Baylor 49, UCLA 26
SAN DIEGO -- Baylor's top-rated offense delivered again.
The Bears, the nation's leader in total offense, overwhelmed UCLA with an impressive first-half performance and cruised to a 49-26 rout in the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl before 55,507 at Qualcomm Stadium on Thursday night.
Three scoring runs by junior running back Glasco Martin and two touchdown passes by senior quarterback Nick Florence, who also had a rushing TD, allowed Baylor to bury UCLA in an early hole. The Bears (8-5) captured their fourth straight victory and pinned a third consecutive loss on the Bruins (9-5).
Bears sophomore running back Lache Seastrunk rushed 16 times for a game-high 138 yards and a touchdown.
Baylor also got a boost from its defense, which sacked UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley four times and pressured him for much of the contest. Baylor also limited running back Johnathan Franklin, who entered the game with 1,700 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns, to only 34 yards on 14 carries.
Hundley finished 26-for-50 for 329 yards. He threw three touchdown passes, one of them a 34-yarder to Logan Sweet on the final play of the game. UCLA's Jerry Johnson had five receptions for 116 yards.
Baylor dominated the first half and rolled to a 35-10 halftime lead.
Martin capped a 53-yard drive in six plays on the Bears' second possession with a 4-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 lead with 8:01 left in the first quarter.
The Bears scored again on their next possession, marching 84 yards in seven plays, as Florence connected with wide receiver Antwan Goodley on an 8-yard scoring pass with 4:22 remaining in the first. Florence's 48-yard completion to wide receiver Terrance Williams helped set up the score.
Florence followed by hitting a streaking Tevin Reese down the sideline on a 55-yard touchdown pass, giving Baylor a 21-0 advantage with 11:08 remaining in the half.
A Baylor turnover led to UCLA's initial score of the half. Two plays after defensive back Randall Goforth recovered Baylor tight end Jordan Najvar's fumble at the Bears' 21, Hundley found Joseph Fauria in the end zone for a 22-yard scoring pass, cutting Baylor's lead to 21-7 with 6:55 left in the second quarter.
Baylor, though, answered with two more touchdowns before intermission. Martin scored his second touchdown, finding pay dirt on a 26-yard run for a 28-7 lead with 4:36 remaining in the quarter.
Seastrunk made it 35-7 with a 43-yard touchdown run with 1:58 left in the half.
UCLA got a 30-yard field goal by Ka'imi Fairbairn seven seconds before intermission.
Three of Baylor's five first-half scoring possessions occurred on drives of 75 yards or more. The Bears finished the half with 342 yards in offense to UCLA's 148.
NOTES: This is the first time Baylor and UCLA have met in college football. ... Baylor produced 500 yards or more in 10 of its last 12 games entering the Holiday Bowl. ... The Bears are one of four teams in FBS that have averaged more than 300 yards passing and 200 yards rushing per game this season. Louisiana Tech, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M are the others. ... In his first season on defense, UCLA junior linebacker Anthony Barr led the nation in sacks with 13.5. ... The Bruins had won 12 of their past 13 games when they limited opponents to less than 100 yards rushing. ... Baylor had scored on 49 percent of its possessions entering the game, ranking third in FBS. The Bears also had only been forced into 15 three-and-out series during the season, the fewest in the country.
