• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Baylor downs Tech without injured Griffin

Nov 27, 2011 - 7:26 AM Arlington, TX (Sports Network) - Baylor scored 21 straight points after Robert Griffin III was knocked out of the game.

Turns out, the Bears only needed their Heisman Trophy hopeful for a half to beat Texas Tech for the first time in 16 years.

Griffin accounted for three touchdowns before leaving with a head injury, Terrance Ganaway rushed for 246 yards and two scores on a school-record 42 carries, and No. 21 Baylor exploded for a 66-42 victory over the Red Raiders on Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium.

Backup quarterback Nick Florence, making his season debut, threw two long touchdown passes and Joe Williams returned an interception 90 yards for a score in the first 12 1/2 minutes of the second half, pushing Baylor's lead to 52-28.

The outburst came after Griffin, sliding feet-first near the right sideline at the end of a run, took a shoulder to the head from Texas Tech's Cornelius Douglas, who was whistled for a personal foul.

Griffin laid near-motionless on his back, but Baylor initially breathed a sigh of relief when he walked to the sideline, then came in after a missing a play and scored on a three-yard run.

But Griffin spent the second half on the sideline, still dressed in his uniform but with a towel draped around his neck and no helmet. He passed for 106 yards and a touchdown in the first half with 14 runs for 62 yards and a pair of scores.

"I think he's going to be fine," Baylor head coach Art Briles said about Griffin. "It was really a tough deal because we did the right thing. We needed him on the field to win, but at the same time we knew his health was more important."

Baylor (8-3, 5-3 Big 12) won its fourth straight, including last week's thriller over Oklahoma on Griffin's long touchdown pass in the final seconds.

The Bears, who play Texas next week, won five Big 12 games for the first time in program history and earned their first win over Texas Tech since 1995. It was Baylor's first four-game winning streak since 1991, which was also the last time the program won eight games in a season.

The Red Raiders (5-7, 2-7) lost five in a row to end the season and failed to become bowl eligible. Seth Doege passed for 355 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions while Eric Ward had 16 catches for 151 yards and two scores.

"It's been a long year. We just need to go out now and start recruiting," Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville said. "We're short in a lot of areas and we've had a lot of interest from a lot of players because they know they can come play at our place pretty early."

Whether or not Griffin's Heisman chances were damaged by the missed half is uncertain. Baylor didn't miss a beat, with Florence throwing a 46-yard touchdown pass to Kendall Wright and a 40-yarder to Terrance Williams.

Joe Williams' interception return came after an exchange of fumbles between the teams. Texas Tech came back with a 14-yard touchdown run from Kenny Williams, getting within 17, then turned another fumbled into seven more points on Ward's 33-yard touchdown catch.

Suddenly ahead by just 10, Baylor went 69 yards and Florence rushed for a one- yard touchdown to make it 59-42 and Texas Tech's next two possessions ended in a fumble and interception.

Ganaway's four-yard touchdown run capped the scoring with under seven minutes to play.

Late in the second quarter, after Griffin came back to score on a short run, Texas Tech needed just 88 seconds to go 60 yards and pulled within 31-28 at halftime after Doege found Darrin Moore in the back of the end zone for a one- yard score.

The half was increasingly chippy, culminating in the hit on Griffin near the sideline.

Baylor's Heisman Trophy candidate found Wright over the middle with a pass and Wright slipped a tackle to score a 33-yard touchdown that gave Baylor a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. Kenny Williams broke two tackles and dove into the left side of the end zone on a five-yard run to get Texas Tech within three.

Griffin took a draw play straight up the middle on the first play of the second quarter -- scoring the first of six combined touchdowns in the frame to make it 17-7 Baylor.

The Red Raiders replied with Doege's two-yard touchdown pass to Ward and Baylor came back with a score from Ganaway, who barreled in from four yards out.

Texas Tech backup quarterback Jacob Karam, wearing a wide receiver's number, threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Moore on a flea flicker to get the Raiders within 24-21. They recovered an onside kick after that, but ended up punting.

Game Notes

Ganaway's rushing yards were a career-best and he became the eighth player in Baylor history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. His 1,195 rushing yards rank second on Baylor's single-season list behind Jay Finley's 1,218 yards in 2010...The teams played for the second time at Cowboys Stadium...Texas Tech leads the all-time series 36-33-1 and had been 15-0 against Baylor since the formation of the Big 12 conference.