Baylor holds on to beat No. 14 TCU

Published 12:01 am Saturday, September 3, 2011

WACO, Texas — Aaron Jones kicked a 37-yard field goal with 1:04 left and Baylor averted a monumental collapse to pull out a 50-48 season-opening victory over 14th-ranked TCU on Friday night.

TCU, which had won an FBS-best 25 consecutive regular-season games, overcome a 47-23 deficit in the f

ourth quarter to briefly take the lead. New starting quarterback Casey Pachall threw three touchdowns passes in the rally and a fumble by Bears quarterback Robert Griffin set up a go-ahead 27-yard field goal by Ross Evans, who earlier missed twice from behind 40 yards.

But Baylor, which hadn’t beaten a ranked team since 2004, then went 60 yards in 11 plays — including Griffin’s 15-yard catch from Kendall Wright on a third-and-10 — to set up Jones.

The Frogs had one more chance, but Pachall’s last pass was intercepted by Mike Hicks and he ran the clock down to 2 seconds in Baylor’s most-anticipated opener in a long time.

Griffin took one more snap, knelt down and immediately the field was swarming in gold as students and fans rushed out to celebrate. Many of those in purple sat in the stands staring out in shock.

Wright threw for a score of his own before catching two of Robert Griffin’s career-high five touchdown passes as Baylor avoided another crushing loss to the defending Rose Bowl champion and its old Southwest Conference rival.

This would have certainly hurt more than the Bears’ 45-10 loss in Fort Worth, Texas, a year ago because Baylor was never in that game.

Griffin hit 21 of 27 passes for 359 yards, with Wright catching 12 of them for 189 yards. Terrance Williams had six catches for 126 yards and two scores.

This is not the same TCU team that was a BCS buster the past two seasons. The Horned Frogs are missing pieces on a defense that finished the past three seasons No. 1 overall in the country, and four-year starting quarterback Andy Dalton is now a rookie starter in the NFL.

Pachall was 25-of-39 for 251 yards and four TDs with that one interception. He threw to 10 players, with Josh Boyce making nine catches for 96 yards.

Baylor was 0-4 against Top 25 teams last season, when the Bears finished 7-6 with a bowl appearance for the first time since 1994. Their last win over a ranked team was a double-overtime victory over No. 16 Texas A&M in 2004.

No. 17 Michigan St. 28, Youngstown St. 6

EAST LANSING, Mich. — B.J. Cunningham caught nine passes for 130 yards and a touchdown, moving into a tie for first place on Michigan State’s career receptions list in a win over Youngstown State.

Kirk Cousins threw for 222 yards for Michigan State, which tied for the Big Ten title last season but wasn’t especially dominant against the Penguins of the Football Championship Subdivision. The Spartans led 14-6 in the third quarter before Cousins threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Cunningham, who held on despite tight coverage in the back of the end zone.

Le’Veon Bell added his second 3-yard touchdown run of the game to make it 28-6 in the fourth.

Cunningham has 148 career receptions, equaling Matt Trannon’s school mark.

Cousins completed 18 of 22 passes, and Edwin Baker ran for 91 yards for Michigan State.

Youngstown State’s Kurt Hess threw for 126 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Michigan State began the game on a heartwarming note when offensive lineman Arthur Ray Jr. took the field, four years after being treated for cancer in his left leg. Ray underwent chemotherapy shortly after signing with the Spartans in 2007, and a subsequent infection postponed his comeback until now.

Coach Mark Dantonio indicated earlier this week that Ray wasn’t able to practice much because of the stress on his leg, but he was at left guard for Michigan State’s first offensive play of the season. The Spartans called a pass, Ray blocked effectively, then came out of the game.