WACO, Texas – Crew Wakley had a game-winning interception with 59 seconds left and No. 22 BYU secured a 34-28 win at Baylor on Saturday, remaining undefeated after the Cougars had already built a three-touchdown lead twice. Jake Retzlaff threw two points and ran for another.

Wakley made an interception near midfield along the sideline in front of the Baylor bench to secure the Cougars’ first Big 12 road win (5-0, 2-0 Big 12).

Retzlaff threw two interceptions after halftime, the second a deflection picked off by 337-pound nose tackle Elinus Noel III to put Baylor within 45 of the Cougars with 4:01 left. The Bears were stopped on a fourth-and-6 with 1:47 left in the 24th minute, but still had all their timeouts and got the ball back with 13 seconds left, but BYU took the lead with a three-and-out .

Baylor (2-3, 0-2) had gotten within 34-28 after Josh Cameron toe-tapped a 23-yard touchdown catch on the other side of the end zone with about 10 minutes left. Cameron had seven catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns.

Retzlaff was 13 of 17 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns, and that didn’t count a pass behind the line to Chase Roberts that officially counted as a 2-yard TD run, as the Cougars held a halftime lead of 31-14 built. They led 21-0 in the first quarter and later 28-7.

But Retzlaff was just 4 of 14 for 36 yards after halftime.

Baylor’s Sawyer Robertson completed 27 of 48 passes for 324 yards. He had three touchdowns and also threw two picks.

Just 6 1/2 minutes into the game, the Cougars were up 14-0. Baylor’s only offensive snap at that point was a pass that was deflected straight into the air by 290-pound nose tackle John Nelson and intercepted by defensive tackle Blake Mangelson.

After a 44-yard TD by Darius Lassiter, who caught eight passes for 120 yards, the score was 28-7 with 9:32 left in the first half.

souvenir

BYU: The Cougars are 5-0 for the third time in five seasons, having reached that mark just two other times (2001 and 2008) since their undefeated championship season in 1984. BYU repeated last year’s two conference wins after playing as an independent for the past 12 seasons.

Baylor: Playing at home on the banks of the Brazos River wasn’t an advantage for the Bears in Big 12 play. 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 straight conference home game since beating Kansas on Oct. 22, 2022.

IMPLICATIONS ON THE SURVEY

The Cougars are sure to be ranked for the second year in a row. But they may not advance much, if at all, after having to hold on until the end rather than convert their big early leads into a one-sided victory.

NEXT

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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