After watching the first two Baylor-UTSA games go down to the final minutes, Matt Rhule predicted a similar tight finish Saturday afternoon in the intense heat of McLane Stadium.
Rhule missed his prediction by a long shot.
But that’s welcome news for the Bears because they dominated in every way possible.
With Denzel Mims catching three touchdown passes from Charlie Brewer, the Bears scored 35 unanswered points in the first half before going on to a 63-14 blowout before an announced crowd of 40,274 that was much smaller due to the brutal 99-degree heat for the 3 p.m. kickoff.
The Bears (2-0) showed how far they’ve come since last year’s 37-20 win over UTSA at the Alamodome and especially since a 17-10 loss to the Roadrunners at McLane Stadium in Rhule’s second game in 2017.
“Certainly, I think I’d be remiss if I didn’t say we’ve come a long way in two years,” Rhule said. “I’ve tried to forget the game two years ago, but at the same time it’s created us into who we are. When we’re out there now, they really appreciate what it takes to win a football game.”
Brewer was on point as he hit 12 of 16 passes for 163 yards and the three touchdown passes to Mims while also rushing for a five-yard touchdown. Feeling a burning sensation in his feet, Brewer didn’t return for the second half. But Rhule said X-rays taken on Brewer’s feet were negative and his starting quarterback is fine.
“My feet were a little overheated and I tried to go back in, and with the lead we had, he (Rhule) called me out,” Brewer said. “I tried to argue my way back in, but it didn’t work. It was pretty hot out there. I don’t know what the official temperature was, but it felt like it was 150 degrees.”
After playing most of the second half in Baylor’s season-opening 56-17 win over SFA, redshirt freshman quarterback Gerry Bohanon stepped in again and led the Bears with 93 yards rushing and a touchdown on seven carries while hitting four of seven passes for 15 yards.
“Yeah, he’s had a lot of football,” Rhule said. “Just to keep letting him get more and more confidence, so when the time comes he’s ready to go, and I think he’s learning a lot.”
With Trestan Ebner breaking loose for a 55-yard run and freshman Qualan Jones exploding up the middle for a 61-yard touchdown for Baylor’s final score in the fourth quarter, the Bears amassed 368 yards rushing and averaged 9.4 yards per carry.
“In the run game, we saw a lot of guys committed to making plays and you saw a lot of great single efforts,” Rhule said. “It’s nice we have some spread things, but we can also line up and try to run the football with power and authority and play action off it.”
The Bears expected to see an improved UTSA offense after dual-threat sophomore quarterback Frank Harris showed his passing and running skills in last weekend’s 35-7 season-opening win over Incarnate Word.
But Baylor smothered Harris and the Roadrunners by allowing just 266 yards total offense. The Bears held them scoreless until three seconds remained in the third quarter when Sincere McCormick scored on a two-yard run.
Playing it safe all afternoon, Harris hit 15 of 24 for 93 yards with a long pass of 17 yards. He experienced more futility on the ground as he rushed for 19 yards on nine carries with three sacks after rushing for 123 yards against Incarnate Word.
“I thought we did a nice job of blitzing,” Rhule said. “We had some blitzes where we got some sacks. We spied him with some different people and we just played some zone coverages where when he did escape, we had zone defenders there instead of man.”
Not to be outdone, Baylor’s special teams contributed to the scoring as Grayland Arnold returned a second-quarter punt for a 73-yard touchdown. It was Baylor’s first punt return for a score since Levi Norwood pulled it off against Texas Tech in 2013.
“Once I got outside, I kind of felt like it was going to be a touchdown,” Arnold said. “I saw the crease, and once I saw it, there wasn’t too much to think about. Hit the hole and then go. We take special teams really, really seriously at practice. I know how hard those guys work. I feel like that’s one way I can reward them is by getting a touchdown.”
After scoring three touchdowns against SFA, Ebner got the Bears rolling in the first quarter by exploding around the right side for 55 yards to UTSA’s 15. Brewer spotted a wide-open Mims for a 9-yard touchdown for the game’s first score with 8:22 left in the first quarter.
Following Brewer’s 16-yard pass to Tyquan Thornton and a 12-yarder to RJ Sneed, John Lovett broke around the left side for 19 yards. On the next play, Brewer faked out the UTSA defense and ran for a five-yard touchdown to push the lead to 14-0 with 43 seconds left in the first quarter.
Brewer’s touch kept getting better as the first half progressed as he fired a beautiful 30-yard touchdown pass to Mims down the left sideline for the Bears’ third score on the opening drive of the second quarter.
Arnold redshirted last year following an injury, but has returned to Baylor’s starting secondary. He’s also valuable on special teams as he clearly showed when he returned Lucas Dean’s punt for a 73-yard touchdown after big downfield blocks by Blake Lynch and Chris Platt helped spring him down the right sideline.
The Bears still had time to score one more touchdown when Brewer fired a 26-yarder over the middle to Mims to push Baylor’s lead to 35-0 with 1:30 left in the second quarter.
“We’ve got real good chemistry,” Mims said. “We work every day after practice, even before practice, trying to get that chemistry and working on the plays and routes, just trying to get that connection so we can get the (W), and execute each and every play.”
With his 6-3, 221-pound frame, Bohanon is like a tight end in the backfield, and he showed it on the first series of the second half as he stiff-armed one UTSA defender and ran over another for 38 yards before he fell to the turf as he tried to cut to the middle.
Bohanon finished off the drive with a three-yard run to extend Baylor’s lead to 42-0 with 11:25 left in the third quarter.
Bohanon’s runs set up the next Baylor touchdown as he reeled off 21 and 34-yarders before JaMycal Hasty finished off the 82-yard drive with a one-yard run to make it 49-0 with 6:11 left in the third quarter.
The Roadrunners finally scored when McCormick ran for a two-yard touchdown to finish off a 16-play, 79-yard drive with three seconds remaining in the third quarter.
McCormick busted loose for a 54-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter before Platt answered with a reverse for a 15-yard touchdown run.
Jones got into the game and exploded up the middle for a 61-yard touchdown for Baylor’s final score with 5:33 remaining. With the touchdown, the Bears surpassed 60 points for the first time since scoring 66 against Kansas in 2015.
Now with two lopsided wins under their belt, the Bears will have a bye next weekend before hitting the road for the first time this season to play Rice at 6 p.m. Sept. 21 in Houston.
“It’s important to start off like this,” Mims said. “It builds our confidence. And if we have confidence, then it will help us a lot in the big games.”
