WACO, Texas (AP) — BYU safety Crew Wakley saw the ball once it was thrown into the air, even if he couldn't really see the Baylor quarterback. The 22nd-ranked Cougars were still undefeated after he went up and caught it.
"Shoutout to the D-line, they were all up in his face,” Wakley said. “It’s like a flyball. ... I knew as soon as it left his hand. I was like, I’ve got this, got to go make that play.”
Wakley's leaping interception, near midfield right in front of the Baylor bench with 59 seconds left, finally clinched a 34-28 victory on Saturday. The Cougars never trailed but had to hold on after twice building three-touchdown leads before halftime when Jake Retzlaff threw for two scores and ran for another one.
“A little dramatic at the end there,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “I’d like to see us finish business. ... But I was proud of the team, proud of the way the guys responded, their response to adversity and within the game, and their willingness to stick together. That was something special.”
The Cougars (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) got their first Big 12 road victory, and the defense came up big late after a turnover and then a quick three-and-out.
Retzlaff's second pick after halftime was a deflection caught by 337-pound nose tackle Elinus Noel III to set up the Bears at the BYU 45 with 4:01 left. Baylor (2-3, 0-2) was stopped on a fourth-and-6 incompletion from the 24 with 1:47 left, but still had all of it timeouts and got the ball back with only 13 seconds coming off the clock while BYU went three-and-out.
“The way the guys finished, they were resilient to the end,” Retzlaff said. “That will get you a win with a fast start.”
Baylor was within 34-28 after Josh Cameron’s one toe-tapping 23-yard touchdown catch on the far side of the end zone with about 10 minutes left. Cameron had seven catches for 125 yards and two TDs.
Retzlaff was 13 of 17 passing for 180 yards and two touchdowns, and that didn't count a behind-the-line pass to Chase Roberts that was ruled a 2-yard TD run, as the Cougars built a 31-14 halftime lead. They led 21-0 in the first quarter, and were up 28-7 with 9:32 left in the first half after a 44-yard TD by Darius Lassiter, who caught eight passes for 120 yards.
But Retzlaff was 4 of 14 for only 36 yards after the break.
Baylor's Sawyer Robertson finished 27 of 48 passing for 324 yards. He had three touchdowns and threw two interceptions.
The Cougars led 7-0 only 6 1/2 minutes into the game. Baylor's lone offensive snap at that point was a pass deflected straight up in the air by 290-pound nose tackle John Nelson and caught by defensive tackle Blake Mangelson.
BYU: The Cougars are 5-0 for the third time in five seasons, after reaching that mark only two others times (2001 and 2008) since their undefeated 1984 championship season. BYU was 2-7 in Big 12 play last year after playing as an independent the previous 12 seasons.
Baylor: Two weeks after ending a nine-game home losing streak against FBS teams with a 31-3 win over Air Force, the Bears lost their eighth consecutive conference home game since beating Kansas on Oct. 22, 2022.
The Bears a week earlier lost 38-31 in overtime at Colorado, when they missed a field goal late before the Buffaloes had a Hail Mary TD on the final play of regulation, then won when Baylor fumbled going into the end zone on its OT possession.
“Our second halves have been really good. Our offense has stepped up, our defense has stepped up. So, we know the kind of team that we are,” Baylor linebacker Caleb Parker said. “We've just got to start that way. We’ve got to start fast and just play like we are, play confident and trust that we can win. Because we can.”
The Cougars certainly will be ranked for a second week in a row. But they may not move up much, or at all, after having to go down to the wire instead of turning those big early leads into a lopsided victory.
BYU: Has an open date before hosting Big 12 newcomer Arizona on Oct. 12.
Baylor: Plays at No. 18 Iowa State next Saturday night.
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