Streaking Bears Head to Morgantown to Face West Virginia

Mon Nov 11 14:58:52 CST 2024

BAYLOR ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS – Nov. 11, 2024

Streaking Bears Head to Morgantown to Face West Virginia
Baylor to Face off with WVU on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN2

For more information contact: Brent Ingram; 210-845-8651, brent_ingram at baylor.edu<mailto:brent_ingram at baylor.edu>  or Max Calderone; 254-265-1639, max_calderone at baylor.edu<mailto:max_calderone at baylor.edu> or Josie Hutton; 254-709-7720,  josie_hutton at baylor.edu<mailto:josie_hutton at baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas -- Baylor football will hit the road to face West Virginia in a Saturday 3 p.m. CT clash in Morgantown at Milan-Pusker Stadium in Morgantown, W.Va.

The game will be televised live on ESPN2, with Mike Monaco (play-by-play), Kirk Morrison (analyst) and Dawn Davenport (sideline) calling the game. The game will also be broadcast live on the Baylor Sports Media Network, with the Voice of the Bears, John Morris (play-by-play) and former BU greats J.J. Joe (analyst) and Ricky Thompson (sideline) calling the action.

Baylor (5-4, 3-3 Big 12 Conference) faces West Virginia (5-4, 2-4 Big 12) in a battle for bowl eligibility. The Bears enter the game having won three straight and West Virginia comes off a pair of wins, topping Arizona in Tucson on Oct. 26 then besting Cincinnati last weekend in the Queen City, 31-24.

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
• West Virginia, coached by former Kentucky wide receiver Neal Brown, is coming off a 9-4 season that saw the Mountaineers go 6-3 in Big 12 play and 5-1 at home. In 2024, Brown has WVU off to a 5-4 start with a 4-2 mark in conference play, going 2-3 at home. WVU posted a 31-24 win at Cincinnati on Saturday.
• WVU has played a strong schedule, fallowing in non-conference games vs. Penn State and at Pitt, owning a win over UAlbany. In league play, WVU has a win over Kansas, at Oklahoma State and Arizona, with losses vs. Iowa State and Kansas State.
• Brown is assisted by assistant head coach Matt Moore, who has been with Brown since his days coaching Troy, offensive coordinator Chad Scott and defensive coordinator Jeff Koonz and co-defensive coordinator ShaDon Brown. Moore is the offensive line coach who comes from the Air Raid tree that saw him play at Valdosta State from 1991-94. He is a former high school head coach in Georgia, was the OC at powerhouse Hoover High School (Ala.) from 1999-04, and joined the collegiate coaching ranks at Troy in 2006, Texas Tech from 2007-11, MTSU in 2021, LA Tech from 2013-14, and Troy again from 2015-19. He has been at WVU since 2019, adding the AHC title in 2020. Scott is a former dynamic running back at Kentucky and North Carolina and has made coaching stops at Troy (2007-09), Texas Tech (2010-12), Kentucky (2013-15), North Carolina (2016-18), Louisville (2019) and WVU (2019-24). Koonz took over as the DC on Oct. 29 after serving as the special teams coordinator since 2020. He has coached at Texas (2006, 2009), Iowa State (2007-08), LA Tech (2010-13), Cincinnati (2014-16), North Texas (2017-18), Ole Miss (2019) and WVU (2020-24). ShaDon Brown is another state of Kentucky product, playing at Campbellsville College and serving as a former high school head coach in the Commonwealth. He has collegiate coaching stops at Wofford (2011-15), Army (2016), Colorado (2017-18), Louisville (2018-20) and WVU (2021-24).
• WVU is averaging 29 points per game, allowing 27.9. Offensively, WVU averages 388.4 yards per game offensively, with 190 on the ground and 198.4 in the air. Defensively, opponents are averaging 388.4 yards per game with 263 passing and 125.4 rushing.
• Josiah Trotter leads the team with 69 tackles, while TJ Jackson II has 12 tackles for a loss and 5.5 sacks.
• Jahiem White has toted it 100 times for 572 yards and five TDs, QB Garrett Greene has 471 yards rushing and three scores, while former freshman star C.J. Donaldson has a team-high 104 rushes for 65 yards and six TDs. Greene has thrown for 1,353 yards with nine TDs and eight interceptions, while Nicco Marchiol, who started at UC on Saturday, has thrown for 434 yards on 37-of-55 passing with five TDs and two interceptions. Hudson Clement, Kole Taylor and Traylon Ray each have over 300 yards receiving.

SERIES HISTORY
• West Virginia leads the all-time series with Baylor, 8-4, with the Bears owning all four of their wins in the series at McLane Stadium.
• West Virginia has won all six meetings in Morgantown.
• Last year, WVU used a late-game rally to thwart the upset bid, posting a 34-31 win in Waco. In 2022, the Bears rolled to a 17-7 lead before a targeting penalty knocked out Baylor starting QB Blake Shapen forced the Bears to rely on a freshman quarterback in relief. BU had 590 yards of total offense in the loss, including 421 yards through the air and 294 first-half passing yards for Shapen.

CONNECTING THE TEAMS
• Baylor offensive line coach Mason Miller and WVU offensive line coach Matt Moore both come from the same coaching tree as products of Valdosta State (where Mike Leach was the OC from 1992-96), with Miller starting his coaching career at his alma mater in 1997 and Moore finishing his playing career at Valdosta State in 1994.
• Miller, Baylor OC Jake Spavital and WVU head coach Neal Brown, OC Chad Scott and Moore all come from the same general coaching tree as Brown played for Leach at Kentucky. Brown would eventually work at Texas Tech for Tommy Tubberville as his OC from 2010-12, a school where BU head coach Dave Aranda coached from 2000-02.
• BU cornerbacks coach Kevin Curtis coached with Moore at Louisiana Tech in 2013 and 2014.
• WVU QB coach Tyler Allen was an offensive student assistant coach at LSU from 2016-18, where he coached with Aranda in each season and BU outside linebackers coach Caleb Collins in 2018.

LAST MEETINGS IN THE SERIES
• In the 2023 meeting to conclude Baylor’s season, WVU posted a 34-31 win over the Bears. Baylor rallied from down 27-14 at halftime to score 17 unanswered to take a 31-27 lead with 12:58 left in the game, using a TD pass from Sawyer Robertson to Ketron Jackson Jr. and a two-yard TD rush from Dominic Richardson. Isaiah Hankins pushed the lead to 31-27 with 12:58 left. The teams traded fourth quarter punts before the Bears took over with 4:20 left and a four-point lead. BU drove down to the WVU 14 and missed a 32-yard field goal attempt that would’ve given the Bears a seven-point lead with 1:14 left. WVU responded with a game-winning drive that saw Garrett Green find Jahiem White for a 29-yard TD with 23 seconds left and Baylor’s hail mary from its own 46-yard line was not completed.
•The game marked a strong performance from Robertson, who was filling in for an injured Blake Shapen. Robertson threw for 215 yards on 17-of-19 passing with a score, also rushing for 33 yards. Richard Reese turned in historic performance as well, returning two kickoffs for TDs and rushing six times for 42 yards. Jackson Jr. had three grabs for 88 yards and a score, while Richardson rushed for 25 yards on 10 carries. Defensively, Devyn Bobby had nine tackles and Matt Jones chipped in eight and 1.5 for a loss. Green threw for 269 yards and two scores, and rushed 14 times for 104 yards and a TD for WVU, while White had 17 carries for 133 yards.
• Baylor suffered the loss at West Virginia in 2022 on a Thursday night, 43-40 as the Mountaineers rallied past the Bears to erase an electric offensive outing.
• The Bears rolled to 590 yards of total offense, including 421 through the air, but a key targeting penalty on an attempted slide from QB Blake Shapen led to a head injury for the signal caller and ended what was a historic outing for the sophomore. Shapen threw for 326 yards - including 294 in the first half - to lead the Bears to a 17-7 lead early and a 24-17 halftime lead despite a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown by WVU in the second quarter. Freshman QB Kyron Drones stepped up, throwing for 95 yards on 7 of 14 passing with a TD.
• The loss dampened the historic outing from senior WR Gavin Holmes, who caught seven balls for 210 yards and a score. He was the first Baylor player with a 200+ yard receiving game since KD Cannon in the 2016 Cactus Bowl.
• Richard Reese rushed for 57 yards on 13 carries, with Qualan Jones adding 44 yards and one TD on 10 totes. TE Drake Dabney had five catches for 66 yards.
• The WVU offense went for 500 yards of total offense, including 223 on the ground and 163 and two TDs from Tony Mathis.

BEARS WIN THIRD STRAIGHT, EDGE TCU
• Baylor won its third straight, using a thrilling finish to edge TCU 37-34 in front of the first blackout crowd since 2017 at McLane Stadium.
• In a back-and-forth thriller the Bears earned their first win over TCU at home since 2014, using a furious rushing attack that saw RB Bryson Washington rush for 196 yards and four TDs - including 12 carries for 96 yards and two TDs in the fourth quarter. The Bears rolled to 31 first downs and 499 yards of total offense, including 257 on the ground. QB Sawyer Robertson threw for 242 yards and rushed nine times for 28 yards.
• TCU took a 17-13 lead into halftime as QB Josh Hoover rushed and threw for a TD and the Frogs nailed a 46-yard field goal. After a field goal to open the final stanza, the Bears answered with a 75-play drive to even the game on a Dawson Pendergrass TD rush. The teams then traded TDs until Washington’s fourth TD of the game came to cap an 81-play drive with 4:54 left in the fourth quarter. TCU drove 75 yards to even the game at 34 with a Jack Bech TD pass with 2:59 left. Baylor then drove 59 plays - including a key fourth and nine conversion pass to Michael Trigg at midfield and set up for the game-winning 33-yard field goal from Hankins as time expired, setting off a joyous celebration that saw the field rushed in jubilation.

WASHINGTON, HANKINS HONORED FOLLOWING TCU WIN
• Baylor football redshirt junior kicker Isaiah Hankins and redshirt freshman Bryson Washington were named Co-Big 12 Players of the Week following the TCU win.
• Hankins split Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors with Houston punter Liam Dougherty, while Washington shared Big 12 Newcomer of the Week praise with Houston quarterback Zeon Chriss.
• It was Hankins’ 33-yard field goal as time expired that lifted the Bears over TCU on Saturday, 37-34. The kick was BU’s first game-winning field goal with no time remaining since 2020, when John Mayers helped Baylor walk-off Kansas State, 32-31. On the night, Hankins accounted for seven points (one FG, four PATs) and rebounded nicely after missing a PAT in the second quarter. The make gave Baylor its first home win over TCU since 2014, and first win over the Frogs since 2019.
• Washington rushed for a career-high 196 yards on 26 carries and scored four touchdowns in the dramatic victory. His four rushing scores were the most by a Bear in a single game since 2011, when Terrance Ganaway scored five times vs. Washington in the Alamo Bowl. Washington’s 196 yards on the ground were also the most by a Bear since Shock Linwood rushed for 237 at Iowa State in 2016.
• A breakout star in the backfield, Washington is the first Big 12 player to score four or more rushing touchdowns in a game this season, and just the 10th FBS player to do so in 2024. His efforts helped BU to 257 rushing yards for the game, marking the third-straight game that the Bears have eclipsed 250 rushing yards, BU’s longest such streak since the first three games of the 2016 season.
• Both Hankins and Washington collect their second-career Big 12 weekly awards, as Hankins previously earned the Special Teams Player of the Week accolade on Oct. 23, 2023, after making four field goals at UCF, while Washington was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week just two weeks ago on Oct. 21 after his 116-yard, two-TD performance at Texas Tech. This is the first time since 2019 that Baylor has received a Big 12 Player of the Week award in three-consecutive weeks. The Bears have now collected five weekly Big 12 honors this season, the program’s most since winning 10 times in 2019.
BEARS RUN THROUGH COWBOYS IN HOMECOMING WIN
• Baylor kept a furious run attack going in its second consecutive win, running over Oklahoma State in a homecoming win at McLane Stadium.
• The Bears rolled to 565 yards of total offense, including 343 on the ground while averaging nine yards per carry in the win. It marked the second consecutive game with 500+ yards of total offense, a first since 2021, and the most rushing yards vs. a Big 12 foe since 2016.
• The teams traded 17 points in the first half but the Bears came out with a third-quarter TD drive with just over eight minutes left to take a 24-17 lead, later holding an OSU drive to a field goal as the lead was cut to four. The Bears responded with a 41-yard TD scamper from QB Sawyer Robertson for an 11-point lead and after an 11-play, 75-yard drive from the Boys, Baylor answered with a 75-yard scoring drive on just four plays, finished off with a Dawson Pendergrass run to take a 38-28 lead with 3:06 left in the game.
• Pendergrass had six carries for 142 yards and a TD, averaging 23.7 yards per carry. Bryson Washington chipped in 17 carries for 78 yards and Robertson had eight carries for 73 yards. Richard Reese added six carries for 52 yards. Robertson threw for 222 yards and three scores, finding Ashtyn Hawkins, Hal Presley and Matthew Klopfenstein for scores. Hawkins had four catches for 74 yards. Kicker Isaiah Hawkins, who on Friday, alongside his wife, welcomed his first child into the world, nailed one kick from 30 yards out in the first quarter.

BAYLOR DOMINATES TEXAS TECH IN LUBBOCK
• The Bears put together their most complete performance of the year, thrashing Texas Tech in Lubbock in front of a sold-out homecoming crowd, 59-35, in a game that saw the lead as large as 52-21 in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter.
• It marked the second consecutive rout for Baylor at Texas Tech, as the Bears dominated the Raiders in Lubbock in 2022, 45-17, giving Baylor 104 combined points over the last two games at TTU. The Bears have now won 10 of its last 15 games against Tech, including five of its last seven. Over those 10 wins, Baylor has wins of 24, 29, 28, 11, 28 and 24 points.
• It marked the first game for Baylor to hang 50 points or more on a Big 12 foe since 2019 and its first 50+ point game since UAlbany in 2022. It was the most points scored vs. Tech since 2015, a 63-35 win in Arlington.
• Baylor’s 59 points on Saturday were the most by an FBS program in Week Eight and tied for the most in a conference game in a Power Four league this season.
• The Bears finished with 529 yards of total offense, with 255 rushing and 274 passing, both season highs.
• QB Sawyer Robertson returned to his hometown of Lubbock and tossed five TDs, a career high and the most for Baylor QB since Seth Russell in 2015. He was 21-of-32 for 274 yards. Freshman tailback Bryson Washington rushed for 116 yards and two TDs on just 10 carries. WR Josh Cameron had three receiving TDs with six catches for 75 yards and also returned a punt 74 yards to the one-yard line.

JONES, PENDERGRASS, ROBERTSON HONORED FOR OSU WIN
• Baylor senior inside linebacker Matt Jones was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week after his 12-tackle effort in the win. Jones was fantastic in BU’s 38-28 win over Oklahoma State on Saturday, recording 12 total tackles, including a career-high 10 solo stops. He made three tackles for loss, including a sack, and forced a timely fumble that held the Cowboys out of the end zone and was recovered on the 1-yard line. The performance marked Jones’ fifth double-digit tackle effort of the year, the most by a Bear in a single season since Clay Johnston in 2018. A native of Odessa, Texas, Jones also moved into a tie for seventh place on Baylor’s all-time tackles for loss leaderboard with 34.0 career TFLs, matching him with the legendary Mike Singletary.
• Sawyer Robertson and Dawson Pendergrass were named honorable mention for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award following the win.

SLAYING BIG 12 DRAGONS
• Only three times in its history in the Big 12 Conference has Baylor had a season with wins over TCU, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State, which the Bears have done in 2024.
•Baylor also did this in 2014 and 2019. Only 17 times since the formation of Baylor football in 1899 have the Bears beaten TCU and Texas Tech in the same season, also doing so in 1942, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1963, 1974, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990 and 1995.

BAYLOR HONORED THE 2013, 2014 BIG 12 CHAMPS VS. TCU
• A pair of 11-2 and Big 12 Conference Championship teams were celebrated during the 2024 Baylor Football season, as the Bears recognized student-athletes from the 2013 and 2014 teams.
• The 2013 team went 11-2, including an 8-1 mark in league play, earning a No. 13 national ranking and a berth in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz. Baylor posted three wins in non-conference play and opened the year with nine straight wins, including a 71-7 win over Iowa State on Homecoming, a 41-12 win over Oklahoma and a 63-34 rout of Texas Tech in Arlington.
• In 2014, the Bears went 11-2 and 8-1 in Big 12 play, earning a berth in the Cotton Bowl and a No. 7 final ranking by the Associated Press. Baylor opened the year with six straight wins, before a lone regular-season blemish at West Virginia, soaring to No. 4 in the national polls. The Bears posted wins at Iowa State and Texas, a 61-58 thriller vs. TCU, and wins over Kansas – on Homecoming – Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Kansas State.
• Both teams posted eventual wins over TCU during their seasons, which will add to the celebration opportunity on Nov. 2. Baylor bested TCU in Fort Worth 41-38 in 2013, and posted a thrilling 61-58 win over the Frogs in 2014 in Waco. The teams each sported top-five offensive attacks, with the 2014 squad leading the nation in points per game (52.4) and yards per game (618.8).

FOUR DIFFERENT O-LINE STARTING GROUPS
• Baylor ranks tied for fourth in the NCAA having started four different offensive line starting groups.
• The Bears are behind only Florida State, UTSA, Middle Tennessee State (seven), and Troy, North Texas and Air Force six).

RUSH OFFENSE CORNER TURNED
• Baylor’s rush offense struggled early in the year as the Bears adapted to a new offensive scheme, broke in a youthful group at tailback and offensive line, and faced a stout collection of opposing defenses. Over the last three games, Baylor has broken out, rushing for 855 yards in wins at Texas Tech, vs. Oklahoma State and vs. TCU.
• Baylor rushed for 257 yards vs. TCU, 343 yards in the win over Oklahoma State, 255 yards in the rout at Texas Tech, totaling10 rushing TDs over the three-game stretch and 7.43 yards per carry. The 343 yards rushing vs. OSU marked the most in a game vs. a Big 12 foe since 2016.
• It marks the first time since 2015 that Baylor has had three-straight games with 250 yards rushing against Big 12 opponents.

ROBERTSON CLAIMS QB1
• After Dequan Finn suffered an injury in the loss at No. 11/11 Utah, Baylor has turned to QB Sawyer Robertson in the signal caller role and the junior has starred, securing the job as the BU starting quarterback.
• Robertson, a 6-foot-4 native of Lubbock, Texas, joined the Bears for the spring of 2022 and served as a part-time starter in 2023 in relief of injured QB Blake Shapen, starting games vs. No. 12/12 Utah, Long Island, No. 3 Texas and the season finale vs. West Virginia. After Finn was brought in via the transfer portal, Robertson did not win the job in a battle for the gig in the spring and summer but remained the consumate leader on the team and the moment the redshirt junior’s name was called, stepped up.

SAWDOG ON FIRE
• Baylor junior Sawyer Robertson has been one of the top performing quarterbacks in the nation since taking over the job in week 3.
• He ranks sixth nationally and first in the Big 12 in QB rating.
• A native of Lubbock, Robertson had a thrilling homecoming to his native land in week 8, throwing a career-high five TD passes in a rout of the Red Raiders, 59-32. He was named to the Davey O’Brien Trophy QB of the Year Midseason Watch List, tabbed Big 12 Player of the Week, and Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Player of the Week following the beatdown in Lubbock.
• Over his last eight starts - dating back to the season finale vs. West Virginia last year - Roberts has charted QBR totals of 80+ in six games. Healthy for the first time in that WVU game in 2023, Robertson threw for 215 yards and a score on 17-of-19 passing for 215 yards, with 15 carries for 33 yards, with an 80.0 QBR.

18TH-BEST STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE IN NCAA
• Baylor ranks 18th in the nation in terms of strength of schedule. The NCAA’s calculation on this stat includes same division competition and for example, does not include the result of the team that played Baylor.
• Only Alabama, UCLA, Louisville, UCLA, Florida State, Maryland, Texas Tech, Michigan, UCF, Charlotte, Oklahoma, Michigan State, Virginia, Mississippi State, Kansas, Colorado, Rice and Oklahoma State have a higher past opposition winning percentage than the Bears.

HANKINS GAME WINNER
• Senior kicker Isaiah Hankins is just a couple weeks into fatherhood, as he and his wife welcomed a baby son into the world on Friday, Oct. 25.
• Hankins put his new-found dad strength to use in a historic win over TCU, booting the walk-off field goal to beat the Horned Frogs, 37-34. His kick set off a celebration at McLane Stadium that saw the field stormed in jubilation and Hankins lifted on the shoulders of his teammates and students.
• Hankins was named Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week, his second career Big 12 weekly honor, on Monday following the win.

B-WASH EMERGING
• Redshirt freshman tailback Bryson Washington is having a breakout season in 2024. After sitting out the first two games of the year with an injury - and missing most of 2023 with an injury - Washington has emerged as an elite running back threat.
• A native of Franklin, Texas, Washington leads the team with 96 carries and 576 yards, including seven TDs. He has become a threat in the pass game as well, catching 15 balls for 143 yards. Washington, a 6-foot, 203-pound bruiser had a two-TD game at Texas Tech in a rout, rushing for 116 yards on just 10 carries. He then went for 196 yards on 26 carries in the win over TCU, totaling four TDs and adding two catches for 22 yards. Over his seven games in 2024, Washington is averaging 102.7 all-purpose yards per game.  He was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week - for the second time in 2024 - following the four-TD outing, which marked the most TDs for a Bear since 2011 and his 196 yards on the ground marked the most since 2016.
• Washington had a decorated prep career at Franklin High School, where he led his club to 32 straight wins and consecutive 3A State Championships. A four-year starter, he had over 2,000 yards and 30 TDs as a senior.

UP NEXT
• Baylor will continue a two-game road swing, traveling to face Houston on Nov. 23 in the Space City.

- BaylorBears.com -

--
Brent Ingram | Associate AD for Communications
Baseball Sport Program Administrator
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 210-845-8651

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