On Saturday, Baylor Bears Football knocked off Kansas State Wildcats 20-10 on the road in Manhattan, KS. As a result, Baylor improved to 9-2 on the season and rose three spots to number eight in the latest ESPN College Football Playoff Rankings.
The Bears’ victory was the result of suffocating defense and good offense. Baylor’s defense held the Wildcats to 4 of 13 on third downs and only 263 yards of total offense.
This follows up last week’s solid performance by the Bears defense when they held Oklahoma to season lows in almost every statistical category in a 27-14 victory.
Baylor was forced to turn to redshirt freshman Blake Shapen on the offensive side of the ball following an injury sustained by starting quarterback Gerry Bohanon in the second quarter.
Before this game, Shapen only had three career passing attempts, but he successfully maintained the offense on a steady course. Shapen finished 16 of 21 passing for 137 yards and led Baylor to two field goals that helped secure the victory.
Nearly all of the yardage came in critical moments, with the game still hanging in the balance. Shapen was excellent in the pocket and smartly picked his running spots, gaining 28 yards on one run.
Coach Dave Aranda praised Shapen postgame, saying, “every situation Blake’s been put in going back to the spring, fall, throughout our practices when he rotates through — he’s risen to every occasion.”
Shapen was helped on offense by Trestan Ebner, who ran for 86 yards and a touchdown, and Tyquan Thornton, who had five catches for 75 yards.
“I’m proud of our team. I’m proud of our players. This has been an obstacle,” Aranda said. “To come out and have a week of really strong decisions and choices, to do hard things, to do simple better, to have a mindset of getting ready for a fight and focusing on things you can control daily — I think all that went into tonight.”
The Bears have now won four straight games against the Wildcats and four-of-five in Manhattan.
Baylor is still alive to make the Big 12 title game but needs to take care of business and get help from Oklahoma State.
Baylor must defeat Texas Tech, who visits Waco this Saturday, and hope that No. 7 Oklahoma State can beat No. 10 Oklahoma. If that scenario happens, Baylor will play Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship on December 4 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
If Oklahoma wins, the Big 12 title game will be a rematch between them and Oklahoma State.