Baylor beats future Big 12 foe, No. 19 BYU 38-24

WACO, Texas (AP) — Abram Smith ran for 188 yards with three touchdowns, Baylor linebacker and part-time fullback Dillon Doyle scored on both of his offensive touches and the Bears beat future Big 12 foe and 19th-ranked BYU 38-24 on Saturday.

Baylor (6-1) led by only three points midway through the third quarter before Doyle caught a 2-yard TD pass from Gerry Bohanon. Smith ran for a 7-yard score about 3 1/2 minutes later to make it 31-14, after TJ Franklin’s sack that forced a fumble by Cougars quarterback Jaren Hall.

“This was a standard game … I think is a big thing for us, having it come from the inside, intrinsically being able to push yourself,” second-year Bears coach Dave Aranda said. “That’s a big step in the right direction. ”

BYU (5-2) last month accepted an invitation to join the Big 12 Conference starting in the 2023 season. The Cougars have lost back-to-back games for the first time since the end of 2019, after a 5-0 start that included three wins over Pac-12 teams and peaking at No. 10 in the AP Top 25.

“Obviously not our best game,” BYU coach Kilani Sitake said. “We just were out-physicaled today, so that was a difficult game to accept. … Really got a good gut-check.”

Former BYU offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes is in his first season in that role at Baylor, which had 534 total yards. Grimes visited and greeted several of his former players during pregame warmups, then his current team went out and had its fourth 500-yard game this season.

Bohanon completed 18 of 28 passes for 231 yards with the TD to Doyle, who also ran 2 yards for a score late in the first half. Bohanon, the fourth-year junior and first-year starter, threw his first interception of the season — on his 153rd attempt, when the Bears went for it on fourth-and-4 from the 6 early when the game was still scoreless.

Hall finished 22-of-31 passing for 342 yards, with four completions of at least 45 yards, and had a nifty 56-yard TD run on a fourth-and-1. Puka Nacua finished with five catches for 168 yards, with three of the long passes before a 16-yard TD in the closing minutes.

“Too much of a roller coaster ride for us today. A lot of a lot of ups and unfortunately, a lot of downs,” Hall said. “We made a lot of great, great plays, big plays throughout the game from beginning to end. But too many times we just follow up with another bad play. … We’ve got to be more consistent.”

The Cougars got to within 17-14 on Hall’s TD run, when he initially lined up under center before dropping back into shotgun formation. He faked a handoff right before going around the left side untouched, with Sitake, the former BYU running back, doing a celebratory sprint down the sideline when Hall broke free.

THE TAKEAWAY

BYU: Aside from Hall’s long TD run, the Cougars couldn’t get anything going on the ground. Tyler Allgeier had a 1-yard TD run early in the second quarter for BYU’s only lead, but he finished with 15 carries for 33 yards. He came in averaging 106.2 yards per game, but he extended his TD streak to five consecutive games.

Baylor: The Bears, who went 2-7 in coach Aranda’s debut last season, already are bowl eligible with five games remaining in the regular season. Baylor has two wins against Top 25 teams after none since 2015.