The 2014 Week 3 Friday game between the No. 8 Baylor Bears and the Buffalo Bulls had the opening line from the sportsbook favoring the Bears at -33 ½ with the O/U at 51 points. The Bears covered the spread and the game went over the 51 with the final score, Baylor 63 and Buffalo 21. Let’s take a look at how the game went down.
Baylor Bears
The Baylor team was concerned with their QB Petty having two bones in his back cracked in the opening win over SMU 45-0. That did not slow him down as he lead the Bears to the lopsided win Friday night. QB Petty was 23 of 34 pass attempts for some 416 total yards and four TD’s. He even ran the ball twice for 11 yards and completed his first nine passes totaling 197 yards.
Win this win, the Baylor Bears have outscored their first three 2014 opponents 178-27. With this offensive power, the Bears scored the first four times they possessed the ball. They finished the half leading the Bulls 35-0. In the first half, Baylor had more TDs than the Bulls had first downs which were 4 first downs for the first 2 quarters.
In their last game, Baylor beat Northwestern State 76-0. Tthe team played with plenty of energy, considering the Buffalo game was the Bears third game in just 13 days. The Bears’ amazing offense against Buffalo included Linwood rushing for two TDs, receivers Lee and Hawthorne each caught two TD passes and their freshman Cannon had a amazing TD reception for 89 yards.
Buffalo Bulls
The Buffalo Bulls (1-2, Mid-America Conference) are somewhat accustomed to being routed by the Baylor Bears, as last season they lost to the Bears 70-13 in Waco, Texas. In this 2014 season game, the Bulls were able to score two times on consecutive possessions in the 3rd quarter as Bulls QB Licata hit WR Hughes for a 41 yard TD and RB Taylor scored on a 41 yard run. Amazingly, that’s the first two TD’s the Baylor Bears have given up this season. Licata completed 14 of 21 passes totaling 174 yards. Six receptions was by Hughes who had 72 yards on those catches. Backup QB Daniel, who was 4 for 6 for 84 yards, scored the final TD for Buffalo with a 17 yard TD reception by receiver Robinson.
With six minutes in the game complete, the Bears during a four play series gained control of the game as Buffalo were third and seven on its opening series and QB Licata hit McGill who was open on the right sideline, but was unable to hold on to the ball and the Bulls were forced to punt.
After receipt of the Bulls punt, the Bears QB Petty hit freshman WR Cannon for a TD, He had five receptions for some 171 yards and last week he had six receptions for 223 yards and three TD’s. Cannon has been a key figure in the Baylor offense, since four prime receivers were out with injuries.
With this win over the Buffalo Bulls, the Baylor Bears have now scored over 40 points in their last four games, one of which was the last game of 2013; they have scored over 40 in 28 of their last 35 scheduled games. Now the Big 12 reigning champions have a two week break before playing Iowa State on the 27th of September. Baylor had 669 yards on offense with some 27 first downs in the game, while Buffalo had 394 total yards and made 15 first downs.