[BAYLOR FOOTBALL] Baylor Football Collects Road Win at Cincinnati, 32-29

Sat Oct 21 15:43:13 CDT 2023

BAYLOR ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS – Oct. 21, 2023

Football Collects Road Win at Cincinnati, 32-29
Blake Shapen throws for 300+, Isaiah Hankins hits four 40+ yard field goals

By Jerry Hill, BaylorBears.com | Baylor Football Media Materials<https://baylor.app.box.com/s/kmivkwskpgdkj2u6v7ixn774v5634pjf>

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 Colin Pirtle; 940-564-0351, colin_pirtle1 at baylor.edu<mailto:colin_pirtle1 at baylor.edu>

CINCINNATI -- This time, it didn't take a historic comeback.

Isaiah Hankins made four field goals, including a career-long 54-yarder, as Baylor defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats, 32-29, Saturday afternoon before a sellout crowd of 38,193 at Nippert Stadium.

Behind a reshuffled offensive line that included redshirt freshman center Coleton Price making his first-career start, Baylor quarterback Blake Shapen threw for 316 yards and one touchdown and rushed for another to help the Bears (3-4, 2-3) remain unbeaten on the road at 2-0.

The Bearcats (2-5, 0-4) made things interesting at the end, coming back from a double-digit deficit to make it a three-point game with 5:03 left when quarterback Emory Jones completed a 28-yard TD pass to Xzavier Henderson and then went to Evan Prater for the two-point conversion.

But the Baylor defense came up with a big stop near midfield when Corey Gordon Jr. broke up a fourth-down pass as Cincinnati turned it over on downs for the third time. The Bearcats rolled up 450 yards total offense, including 288 on the ground, but was just 2-for-4 in the red zone.

Answering a UC score, Baylor took the lead for good early in the second quarter on a three-yard run by Shapen, capping off a seven-play, 75-yard drive.

On the ensuing kickoff, Braden Smith bobbled it on the catch, then fumbled it away into the arms of Byron Vaughns for an easy touchdown return from inside the 10-yard line to make it a double-digit lead, 17-7.

Hankins, who made his career-long 54-yarder in the first quarter for the first points of the game, nailed another one from 43 yards to give the Bears a 20-14 halftime lead.

Shapen found Ketron Jackson for a 55-yard pass on the opening drive of the third quarter and then hooked up with North Texas transfer Jake Roberts from six yards out for his first touchdown in a Baylor uniform to make it 26-14. Jackson had a career day as well with five catches for 130 yards.

In a big red-zone stop, Jones missed Payten Singletary on a fourth-down pass from the 15-yard line that was broken up by Devin Lemear. Back-to-back 20-yard plays on a Shapen pass to Monaray Baldwin and a run by Dominic Richardson led to a 46-yard field goal by Hankins that pushed the lead to 29-14 late in the third quarter.

Myles Montgomery, one of two 100-yard rushers for the Bearcats with 103 yards on 10 carries, scored his second touchdown of the day on a one-yard run that pulled Cincinnati back within a score, 29-21.

What ultimately ended up being the difference, Baylor put together a 15-play, 57-yard drive that ate more than seven minutes off the clock. Mixing in runs and passes, the Bears moved from their own 17 down to Cincinnati's 13.

An intentional grounding penalty against Shapen on third down pushed it back 13 yards, but Hankins made it a 4-for-4 day when he split the uprights with another 43-yarder that made it 32-21.

The Bears return home to face Iowa State (4-3, 3-1) at 2:30 p.m. next Saturday, Oct. 28, for a Homecoming game broadcast on ESPN2. Iowa State was idle this week after beating Cincinnati, 30-10, on the road last week.

- BaylorBears.com -

--
Brent Ingram | Assistant AD for Communications
Men’s Tennis Sport Program Administrator
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 210-845-8651

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