• Local Fishermen Come Up Big At Anacoco Tournament
• 4th of July Events
• Carter C Raymond Reunion Happens On The 4th & The Good Times Keep Rollin’
• Jambalaya Guest: Eddie’s BBQ Grilling Tips
• Morning News Headlines For Friday, July 3
• “8” Good Minutes With Al & Nick For Friday, July 3
• ACLU Involved In Lawsuit Over Weapon Seizure By Police
• State will Save By Not Having To Pay For FEMA Response
• Mose Jefferson’s Trial Has Been Postponed
• Freshman Enrollment At UNO Up From Last Year
• Friday 10 sports

Demons Pummeled by Bears, 51-6
09/06/08 - 09:56 PM
 RSS Feed

WACO, Texas (AP) - For an 18-year-old true freshman, Robert
Griffin acts and plays well beyond his years.
    Griffin passed for three touchdowns and rushed for another in
his first career start to help coach Art Briles earn his first win
at Baylor as the Bears snapped a nine-game losing streak by beating
Northwestern State 51-6 Saturday night.
    In a preview of things to come Saturday, Griffin was one of the
first Baylor players out of the tunnel leading his teammates onto
the field before the game.
    He then sounded like a team leader after he passed for 294 yards
in leading the Bears (1-1) to their first win since beating Buffalo
34-21 last Sept. 22.
    “The guys around me made me better,” Griffin said. “It’s
definitely more on the players around me than it is on me.”
    Griffin jump started a Baylor offense which sputtered in a 41-13
loss to No. 20 Wake Forest last week.
    He had an 17-yard run to give the Bears a first down on their
opening drive. Three plays later, Griffin threw his first college
touchdown pass - a 49-yard throw to Ernest Smith on third-and-16.
    “I’m impressed,” said sophomore running back Jay Finley, who
rushed for 91 yards and scored three touchdowns. “As a freshman I
wasn’t as calm as (Griffin) was. That’s what we need. Someone who
can lead.”
    Baylor jumped out to a 23-0 first-quarter lead and scored on its
first five possessions.
    Griffin completed his last nine passes and finished 15-of-19 in
just over 2½ quarters to help Briles, who coached Houston the past
five seasons, pick up his first victory with the Bears.
    “It’s good to get that first win for coach,” Griffin said.
“We wanted to get the first one for him quick to make it easy on
him.”
    Northwestern State (1-1), an FCS team, didn’t get a first down
until early in the second quarter. By that time, Baylor was already
up 30-0.
    “We couldn’t really recover from that first quarter,” Demons
coach Scott Stoker said. “(Baylor) has got some great players.
Griffin is a great player. We just got off to such a bad start. It
was hard to get into any type of rhythm on the offensive side.”
    Baylor, who had 537 yards of offense, brought Griffin off the
bench last week.
    Griffin got Baylor going with his touchdown pass to Smith, who
caught the ball over defender Cashas Pollard near the goal line.
    Baylor linebacker Antonio Johnson recovered Byron Lawrence’s
fumble to set up the Bears’ second touchdown - Finley’s 40-yard TD
run.
    After Ben Parks kicked a 20-yard field goal to put Baylor ahead
16-0, Chris Francis intercepted John Hundley’s pass to give the
Bears the ball at the Demons 19.
    Hundley, who was pulled for one possession after the
interception, was 16-of-28 for 127 yards.
    Griffin scored on a 3-yard run three plays later to give the
Bears a 23-0 cushion. It was the most points for Baylor in a first
quarter since scoring 24 against Rice on Nov. 14, 1992.
    Finley scored on a 35-yard run early in the second quarter to
cap the early flurry.
    Northwestern State managed a pair of Robert Weeks field goals
before halftime to cut Baylor’s advantage to 30-6.
    The Bears had 308 yards of total offense by halftime - more than
they had the entire game against Wake Forest.
    “We came out and had chances to make big plays,” Northwestern
state receiver Adam Varnado said. “We just did not execute. I am
not sure of a particular reason, but we just could not get things
rolling.”
    Griffin added a 32-yard touchdown pass to Thomas White and a
47-yarder to Finley to cap his evening.
    “They’re excited about winning,” Briles said. “We don’t want
to look back at this in December as the highlight of our season.
But this is a big win and we’re going to enjoy it.”
    Baylor improved to 14-0 against FCS teams, while the Demons
dropped their seventh straight against Football Bowl Subdivision
teams since beating Louisiana-Monroe in 2005.
   
    (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)
   

This entry has been viewed 132 times.