Fast Start Fuels No. 22/22 BYU Past Bears

By Jerry HillBaylor Bear Insider WACO, Texas -- Digging an early hole, Baylor football couldn't overcome a 21-point first-quarter deficit and fell to the 22nd-ranked BYU Cougars, 34-28, Saturday afternoon at McLane Stadium.  The Bears twice had chances to take the lead, but they turned it over on downs at the Cougars' 25 after a first-career interception by defensive lineman Elinus Noel III and then safety Crew Wakley picked off a Sawyer Robertson pass intended for receiver Ashtyn Hawkins.  In a career performance, Robertson completed 27-of-48 passes for 324 yards and three touchdowns and also scored on a 20-yard TD run. But he was also picked off twice and was sacked three times for 30 yards in losses.  BYU (5-0, 2-0) quarterback Jake Retzlaff threw for 216 yards and two touchdowns and added 53 yards and another score on the ground to account for the bulk of the Cougars' 367 yards total offense. Darius Lassiter caught eight passes for 120 yards, including a 44-yard TD grab. For the Bears (2-3, 0-2), Josh Cameron also had a breakout game with seven catches for a career-high 125 yards and two touchdowns.  Facing a 31-14 deficit at the half, Baylor came back with a 15-yard TD pass from Robertson to Ashtyn Hawkins in the third quarter and then pulled within a single score when Cameron hauled in a 23-yarder with 10:07 left in the game.  Scoring on each of its first four possessions, BYU jumped out to a 28-7 lead in the first 21 minutes of an opening half that saw the Cougars outgain the Bears, 286-216, and dominate time of possession, 17:59-12:01.  Retzlaff had touchdown passes of 26 yards to Miles Davis and a perfect 44-yard strike to Lassiter and also scored on a 17-yard run. BYU's other score, a two-yard run by Chase Roberts, came after a batted interception by defensive tackle Blake Mangelson on Baylor's first offensive play of the game.  The offense put together a nice drive, moving from its own 25 down to the Cougars' 29, but linebacker Isaiah Glasker dropped Bryson Washington for a two-yard loss on fourth-and-one for a turnover on downs.  Trailing 21-0, Baylor got on the board late in the first quarter when Robertson scored on a 20-yard keeper on another fourth-and-one play, somehow leaping and squeezing between two players to get free up the middle. That capped off an eight-play, 80-yard drive that took 3 ½ minutes off the clock.  The Bears scored again on a one-yard TD pass from Robertson to Cameron with 2:12 left in the half, but Will Ferrin padded BYU's lead with a 54-yard field goal before freshman Connor Hawkins missed his first career field goal attempt from 50 on the last play of the half.  Baylor will go back on the road to face 18th-ranked Iowa State (3-0, 0-0) at 6:30 p.m. next Saturday, Oct. 5, at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames. The Cyclones are playing at Houston Saturday night.