Football Grinds Out 29-20 Victory Over Texas State

Saturday, September 4

San Marcos, TX

6 PM

Baylor

1-0 , 0-0

Texas State

0-1 , 0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Baylor

Texas St.

Football Grinds Out 29-20 Victory Over Texas State

9/4/2021 10:39:00 PM | Football

Box Score Final Game Book (PDF)Postgame Notes

Trestan Ebner and Abram Smith churned out a combined 238 yards on 39 carries

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            SAN MARCOS, Texas – Connor Galvin, Xavier Newman-Johnson and the rest of Baylor's offensive line didn't have to look at the stat sheet after Saturday's game to know the numbers.
            Not only did the Bears grind out 238 yards on the ground and average 5.3 per carry, the line didn't allow a sack and kept first-time starter Gerry Bohanon protected in a season-opening 29-20 road win over Texas State Saturday night at Bobcat Stadium.
            "Offensive line-wise, just being in that room, however many yards we rushed for, they know the exact number," said second-year head coach Dave Aranda, who recorded his first road win as a head coach and Baylor's first on the road since a 61-6 rout of Kansas on Nov. 30, 2019.
            "They take a lot of pride in that, and they want to build off of that. For them to have something to feel good about, it's been a while. So, I'm happy for them."
            On a night when Aranda had a lot of things to be happy about, including a pair of 100-yard rushers and three interceptions by the defense, he was disappointed in his team being flagged 11 times for 99 yards in penalties.
            "As much as we've made an example of it, addressed it in practice, I need to do a much better job," Aranda said of the penalties. "I take that kind of personality. You look at stats coming out of the game, whether it's rushing yards or total yards or any metric you want to look at, it's titled in Baylor's favor. The one stat that was tilted way the other way is penalties."
The Bears' 1-2 backfield punch of Trestan Ebner and Abram Smith churned out a combined 238 yards on 39 carries, with Smith scoring on TD runs of three and 13 yards. Making his first career start, Bohanon was an efficient 15-of-24 for 148 yards, helping Baylor roll up 386 yards total offense.
"I am proud of our identity on offense," Aranda said. "You can get a feel of what we're trying to accomplish. I thought Gerry was calm, collected and poised. Gerry was great on the sidelines, whether it was (going) good or bad, in terms of encouraging people. Gerry's got so much to grow as a quarterback. He's really gifted as a leader."
            But ultimately, it was Baylor's defense that proved to be the difference. JT Woods set the tone with a pick-six barely three minutes into the game.
            "We saw on film that when people blitz, (Texas State quarterback Brady McBride) would try to get the ball out fast. And JT noticed that," said senior safety Jalen Pitre, who had a fourth-quarter pick. "When I was blitzing, I tried to bat the ball down, and JT did a great job of matching the route and picking it off and scoring."
            Leading 14-10 at halftime, Baylor created separation in the third quarter with a 43-yard field goal by freshman kicker Isaiah Hankins and Smith's 13-yard TD run, capping off a five-play, 70-yard drive.
            Texas State battled back to make it a one-score game, with Seth Keller connecting on his second field goal and Jahmyl Jeter finishing off a 10-play, 65-yard drive with a two-yard TD run, closing the gap to 27-20.
            The Bears were able to escape, though, with R.J. Sneed recovering the onside kick. Texas State got the ball back for one more shot, but the defense tacked on a safety when McBride was flagged for an illegal forward pass out of the end zone on the final play of the game.
            In the first half, Baylor had some critical mistakes that kept the Bobcats in the game. Smith had a fumble that stopped the Bears' first drive of the game, but the defense made up for it with a 20-yard pick six by Woods that made it 7-0.
            The defense came up with a stop after Texas State drove from its own 25 into Baylor territory at the 42. But, Matt Jones was flagged for a roughing the kicker penalty on the punt. Taking advantage of that penalty and a 10-yard defensive holding, the Bobcats got on the board with 21-yard field goal by Seth Keller.
            Baylor answered with a 16-play drive, picking up a first on a fourth-and-1 carry by Smith. But, after a fumbled pitchout by Bohanon was recovered by guard Grant Miller on a third down inside the red zone, Hankins missed a 40-yard field goal attempt.
            With Baylor starting cornerback Raleigh Texada out with an injury on the next series, McBride was 6-of-6 for 68 yards and hooked up with Marcel Barbee to cap off an 11-play, 77-yard drive. The extra point gave the Bobcats their first lead of the game, 10-7, with 6:41 left in the half.
            Using a balanced attack that included a 19-yard pass from Bohanon to Sneed and a steady diet of runs by Ebner and Smith, the Bears marched 75 yards on 13 plays in an impressive drive that ate more than six minutes off the clock. Smith found a huge opening on the left side and strolled in from three yards out to put Baylor back on top, 14-10.
            Ebner rushed for 120 yards on 20 carries and became the first player in program history to record 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in his career. Smith tallied 118 yards and two touchdowns on 19 totes, averaging 6.2 per carry, while Sneed was the game's leading receiver with seven catches for 92 yards.
            On the defensive side, sixth-year senior safety Jairon McVea gave the Bears their third interception midway through the fourth quarter. Linebackers Dillon Doyle and Terrel Bernard shared the team lead with nine tackles and helped hold the Bobcats to 235 yards total and just 79 yards rushing on 27 attempts (2.9-yard average).
            "There were a lot of penalties and a lot of stuff we can correct," Pitre said. "But, we did get the win, and that's the most important thing. We have next week to go improve on the things we messed up on this week."
            Baylor returns home to host Texas Southern (0-1) at 6 p.m. next Saturday, Sept. 11, in the home opener at McLane Stadium. The Panthers opened with a 40-17 loss to Prairie View A&M in Saturday's 35^thannual Labor Day Classic in Houston.