Time for Baylor’s scoreboard-blowing offense to catch its breath. The 19th-ranked Bears get the week off after putting up 69, 70 and 70 points in their first three games.
Their next opponent is West Virginia on Oct. 5, and who’s to say their offense won’t keep going at the same pace in their Big 12 opener?
Remember, they scored 63 against the Mountaineers last year. Problem was, West Virginia scored 70 in the highest-scoring game in Big 12 history.
Baylor hit 70 points and matched its school record of 781 total yards for the second straight week while rolling Louisiana-Monroe 70-7 on Saturday.
“I don’t think we go into the season saying, `Hey, let’s score 70 points,’ but obviously when it happens everybody is happy,” quarterback Bryce Petty said.
All the game did was serve to make Baylor’s crazy nation-leading offensive numbers a little crazier.
The Bears pushed their total offense average to 751 yards. That’s 79 more than the next team on the chart, Oregon.
If you want to get dizzy, check out these stats:
Baylor’s 25 touchdown drives are averaging 4.6 plays, 62.4 yards and 1:05 in length.
Only one of those 25 TD drives have taken more than 2 minutes, and 11 have lasted less than 60 seconds.
Finally, Baylor is averaging 47.6 points in the first half. If the Bears quit at halftime, they still would rank eighth nationally in scoring.
Louisiana-Monroe coach Todd Berry state the obvious, and spoke for many coaches, when he said his team simply doesn’t match up very well with the Bears. So there was nothing to lose by taking lots of chances on defense.
“When you take a lot of chances, sometimes you get burned,” Berry said. “We got scalded.”
Petty hinted that the Bears can play even better. Backup quarterback Seth Russell threw an interception when the Bears led 63-7 in the second half Saturday, and in the opener against Wofford Petty and Jay Lee fumbled after the Bears had built a big lead.
“We like playing, so it’s hard to take a break,” Petty said, “but it’ll be good to take a step back and reload before Big 12 play.”
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TRIPLE THREATS: Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott and receiver Jameon Lewis each accounted for touchdowns running, passing and receiving in a 62-7 win over Troy.
Prescott scored on runs of 22 and 11 yards, threw a 50-yard TD pass to Lewis and caught a 36-yard TD pass from Lewis.
In addition to his touchdown pass and reception, Lewis ran 8 yards for a score.
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SAN JOSE STATE STOPPER: Linebacker Keith Smith leads the nation in tackles after making a career-high 21 in a 43-24 loss to Minnesota.
The 6-foot-1, 229-pound Smith averages 17 tackles and has had back-to-back seasons with 100 or more. He already has 51 through three games. He made 18 against Sacramento State and 12 against Stanford before his big day against the Gophers.
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BRUINS GOT SOMETHING BREWIN’: Never mind that No. 13 UCLA set school records with 692 yards and 39 first downs in a 59-13 win over New Mexico State. It was, after all, against New Mexico State that has lost 15 straight games and allowed no fewer than 42 points in any of its last eight games.
Let’s talk special teams instead.
Cassius Marsh blocked a field goal to end the first half. It was the 10th kick blocked in Jim Mora’s 17 games as coach.
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FLORIDA FRUSTRATION: As if it weren’t bad enough No. 20 Florida lost quarterback Jeff Driskell for the season to a broken leg in a 31-17 win over Tennessee, the Gators are having a dickens of a time getting into the end zone when they move inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.
Florida has been into the red zone 17 times in three games and has come away with just seven touchdowns. That’s 41 percent, which ranks 113th out of 125 FBS teams.
Add in the three field goals they’ve settled for inside the 20, and that raises their scoring efficiency to 58.8 percent. Only Southern Mississippi, Louisiana-Monroe, SMU and Miami (Ohio) are worse.
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AROUND THE COUNTRY: Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon leads the nation in rushing with 156 yards a game. He ran for 147 against Purdue. This week we’ll see how he does against an Ohio State defense that’s giving up less than 80 yards on the ground. … California freshman Jared Goff, idle Saturday, goes into this week’s game at second-ranked Oregon passing for a nation-leading 434 yards a game. … North Dakota State’s Marcus Williams returned his 20th career interception 33 yards for a touchdown against Delaware State. That tied the FCS record of six interception return touchdowns set by Murray State’s William Hampton from 1993-96.
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