Football Defeats Vandy to Win Texas Bowl

Thursday, December 27

Houston, Texas

8:00 p.m. CT

Baylor

7-6

Vanderbilt

6-7

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Baylor

Vanderbilt

Football Defeats Vandy to Win Texas Bowl

12/28/2018 12:06:00 AM | Football

Box Score PDF Box Postgame Notes Baylor Coach Rhule Quotes Vanderbilt Coach Mason Quotes Final Book Texas Bowl Notes

Charlie Brewer passed for 384 yards and two touchdowns and had his first 100-yard day on the ground.

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

HOUSTON - Two years after taking a leap of faith to join a Baylor football program that was trying to rise from the ashes, sophomores Charlie Brewer and Trestan Ebner led the Bears to an exhilarating 45-38 Texas Bowl victory over Vanderbilt Thursday night at NRG Stadium.

Voted the game MVP, Brewer hooked up with Ebner on a 75-yard TD strike and then Marques Jones for 52 yards in a crazy, back-and-forth game that went down to the wire.

"I think it was really the other 10 guys on the offense. The offensive line was blocking outstanding," said Brewer, who threw for a Texas Bowl-record 384 yards and two touchdowns and added a career-best 109 yards and one TD rushing on 16 attempts. "I threw a few passes that were probably six or seven yards down the field and went for 50. That's all the receivers right there. I'm just proud of those guys. They were making plays all night."

Starting with the Baylor Line running for the first time ever outside of one of the Bears' home stadiums, this was a night and game to remember.

In a game that produced over 1,200 yards combined, Baylor's defense came up with just enough stops to help the Bears pull out their third bowl win in the last four years and finish 7-6 in head coach Matt Rhule's second season.

"As I told our guys, 'Would we have wanted it any other way?" Rhule said. "The way way our season's gone, the way we battled back, we didn't want it to be easy. . . . I was proud of our guys for fighting and battling till the end. Even when we dropped that last interception on third down, to go out and get the stop on fourth down, I thought that was huge.

"Marques is a guy that does his job and plays hard. He starts the year as a walk-on and finishes it with the game-winning touchdown. That's really who our guys are."

Vanderbilt (6-7) got the ball back with one more shot after Jones' go-ahead score, but couldn't go anywhere in four downs. Baylor ran out the final 60 seconds and celebrated its third bowl win in four years and first win over an SEC opponent in 33 years.

"It's always huge to finish the season off with a bowl win," said offensive lineman Blake Blackmar, one of several seniors playing in their last game. "It's the last time the team is going to be together. To come out with a win in the end, there's no better way to go into the offseason. Being a senior, it's just that much more magnified. It's one of the most meaningful moments I've ever had in my life."

Finishing just shy of his third career 400-yard passing game, Brewer was 21-of-34 for 384 yards and two touchdowns while posting his first 100-yard rushing game. His previous best was 72 yards earlier this season against Iowa State.

"The dual threat at the quarterback position, I thought, was huge tonight," said Vandy coach Derek Mason, whose team fell to 6-7. "I thought he ran as well as their running backs did. The reality was, he was the difference in this ballgame when you look at it. I know they had some explosive plays, but he was able to keep drives alive with his legs. And that was tough for us."

Ebner, making his first start, matched his career best with 109 yards on just three catches and added 90 yards on 13 carries as the Bears racked up 284 yards on the ground, 384 through the air and 688 total yards – the most in 25 games under Rhule, the third-highest in Baylor bowl history and the most since the 2015 Russell Athletic Bowl.

"All he did in high school is win," Blackmar said of Brewer, "and all he does at Baylor is compete. To take the starting job and help push us to seven wins this season, nothing but respect for the guy. I hope he keeps going, because he's a heck of a player."

Vandy's Ke'Shawn Vaughn carried the load for the Commodores with a game-high 243 yards and two touchdowns on just 13 attempts. Kyle Shurmur, the son of New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur was 18-of-37 for 286 yards and one touchdown to help Vandy finish with 573 yards.

With three runs of 66 yards or longer, Vaughn was part of a big-hit Vanderbilt offense that produced five touchdown drives of less than two minutes.

Other than the last two scores, Baylor had more of a methodical offense, churning out scoring drives of 4:48, 4:35, 3:50 and 3:42 and finishing with a commanding edge in time of possession, holding the ball for 35:26.

"Coach does a good job telling us to pick up our defense when they're down," Ebner said. "If the other team goes in and scores fast, we've just got to do our job and try to match them score for score. I feel like we did a good job of doing that all night. And then the defense finally came up with a good stop."

Through the first two quarters, in particular, this looked like it would come down to the team that had the ball last.

The Commodores struck first when Shurmur hit running back Khari Blasingame for a short screen pass that went 65 yards for a touchdown and the early 7-0 lead.

Baylor had to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Connor Martin after a 12-play, 69-yard drive, but the Bears took their first lead on a 12-yard TD run by John Lovett. In the blink of an eye, Vandy was back on top with a 68-yard burst up the middle by Vaughn and a 14-10 lead.

Trailing 21-17 at the half after Ryley Guay missed a 45-yard field goal on the last play, Baylor appeared to take control of the game with a 34-yard TD run by Ebner and a one-yard sneak by Brewer that made it 31-21.

Not so fast.

Vandy answered with a pair of short runs by Blasingame, the second one coming after a phenomenal interception by Randall Haynie that he caught in the back of the end zone off a bobble from Baylor receiver Denzel Mims.

"(The team) told me not to worry about it," said Mims, who had a team-high six catches for 95 yards. "My coach came to me and said stuff like that happens. Then, a couple of players said we're good, we've got your back. Coming out of the next series, he let me sit down and gather myself, and I thought that helped a lot."

Brewer, Ebner and Jones definitely had his back.

On the first play from scrimmage, after the Commodores had regained the lead, Brewer hit Ebner with a short pass over the middle that he turned into a 75-yard touchdown that gave the Bears the lead right back, 38-35.

"It's just a simple play where I read the (linebacker). And if the middle is open, I take it," Ebner said. "Charlie did a good job of throwing me away from the safety, and it enabled me to make a play. I saw (the safety) was flat-footed, so I knew I would score."

Guay tied it at 38-38 with 3:30 left in the game when he connected on a 33-yard field goal, capping the Commodores' longest drive of the night – 13 plays, 59 yards and 5:49 off the clock.

After churning out a couple first downs on the ground, the Bears went back to the air for a 52-yard TD strike to Jones with freshman receiver Josh Fleeks leading the way just in case he needed help.

Baylor's defense almost came up with its second turnover of the night, but defensive end James Lynch and safety Verkedric Vaughns collided on a tipped ball. Down to just 65 seconds and out of timeouts, Shurmur's fourth-down pass to Jared Pinkney fell incomplete.

That's about the time that Rhule got his Gatorade bath from the players.

"I think I'm in the concussion protocal right now, because they hit me with the actual Gatorade (bucket). They didn't hit me with the Gatorade, they literally hit me with the orange thing hard," he said. "I want all of Baylor and the fans, I want them all to have bragging rights tomorrow. I want themn to smile tonight and have fun. You sit back, thinking about how far you've come and everybody is happy. It's a nice thing."