WACO, Texas — The Baylor Bears hosted the Kansas Jayhawks in the Bears fourth home game of the season.
As the Bears aim for a bowl game this season, a contest at home against the Jayhawks felt like a must-win.
It was a hot start for the offense which was firing on all cylinders against West Virginia. Blake Shapen was back under center after exiting that game with a head injury.
He found Monaray Baldwin with a 17-yard strike on the first Bears drive to put them on the board.
Baylor's defense which struggled mightily against the Mountaineers found a groove early on. They forced Kansas to a three-and-out on drive number one and then created a turnover on the second drive.
'Jackers and Robbers' has been preached all year from this secondary as it relates to taking away the ball and creating turnovers. Jackie Marshall was the jacker and the robber on that second drive, forcing a fumble which set Baylor up at the Kansas 25.
It took just two plays on the ensuing Bears drive until Richard Reese ran 14 yards for the score to extend their lead to 14.
The Bears opted to run it heavy in the first half and that was capitalized by a wild cat score by backup Kyron Drones who entered a Baylor drive from the four-yard line to make it 21-3.
Baylor went into the locker room up 28-3 after a Jordan Nabors 10-yard rush.
The offense went through a major stall during the third quarter. A three-play first drive ended on a Blake Shapen fumble. That set up a Kansas score to tighten the lead to 18.
On their second and only drive of the third quarter, they were forced to punt. They put up just 34 yards on 14 plays.
Kansas made it interesting at the start of the 4th. Jason Bean found Quentin Skinner on a 24-yard pass. After a failed two-point conversion, the score sat at 28-16.
Baylor's offensive struggles in the second half continued on the ensuing drive. Facing a 4th-and-1 from the Kansas 7-yard line, the Bears opted to go for it and were stopped short.
Kansas took over and immediately flipped the field. Bean rushed for a 4-yard score to make it 28-23.
In need of a long and time-killing drive that resulted in points, Baylor responded in a big way as Richard Reese rushed for a 2-yard score, his second of the day.
The Bears went on to win 35-23.
Blake Shapen ended the day with three turnovers to go along with his 164 passing yards and one passing score.
