Bryce Petty came back with a vengeance after missing last week's game against Northwestern State and the Baylor offense looked potent the entire game as the rolled past the Buffalo Bulls 63-21 on Friday night. Petty threw for 416 yards and 4 touchdowns before being pulled in the third quarter for the backups.
Baylor's first drive was far from Bayloresque, as they took 12 plays and 4:32 to get the 66 yards on the drive. Shock Linwood plunged in from 2 yards out to give Baylor the early 7-0 lead.
Buffalo had an excellent chance to tie the game on their first possession. On third and 7, Joe Licata had a great pump fake and had a wide open Marcus McGill for an easy touchdown, but the ball went off his fingertips and Buffalo had to punt the ball away.
It took all of two plays for Baylor to double their lead. Petty found a wide open KD Cannon on a streak route and he waltzed into the end zone. Baylor's defense got another stop and then added a third touchdown. Linwood ran in from 24 yards out to give Baylor the 21-0 lead within 10 minutes of the game starting.
Baylor extended their lead to 35-0 before halftime through Petty's 30 yard touchdown to Jay Lee and Johnny Jefferson's 14 yard touchdown run.
Buffalo did find some success against Baylor in the second half. Their second drive of the third quarter led to Licata's 41 yard touchdown pass to Devon Hughes. Baylor came right back with a touchdown of their when Petty found Lynx Hawthorne for an 18 yard touchdown pass and the score was at 42-7.
Buffalo's offense kept the momentum going by going 76 yards in 2 plays. Anthone Taylor had a 41 yard touchdown run to make it 42-14. However, Baylor's offense was unstoppable and Petty threw another touchdown pass to Jay Lee, this one from 14 yards out to make it 49-14.
Baylor made it 56-14 when backup quarterback Seth Russell ran right up the middle for a 31 yard touchdown. After Anthone Taylor's fumble, Baylor put up their final points with Russell's pass to Hawthorne from 37 yards out. Buffalo got a touchdown when Tony Daniel threw his 17 yard touchdown pass to Malcolm Robinson to reach the final score of 63-21.
Petty finished the game by going 23 of 34 with 416 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also had 2 carries for 11 yards. Russell came in and went 2 of 3 for 64 yards and a touchdown. He also had 3 carries for 18 yards and his rushing touchdown.
Shock Linwood had 20 carries for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns while Johnny Jefferson added 11 carries for 52 yards and a touchdown.
Only 5 receivers caught a pass for the Baylor Bears. KD Cannon led the way with 6 catches for 189 yards and a touchdown. Jay Lee had 9 catches for 136 yards and 2 touchdowns while Lynx Hawthorne finished with 7 catches for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns. Davion Hall caught 2 passes for 28 yards and Linwood had one reception for 4 yards.
Buffalo's Joe Licata went 14 of 25 with 171 yards and a touchdown. Tony Daniel saw some action late in the game. He finished 4 of 6 with 84 yards and a touchdown.
Jordan Johnson had a sneaky, quiet game with 20 carries for 97 yards. Anthone Taylor ran 13 times for 47 yards and a touchdown.
Devon Hughes led the receivers with 6 catches for 72 yards and a touchdown. Jamari Elland had 2 catches for 59 yards.
Baylor (3-0) has a bye next week before starting their Big 12 schedule on September 27 at Iowa State (0-2). Any game featuring a ranked team at Jack Trice Stadium is not an easy task.
Buffalo (1-2) will take on FCS Norfolk State next Saturday as they look to get back to .500. They start their MAC schedule on September 27 against Miami (OH) at home.