, 2008 3:57 PM | Link to this
The sensational Griffin will soon learn that his mere presence on the field represents a threat to every defense he faces. He need not feel that he must carry the load for the offense-- witness the sudden emergence of a running game (from the running backs) that we haven't seen in years. He spreads defenses by simply being on the field. I believe he'll improve in his option choices in coming weeks and trust his running backs more and more. Otherwise, I predict he won't make it through half the season with many more of these 23-carry games considering he'll be facing the likes of Oklahoma and Texas defenses taking their shots at those valuable legs of his. It's a long season and he needs to understand his value to this team and distribute the ball to his teammates who perhaps not so coincidentally just seemed to have gotten a lot better because of this constant threat who is taking the snaps from center. Mr.Griffin truly trepresents the term "game-changer".
By Katy Bear
Sep 20, 2008 3:53 PM | Link to this
To those "piling on" about attendance at BU football games, I would ask them to please provide the name of any other college football program that has endured at least 12 straight losing seasons littered with embarrassing blowout loses and still maintains average home attendance of 30,000 or more? Shoot, I'm not sure even A&M, UT, or TX Tech with their massive enrollments would have more than 30,000 on average if they went through a streak of 12 straight losing seasons.
Attendance at BU football games can actually be viewed as a "glass is half full" situation. If a program that's been by and large a joke for over a decade can still put 30,000 or more in the stands,then there is every reason to believe that the sky is the limit if that program ever turns the corner and starts winning regularly. It remains to be seen if Art Briles is "the answer" but if he is, look for near full to full Floyd Casey stadium crowds to become the norm at some point in the future, even when the opponent doesn't bring most of it.
By CPA 71 in Big SUV
Sep 20, 2008 3:35 PM | Link to this
I am an unemployed CPA living in the 5th poorest city in Texas and type this blog from the basment of my mothers house.
OK, now that everyone agrees you are better than I, I'm reminded that even a blind squirrel can find a nut now and then.
Same with Baylor football, 2 or 3 wins and 1 close call and fans are ready to live out 74' and 80' and camp out under the scoreboard and "believe".
Believe this, Art is taking lots of money to the bank. Get out the doormat, the Big 12 is next.
Poor unloved Friends of Fred approved this message.
By KDF (never went to BU)
Sep 20, 2008 3:14 PM | Link to this
They still need to win games. Not one, not two, but 3 or 4 games that matter. Then I may start watching them closer again. As it has been stated, why does BU have special teams if there has been nothing special about them? <
By SicEm
Sep 20, 2008 2:51 PM | Link to this
It was an exciting game, but it's dissapointing the Bears couldn't find a way to come up with a "W" last night. From a raw talent standpoint, it's already obvious that Griffin is the most athleticly gifted quarterback Baylor has had since Cody Carlson played at BU over 20 years ago and if he can avoid the injury bug (big "if") he's only going to get better. The offense is fun to watch. Unfortunately, the defense clearly doesn't have the horses to slow down a talented offense, and consequently the rest of the season is going to be a "let's see if we can out score them" challenge for the most part.
The frustrating thing about this team is the consistent fundamentally lousy special teams play. Apparently there isn't a living soul on the squad who can kickoff properly. The "strategy" seems to be a choice between ticking a low line drive to about the 15 and begging for a return to near midfield or just giving up entirely and "pooch kicking" to around the 30 which also results in conceding field position at near midfield or worse. Furthermore, would one of the coaches PLEASE tell the punt returners to stop fielding punts inside the 15, especially when the opponent has it covered like blanket? If the special teams play had even been average last night, we're probably talking about a win today instead of a loss and this is an area that CAN be improved upon.
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