No. 19 Baylor blanks Stephen F. Austin 48-0 in shortened game

Published 7:51 pm Saturday, September 17, 2011

WACO, Texas — Robert Griffin III continued his sterling start to the season and No. 19 Baylor celebrated its highest ranking since October 1991 by routing Stephen F. Austin 48-0 Saturday night in a game that was ended in the third quarter because of lightning.

During a 41-minute lightning delay late in the first half, with Baylor already up 31-0, the schools agreed to skip halftime and to trim the final two quarters by 3 minutes each. When more lightning approached with 2:58 left in the third quarter, the coaches met at midfield, shook hands and let the clock run out in the quarter to make it an official game.

Although it went only 42 minutes — well, 39:02, plus the run-off — the Bears (2-0) still get credit for their first shutout since 1995 and first at home since 1985.

Aside from the weather, the real story was Griffin, the dazzling runner-thrower known as RG3.

He was 20 of 22 for 247 yards and three touchdowns, with eight carries for 78 yards. He led Baylor to scores on its first five drives and eight of the nine series he played.

Through two games, he has the incredible stat of having as many touchdowns as incompletions — eight of each.

He gave Heisman Trophy voters something to consider with a 35-yard run that featured flashes of his past as a hurdler — he was third in the country as a freshman — and he hit Kendall Wright in stride for a 66-yard touchdown. He also had a play where he bounced off several would-be tacklers to throw a 15-yarder.

Five of his touchdown drives covered at least 61 yards. There was a 96-yarder and an 80-yarder that took only 50 seconds because of the deep pass to Wright.

Baylor opened the season with a thrilling victory over TCU and clearly picked up where it left off. This was the first of four straight games the Bears will be favored, and a chance for the Bears to become regulars in the top 25, something that hasn’t happened for decades. They cracked the poll for two weeks last year for the first time since 1993, but didn’t get to play at home. Thus, this was their first home game while in the top 25 since November 1993.

The Lumberjacks (1-2), an FCS program, drove deep into Baylor territory on their first three tries, but turned the ball over on downs, an interception and a fumble inside the 5. They hardly threatened again and remained scoreless in four games all-time against the Bears.

The only time SFA stopped Baylor was on a fumble into the end zone a few plays after the resumption of play. The half ended soon after, Baylor got the ball back and Terrance Ganaway ran 59 yards for a touchdown on the second play.

Ganaway ran for 98 yards and Wright had 105 yards receiving on eight catches. Lanear Sampson and Jerod Monk had the other touchdown catches, while Jarred Salubi and Glasco Martin each had rushing touchdowns.

Wright tied the school record for career touchdown catches with 19.