No. 11 Baylor still undefeated after 49-7 win over Kansas

 Seth Russell threw two touchdowns and ran for two more while playing only the first half, Ryan Reidreturned the first of his two interceptions for a score and No. 11 Baylor remained undefeated with a 49-7 win over Kansas on Saturday.

Shock Linwood's 4-yard score on the first play after a Kansas fumble was his 36th career rushing touchdown and broke a tie with Alfred Anderson for the most in school history. Linwood was already the career rushing leader for the Bears (6-0, 3-0 Big 12).

Kansas (1-5, 0-3) had five turnovers that led to 21 points for the Bears. The Jayhawks have lost 15 Big 12 games in a row, and dropped 36 consecutive road games since winning at UTEP seven years ago.

Reid's 64-yard interception return ended the first offensive drive for Kansas and gave the Bears a 14-0 lead. He returned a pick in the second quarter 52 yards to the Jayhawks 19, but Baylor then had the first of its three missed field goals.

The Bears led 42-0 after Russell's last pass, a 4-yard TD to Ishmael Zamora with 1:45 left in the first half.

Russell, 14-0 when starting for Baylor, was 9-of-22 passing for 144 yards. He led the Bears with 68 yards rushing, and got flipped after he leaped in the end zone for a 26-yard TD when converting a fourth-and-3 to make it 21-0 in the first quarter.

TAKEAWAYS

Kansas: It's not a good day when the highlight is probably the 82-yard punt by Cole Moos , who had the wind to his back and had the ball roll to the Baylor 3 after a great bounce off the turf. Sure, the Jayhawks were five-touchdown underdogs, but this was a bit of a backward step for second-year coach David Beaty's team. They were also big underdogs a week earlier in a one-point loss at home to TCU after missing three field goals in the fourth quarter.

Baylor: While the Bears are already bowl eligible for the seventh consecutive season, and the only FBS team to be 6-0 for the fourth year in a row, they haven't really been tested. The only team with a winning record they've played this year is Oklahoma State, which had four turnovers and two fourth-quarter drives end inside the 5. The other Baylor opponents went into Saturday with a combined 5-22 record, and that doesn't even include the Kansas loss in Waco. The Bears will get tested, still with No. 19 Oklahoma and No. 20 West Virginia on the road.

UP NEXT

Kansas: Plays four of its next five games at home, starting next Saturday against Oklahoma St.

Baylor: Another open date before playing at Texas on Oct. 29.

No. 13 Baylor rallies to top Iowa State 45-42

Chris Callahan hit a 19-yard field goal as time expired and No. 13 Baylor rallied from 14 down in the fourth quarter to beat Iowa State 45-42 on Saturday.

Shock Linwood rushed for 237 yards for the Bears, who moved to 2-0 in the Big 12 for the fourth year in a row.

Baylor (5-0, 2-0), playing without star wide receiver KD Cannon because of a groin injury, trailed 42-28 before using scoring drives of 86 and 84 yards to tie it up.

Baylor's defense finally stiffened in the fourth quarter andSeth Russell - who was 12 of 22 passing for 178 yards - drove Baylor 83 yards to set up Callahan's chip shot.

Joel Lanning threw for 261 yards and two touchdowns for Iowa State (1-4, 0-2). Mike Warren added a season-high 130 yards rushing for the Cyclones.

THE TAKEAWAY

Baylor: Yes, the Bears won. But concerns that Baylor's tumultuous offseason would eventually catch up to the program will only deepen after its first league road game. Its defense looked lost for 45 minutes, and the passing game was subpar without Cannon. The Bears should get credit, though, for making the plays it needed to make in the fourth quarter.

Iowa State: The Cyclones, who looked good in beating San Jose State by 34 points, were the better team for three quarters. But Iowa State's disturbing habit of collapsing in the fourth was apparent yet again. The Cyclones had eight yards on six plays in the final 15 minutes.

UP NEXT

Baylor: The Bears hosts Kansas next week in what could be one of the most lopsided matchups in the history of the Big 12. Baylor was a 46-point road favorite against the Jayhawks last year and covered with room to spare, beating Kansas 66-7 despite playing its backups for much of the second half.

Iowa State: The Cyclones travel to face Oklahoma State in the second game of a brutal stretch. Iowa State plays at Texas the following week and, after a bye, hosts Kansas State and Oklahoma.

Russell has 4 TD passes, No. 16 Baylor beats Oklahoma State

Seth Russell threw four touchdown passes, including an 89-yarder to Chris Platt for the go-ahead score in the third quarter, and No. 16 Baylor held on to beat Oklahoma State 35-24 on Saturday night in the weather-delayed Big 12 opener for both teams.

Ishmael Zamora had career highs of 175 yards receiving and two touchdowns on eight catches in his season debut for the Bears after a three-game suspension over a video of him whipping his dog that surfaced during the summer. Platt also had two TDs.

Baylor earned its fourth consecutive 4-0 start in its first big test after a light nonconference schedule.

The game was stopped by lightning for about 1 1/2 hours after the Bears scored on the opening series.

The Cowboys (2-2) lost three fumbles, including the second by Justice Hillafter he picked up a first down at the Baylor 2 with Oklahoma State trailing 28-24 with 9 minutes remaining. Hill, who had 122 yards rushing, was originally ruled down, but the call was overturned on review.

A week after throwing for a national season-high 540 yards to beat Pittsburgh in another weather-delayed game for the Cowboys, Mason Rudolph was 27 of 45 for 279 yards with an interception.

It was the first loss in a true road game for Rudolph since his debut as a freshman at Baylor two years ago, a span that included six straight road wins. Baylor is the only Big 12 team the junior hasn't beaten.

Zamora's first TD came when Russell's high pass went through Lynx Hawthorne's hands and into the sophomore's arms. With the defense converging on Hawthorne, Zamora raced untouched down the sideline for the final 30 yards on the 38-yard play.

Pratt, who had 114 yards receiving, was 5 yards behind Ashton Lampkin on the sideline after a stutter-and-go route when he caught Russell's pass in stride and easily outran everyone to the end zone. Russell was 18 of 28 for 387 yards with an interception.

THE TAKEAWAY

Oklahoma State: Who knows what would have happened if the Cowboys hadn't fumbled inside the Baylor 5 on what looked to be a go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter. Add to the what-if list that started with a disputed loss when officials mistakenly allowed an untimed down for Central Michigan's winning score.

Baylor: The Bears have been something of an afterthought in the Big 12 race since a tumultuous offseason marked by allegations of mishandled sexual assault cases that led to the dismissal of two-time league champion coach Art Briles along with school President Ken Starr and athletic director Ian McCaw. But the Bears are the only 4-0 team, and the only other unbeaten team is West Virginia (3-0).

UP NEXT

Oklahoma State: The Cowboys host No. 21 Texas next week. The Longhorns were off this week.

Baylor: The Bears have their two easiest Big 12 games on paper at Iowa State next week and then Oct. 15 at home against Kansas. There are two byes in the mix as well before a visit to the Longhorns on Oct. 29.

Russell throws 3 TD passes, No. 21 Baylor beats Rice 38-10

Seth Russell threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns and No. 21 Baylor shrugged off a slow start to beat Rice 38-10 on Friday night after the Owls' band mocked the Bears at halftime.

The band formed a Roman numeral IX on the field to represent Title IX, the federal law Baylor is accused of violating in sexual assault scandal, and a shifted to a star formation in reference to Ken Starr, the former Baylor president was demoted and eventually resigned amid the scandal.

Russell was 22 of 38 to help the Bears win their 19th straight regular-season nonconference game and improve to 3-0 for the sixth straight season, a program first.

KD Cannon caught nine passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns.

Rice (0-3) led 3-0 after the first quarter before JaMychal Hasty scored on a 16-yard run, and Cannon caught a 10-yard pass from Russell to put the Bears up 14-3 midway through the second quarter.

The Owls closed to 14-10 with 3 minutes left before halftime, but that would be as close as they would get.

Darik Dillard ran for 124 yards on 14 carries for the Owls. Emmanuel Esukpa had Rice's lone touchdown.

The Owls fell to 0-3 for the second time in three seasons.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

BAYLOR: The Bears were able to gain yards, but struggled to put points on the board early. Russell had a pass intercepted, and Chris Callahan missed field goals from 47 and 37 yards. The defense played well, holding the Owls to 265 yards.

RICE: The Owls hung with Baylor and kept it a two-score game until 45 seconds left in the third quarter. Rice still struggled defensively as the Bears put up 638 yards. The Owls offense was able to run well, but could not get anything going passing, gaining just 31 passing yards.

BRILES MAKES AN APPEARANCE

Former Baylor head coach Art Briles was in the stands for the game. Fired at the end of May for Baylor's sexual assault scandal, Briles sat behind the Baylor bench about 20 rows up from the field. Briles' son, Kendal, is still the Bears' offensive coordinator.

UP NEXT

BAYLOR: The Bears start Big 12 play against Oklahoma State in Waco on Sept. 24.

RICE: The Owls will look for their first win of the season as they play their second Conference USA game against North Texas on Sept. 24.

Russell, No. 23 Baylor struggle early in 40-13 win over SMU

Seth Russell threw for 261 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score, and No. 23 Baylor recovered from a slow start to rout SMU 40-13 on Saturday.

Russell and the Bears (2-0) struggled offensively in the first half and had to settle for a 6-6 tie at intermission, but broke through with a 20-point third quarter on their way to a 13th straight victory over their former Southwest Conference rival.

"Give it to SMU," Russell said. "They were flying around on defense. They were giving us things we hadn't really seen them do, and they have some really good players on their team. They're going to do a great job in their conference. They're going to be a tough team to beat."

Baylor missed on several deep shots in the first half, but Blake Lynchcapped its opening march after halftime by breaking free in the right seam for a 31-yard touchdown reception from Russell, who added a 19-yard scoring burst on a scramble on the Bears' next possession. Russell was 26 of 47 with two interceptions.

Orion Stewart intercepted two passes for Baylor. The first was in the end zone to stop a promising SMU threat, and he returned the second 33 yards for a touchdown to push Baylor's lead to 26-6.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Ben Hicks made his first career start for SMU (1-1) in place of senior Matt Davis, who left last week's win over North Texas after taking a hard shot to the midsection. He was listed as a game-time decision throughout the week.

Hicks helped the Mustangs to 405 yards total offense, but he was intercepted three times - twice in the end zone - and SMU scored only one touchdown in five trips inside the 20.

"I thought I handled it pretty well, but I obviously could have handled it better," Hicks said. "The playmakers made plays for me. I just have to do a better job of not turning the ball over and finishing drives."

Hicks threw for 144 of his 229 yards in the first quarter, and connected with Courtland Sutton for SMU's only touchdown, a 20-yarder, in the third quarter.

THE TAKEAWAY

SMU: The Mustangs were much more competitive than they have been in their last three meetings with Baylor in which they were outscored 160-45. But they still have a long way to go to compete with ranked teams. SMU gets another shot in a visit from No. 15 TCU on Sept. 23.

Baylor: It's a sign of how strong the Bears' offense has been in recent years that it gained more than 500 yards and still didn't look sharp for much of the game. Baylor turned the ball over three times and was 8 of 21 on third down, but still had plenty of firepower to pull away in the second half.

UP NEXT

SMU: The Mustangs' schedule lightens up next week when they welcome FCS school Liberty to Dallas for their home opener.

Baylor: The Bears have a short week before playing their second Friday night game of the season and first road contest against Rice.

Russell 4 TD passes, No. 23 Baylor rolls 55-7 over Demons

With a coach named Briles still calling the plays, andSeth Russell throwing touchdown passes, Baylor's offense certainly looked very familiar.

Russell threw four touchdown passes in less than a half, and the No. 23 Bears beat FCS team Northwestern State 55-7 on Friday night in their first game since the sudden dismissal of coach Art Briles just more than three months ago.

"It felt like Baylor," Russell said, who took the calls from offensive coordinator, Kendal Briles, the former coach's son.

Two-time Big 12 Conference champion coach Art Briles lost his job in the wake of a May report from an external investigation into allegations the university mishandled complaints of sexual assault, including some against football players.

Acting head coach Jim Grobe retained the rest of the staff, and had no issues with the younger Briles having the initials "CAB" written on his hand - presumably for Art Briles.

"To think about him losing Art as his head coach ... it had to be tougher on KB than anybody," Grobe said. "I have no problems with that whatsoever. If you don't love your dad, something's wrong."

Kendal Briles wasn't available for comment since Baylor isn't making assistant coaches available to speak to the media this season.

Russell was the top-rated FBS passer when he suffered a season-ending neck injury in the seventh game last year. He completed 14 of 20 passes for 163 yards with TDs to four receivers, including two tight ends. The Bears led 41-0 when he threw his last pass, a 10-yard TD pass to Pooh Stricklin with 5 minutes left in the first half.

"All for it, he's who brought me here. He gave me opportunity and I love him for it," Russell said when asked about Kendal Briles' tribute. "Coach Grobe did a fantastic job of stepping into a risky situation. He's done a great job of handling it, and he's been staying positive the entire time."

QUOTABLE:

"It was refreshing honestly to get to football, for me. I wanted to see how we reacted as a team. ... I've just got a good feeling about these guys after the game. That's what I was wondering going in," Grobe said.

THE TAKEAWAY

NORTHWESTERN STATE: Really, the outcome should have been no surprise. Northwestern State had lost its previous four meetings against Baylor by an average margin of 50 points, including 70-6 two years ago. Brooks Haack, the second graduate transfer in a row to start for the Demons, was under constant pressure and completed only 3 of 13 passes for 14 yards, but did run 3 yards for their only score.

BAYLOR: The Bears, who are down to about 70 scholarship players, got some valuable playing time for true freshman quarterback Zach Smith and plenty of other non-starters, including third-teamers on offense and defense after halftime. Smith went through spring practice after graduating high school early, and was thrust into the role as backup when Jarrett Stidham left Baylor this summer. Smith was 5 of 7 passing for 60 yards and a touchdown and two other freshmen got into the game as well.

The defense was overwhelming, holding Northwestern State to 78 total yards, but will get a much tougher test against SMU, where Bears defensive coordinator Phil Bennett was once the head coach.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

BAYLOR: Don't look for the Bears to make much of a move in the poll. Sure, they could move up a spot or two if other teams ranked above them lose, but a 48-point victory against an FCS team isn't likely to overly impress voters.

KEY NUMBERS

Baylor had 498 total yards (275 rushing, 223 passing). ... Terence Williams ran a Baylor-high 11 times for 72 yards and two touchdowns. ... Shock Linwood, who ran nine times for 97 yards, is 107 yards shy of becoming Baylor's career rushing leader. Walter Abercrombie's record of 3,665 yards has stood for 35 years. ... The last time two Baylor tight ends caught TD passes in the same game was Sept. 8, 2007, when Justin Akers had two TDs and Brad Taylor one in a 42-17 win vs. Rice. ... The Bears led 48-0 at the half, when Northwestern State had 3 total yards and eight punts.

UP NEXT

NORTHWESTERN STATE: The Demons have never been competitive against Baylor. So they just have to move forward and get ready for their Southland Conference opener at home Sept. 8 against Incarnate Word.

"Coming out in the second half, offensively, defensively we were able to do some things," Demons coach Jay Thomas said. "Baylor, they're really good, man."

BAYLOR: After easing into the season against a lower-division opponent, the Bears stay home next week against SMU. It is the first of consecutive games against former Southwest Conference rivals (the Mustangs and Rice) who are still in the field of candidates for possible Big 12 expansion.