WACO, Texas (AP) - Robert Griffin III threw for a career-best 380 yards
with two of his three touchdowns to Josh Gordon, who turned a short pass
into a school-record 94-yarder, and Baylor beat Kansas 55-7 Saturday
for its most lopsided conference victory ever.
The Bears (4-1, 1-0 Big 12) had never won a Big 12 game by more than
28 points. Their largest conference margin had been a 47-point Southwest
Conference victory over Arkansas in 1922.
It was the first Big 12 game for new coach Turner Gill at Kansas (2-3, 0-1).
Griffin passed for 288 yards before halftime, only nine shy of his
previous mark set in Baylor's last home game three weeks ago. He
finished 26 of 36 and ran eight times for 64 yards with a 1-yard TD
before coming out after three quarters.
His 444 total yards were a single-game school record, as were the 678 yards for the team.
Griffin hit Gordon in stride in the end zone for a 39-yard TD on the
opening drive. Late in the first half Griffin dumped a pass in the right
flat to Gordon, who avoided a desperate diving tackle attempt by a
linebacker then sprinted untouched along the sideline in front of the
Kansas bench for the 94-yarder.
The Jayhawks have never won in Waco, going 0-5 including losing all
four since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996. No other league team has
lost more than twice there in that span. The Jayhawks' losses there in
1998 and 2002 were the bookends to Baylor's 29-game conference losing
streak.
Griffin threw an 11-yard TD pass midway through the third quarter,
though he went a lot farther. Griffin went back to the 30 retrieving a
snap over his head, then ran toward the left sideline fleeing defenders
before throwing against his body to Terrance Williams wide open in the
end zone.
When Kansas got the ball back, Tim Atchison intercepted a pass thrown
by Jordan Webb and returned it 14 yards for a touchdown to make it
48-7.
Williams also caught a 50-yard touchdown on a double-pass play from fellow receiver Kendall Wright.
Griffin's 1-yard keeper early in the second quarter put Baylor up
17-0, though he had to do it twice after officials nullified the first
one because they were reviewing a 34-yard catch by Williams on the
previous play.
Last season, Griffin didn't even make it into Big 12 play because of a
torn ACL in his right knee suffered in the third game. In his comeback
this season, he already has passed for 1,351 yards and 11 TDs while
running for 221 yards and four scores.
Aaron Jones kicked a 50-yard field goal on the final play of the
first half for a 27-7 lead, after he had given the Bears a 10-0 lead
less than 5 minutes into the game. His 10 field goals are already one
more than two Baylor kickers combined for last season.
Baylor's opening drive was five completions by Griffin, including the
39-yarder to Gordon wide open in the end zone. Webb was then sacked and
stripped, setting up Jones' first field goal.
Kansas had gone consecutive games without a turnover for the first time since 2007, but had four against Baylor.
Webb finished 16 of 28 for 171 yards with two interceptions and the fumble. He was sacked three times.