COLUMBIA, Mo. — Desperate for its first Big 12 win, Baylor went to the Show Me State and showed the Missouri Tigers the door.

With freshman Nick Florence passing for a school-record 427 yards and three touchdowns, the Bears rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to pull off a stunning 40-32 win Saturday afternoon.

A Faurot Field crowd of 65,298 fell dead silent after watching Baylor’s first Big 12 road win since a 34-31 triple-overtime thriller over Colorado in Boulder in 2006.

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BAYLOR 40,
MISSOURI 32

• Photos: Baylor vs. Missouri
• Baylor defense puts pressure on Missouri in 2nd half
• Notebook: Scoring eruption no shock to Briles
• Final statistics

After opening conference play with four straight losses, the win allowed the Bears (4-5) to keep their slim bowl chances alive with three games remaining.

“No one respects us, but we know we’re a good team, and we went out and did it today,” Florence said. “This feels real good, and you’d have to go inside the locker room to understand what it means. I didn’t even know I set a record. But who cares about statistics when you win?”

After scoring just three touchdowns in the first four Big 12 games, Baylor’s offense looked like a dynamic group against the two-time defending Big 12 North champion Tigers (5-4, 1-4). Florence hit 32 of 43 passes with Kendall Wright catching 10 for a career-high 149 yards and two touchdowns, and David Gettis grabbing eight for 110 yards.

With his remarkable game, Florence broke Blake Szymanski’s school record of 412 yards passing against Rice in 2007. It was especially impressive considering the Bears had gone 2-52 in Big 12 road games, including three straight losses at Missouri.

Making believers

“I think Nick made a lot of people believe today,” Baylor coach Art Briles said. “People rally around him, and he’s done a great job for us. The team needed this win in the worst way. We never lost our hope, belief and focus, and that says a lot about their character. After so many losses, it feels good to finally let them celebrate.”

Baylor’s chances of winning didn’t look good at halftime after Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert hit 21 of 27 passes for 322 yards and two touchdowns to help the Tigers open up a 27-16 lead.

But the second half was a completely different story as the Bears put a great deal of pressure on Gabbert and made him scramble out of his comfort zone. In the second half, Gabbert hit just nine of 24 passes for 146 yards and was sacked four times as the Tigers failed to score a touchdown.

“We finally got pressure on their quarterback, and it made a huge difference,” Baylor linebacker Joe Pawelek said. “He could never settle in during the second half. They also really struggled running the ball. Whenever you make a team one-dimensional, you’re able to pin your ears back and go after them.”

Trailing since the early minutes of the second quarter, the Bears grabbed a 33-29 lead when Florence found Wright streaking down the right sideline for a 59-yard touchdown with 13:11 remaining.

Missouri defensive back Robert Steeples was called for pass interference on the play when he pushed Wright near the 25, but the Baylor receiver caught the ball anyway and outran everybody for a touchdown for the biggest play of the game.

“It was a stop and go route, and he bit on it a little,” Wright said. “Nick threw the ball out there and I was able to catch up with it. Nick really played up to his potential today and had a great game.”

Baylor freshman quarterback Nick Florence threw for a school-record 427 yards with three TD passes Saturday at Missouri. (L.G. Patterson photo / Associated Press)

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Baylor's Brad Taylor (9) celebrates with teammate Kendall Wright after Wright beat Missouri's Andrew Gachkar (left) for a 13-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter Saturday in Columbia. (L.G. Patterson photo / Associated Press)

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Baylor players run off the field while celebrating their first Big 12 win of the season, and first conference road win since 2006. (L.G. Patterson photo / Associated Press)

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Not content to sit on the lead, Baylor’s defense stopped Missouri on its next two possessions. After pinning the Tigers at their own 10, the Bears got possession at Missouri’s 46.

Florence hit Brad Taylor for 12 yards before Terrance Ganaway broke loose for 22 yards. Following Florence’s 10-yard pass to Justin Akers to the 1, Ganaway ran behind defensive tackles Phil Taylor and Trey Bryant for a 1-yard touchdown to open up a 40-29 Baylor lead with 5:46 remaining.

The Tigers had a little life left as Grant Ressel nailed a 46-yard field goal to cut Baylor’s lead to 40-32 with 2:55 remaining. After Baylor failed to get a first down, the Tigers got the ball for the last time after Derek Epperson’s 53-yard punt with 1:48 remaining.

Taking the ball at their own 24, Gabbert hit former Marlin High School star Danario Alexander for 36 yards. After a pass interference call against Jordan Lake, the Tigers picked up another first down at Baylor’s 22.

But Gabbert’s pass fell incomplete on fourth-and-six at the 18 with 47 seconds remaining, and Baylor ran out the clock to seal the shocking win.

Where credit is due

“Baylor deserved to win,” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. “They made the plays and did a lot of good things. Their quarterback obviously made some big plays. But we’re just not playing good enough in the second half to win football games.”

The Bears grabbed the momentum to open the second half by taking the kickoff and moving 67 yards for a touchdown. Florence finished it off by hitting Wright in the back of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown to cut Missouri’s lead to 27-23.

After stopping Missouri, the Bears drove 50 yards to set up Dary Stone’s 35-yard field goal to pull within a point at 27-26.

But it looked like the momentum shifted to Missouri’s side after Dominique Hamilton nailed Ganaway for a safety after punter Jake Harry’s 51-yard punt rolled to a stop at the 1. The Tigers took a 29-26 lead with 4:08 left in the third quarter.

But the Bears stopped the Tigers following the kickoff before taking the lead for good with Florence’s 59-yard touchdown pass to Wright.

“We started fast and finished strong,” Gettis said. “The offense played at a fast tempo and kept the ball, and kept our defense off the field. This was a huge, huge game for us.”

In a wild first half, the Tigers scored on five of six possessions to grab a 27-16 lead. Alexander caught 11 passes for 171 yards in the first half, including a thrilling 84-yard breakaway score. Alexander finished with a career-high 13 catches for 214 yards.

Gabbert needed a brilliant first half to overcome a strong performance by Florence, who hit 21 of 26 for 202 yards and a touchdown.

Gabbert directed the Tigers on a seven-play, 64-yard drive following the opening kickoff. After Jared Perry caught a short pass and danced his way for a 38-yard gain down the left sideline to the 14, Derrick Washington ran up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown.

Stone’s 1st field goal

The Bears answered with a 59-yard drive that ended with Stone’s 22-yard field goal, the first of his career after replacing Ben Parks at kicker.

After stopping Missouri for the only time in the first half, the Bears put together a 72-yard drive that featured two big plays from Florence to Lanear Sampson.

Florence kicked the drive into gear by hitting Sampson down the left sideline for 35 yards to the 34. Later, Florence and Sampson hooked up for a 13-yard gain to the 8.

Florence faked a handoff to Ganaway and ran up the middle for an 8-yard touchdown to give the Bears a 9-7 lead. However, Andrew Gachkar blocked Stone’s PAT attempt with 2:13 left in the first quarter.

But that was Baylor’s last lead of the half as the Tigers answered with a 65-yard drive that ended with Ressel’s 33-yard field goal with 13:41 left in the second quarter. On their next possession, the Tigers moved 60 yards to set up Ressel’s 46-yard field goal.

After stopping the Bears again, the Tigers responded with their biggest play of the half.

Gabbert threw a pass over the middle to Alexander, who shook off a hit by Baylor safety Jordan Lake. Alexander shifted into another gear and outraced everybody for an 84-yard touchdown to push Missouri’s lead to 20-9.

“The career day was great, but we couldn’t get the win,” Alexander said. “We came out in the first half and everything was going pretty good, but then we couldn’t get it together in the second half.”

The Bears weren’t dismayed as they moved 42 yards for a touchdown after Terrance Williams returned the kickoff 42 yards with a 15-yard horse collar penalty against Missouri tacked on at the end.

After Florence hit Justin Akers over the middle for 21 yards to the 10, Sampson finished off the drive by catching an 8-yard touchdown from Florence to cut Missouri’s lead to 20-16 with 1:09 left in the second quarter.

The Tigers still had time to drive for a touchdown as they moved 57 yards with Wes Kemp grabbing a 7-yard touchdown pass from Gabbert with one second remaining to open up a 27-16 lead.

But the Bears erased any bad first-half memories with their stunning second-half comeback.

“This is awesome,” Pawelek said. “Anytime you get a road win in the Big 12, it’s a huge thing. This was definitely a great day for us.”

jwerner@wacotrib.com

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