WACO – Without its starting quarterback, Tarleton State never found its offensive footing playing up a division, and the Baylor Bears took down the Texans Saturday night 45-3.
The Texans (1-1) had 181 yards of offense without starting QB Victor Gabalis, who injured his thumb in Tarleton’s season-opening win on Aug. 24. Gabalis has led Tarleton State to a 9-3 record in his 12 games with the program. The Bears (1-0) jumped out to a 21-0 lead after the first quarter and never looked back, winning their sixth season opener in the past seven years.
This marked the third straight year Tarleton State has played a Big 12 opponent on the road, as 42,272 fans were on hand at McLane Stadium in Waco to witness the game.
“I’m extremely proud of our football team, I thought we played really hard,” head coach Todd Whitten said. “They would have scored 100 points if they could have today, I guarantee you. We got everything they had, they left their best players in there until the end, the game was certainly out of hand. But that’s OK, it makes us better as well. I’m proud of our guys.”
The Bears were on the offensive to start Saturday, taking it 66 yards in the first 83 seconds to go up 7-0 on a Dequan Finn 39-yard quarterback keeper. Midway through the first quarter, Finn connected with Ashtyn Hawkins from 32 yards out for the score to make it 14-0 Baylor. On the second play of Tarleton’s next drive, Texan QB Jaden Pete was intercepted, and Baylor’s Keaton Thomas returned it 35 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-0. Pete injured his knee on the play and did not return.
“Jaden, obviously we won’t know anything about him, he has a knee injury, we’ll get an MRI tomorrow and see what happens there, and we know Vic’s going to be out a couple of weeks,” Whitten said. “So, Daniel Greek will be our guy right now moving forward, and I think he deserves the opportunity to go and get the start next week and I think he’ll continue to progress.”
Greek spelled Pete and completed 7-of-13 passes for 80 yards.
“Football’s a violent game, and it’s part of the reason I love it – when playing football you always have to be ready when your number’s called,” Greek said. “I’ve been working my tail off for years and preparing mentally on and off the field for this moment, and I try to do my best and lead the way I know how. I’m very, very proud of the way our guys fought tonight. Our O-Line, our receivers, our defense was playing hard.”
Tarleton’s defense held Baylor back for the most part after the first quarter, allowing 442 yards throughout the contest, forcing two turnovers and getting a sack. Texan defensive back Kasyus Kurns earned his third takeaway in the first two games with an interception in the second quarter. Linebacker Ty Rawls had his interception in the third quarter erased after a penalty, but followed up later in the frame with an INT that stood. Caimyn Layne had the sack with a team-high six tackles. Kurns and Rawls each added five tackles apiece.
With 10 minutes to play in the second quarter, Baylor went ahead 28-0 on a Dawson Pendergrass 1-yard rush. The Texans had their best drive of the first half to close following Kurns’ INT, going 73 yards before having to settle for a field goal, but Michael James’ 24-yard attempt sailed wide left, leaving the score 28-0 at the break.
The Texans picked up where they left off to start the third, driving down to the Baylor 17-yard line before facing another field goal try. Adrian Guzman nailed the 34-yard attempt down the middle to put points on the board for the Purple and White. Baylor responded with a 17-yard touchdown connection between Finn and Michael Trigg to make it 35-3 Bears.
Baylor added a field goal and a touchdown (Sawyer Robertson 30 yards to Ketron Jackson Jr.) on back-to-back drives in the fourth to make the final 45-3.
Kayvon Britten led the rushing attack for Tarleton State with 68 yards on 13 attempts (5.2 YPC). Darius Cooper had 44 yards on two receptions, including an incredible grab despite double coverage, similar to his grab at TCU two years ago.
“It’s just a blessing to be out there to play a team like Baylor, TCU [two years ago], I missed out on Texas Tech last year, but these games – I circle these games on my schedule for sure because you put your talent out, you got a lot of eyes watching, so you definitely want to put your best foot forward,” Cooper said. “Yeah, I be ready for these games for sure.”
Baylor’s Finn finished 14-of-22 for 192 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
The Texans will remain on the road next week, as they’ll head south to face Houston Christian at Husky Stadium on Saturday at 6 p.m.
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