Baylor flew into LAX to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes in their first ever Rose Bowl appearance. Iowa came in off their 1st round bye looking to ram it down Baylor's throat but also be able to move the ball through the air with some quick snaps and utilizing their advantage at the TE position as Lachey has always been a problem for the Bears to handle in scrimmages.
As expected Iowa came out running hard, but it was actually, yes you guessed it, a big 3rd down conversion to TE Lachey on a crosser that set up the Iowa RB double BTK TD run., Iowa up a quick 7. Baylor proceeded to get to 3rd and 1 and dropped an easy conversion being forced to punt it right back with their defense already whipped in the yellow.
Iowa again ran hard and converted 2 third downs to get into FG range and ultimately a huge win off the LOS by the Baylor DL, they were able to force a FG. Iowa up 10-0
Baylor again get to 3rd and short (inches to be exact), and again Baylor fails to convert as QB Finn falls to his knees quick quick and the Bears are forced to punt and have ran a total of 6 offensive plays for a total of 18 yards and we are already in the 2nd quarter.
Tell me if this sounds familiar, Iowa methodically moves the ball back down deep into the Baylor redzone, but on 3rd and 1, the pressure gets home and forces the throw out of sack. And on 4th and 1, the Bears defense makes a huge stop on Johnson as he takes the 4th down pitch wide left, but is cut off by Lemear and RARA Dillworth (making just his 2nd start this year) cleans it up. Bears ball down 10.
On the first play, Qb Finn hits #84 WR Cameron Bonner on the blown coverage up the right sideline, and despite having to slow down for the underthrown ball, finally the Bears are cooking in Iowa territory. A couple of Reese and Pendergrass runs later and it's 10-7 Iowa.
With under 2 mins to go in the half, Iowa was again able to move the ball downfield, but on 1st and 10 from the Baylor 17 with just 14 secs left in the half, a critical poor read leads to an interception for CB Chateau Reed (filling in for Lemear who may be dead on the sidelines), and the Bears force their 2nd turnover inside their Redzone to to the half down 10-7.
Baylor got the ball first and wasted no time spreading it out to both backs and on 3rd and 1 from the Iowa 10, QB Finn Hits WR Ashtyn Hawkins on the corner of the EZ off the blown coverage predicting the run.
Iowa metriculatred their way down into the Baylor Redzone yet again, but for the 4th time today were forced to settle for less than a td as the Iowa Kicked nailed a short one to close it to 14-13. On the ensuing driove Reese was able to break free left of the line and following a risky 2 point conversion Baylor was now up 9 early in the 4th quarter 22-13. Iowa answers with a quick score after an absolute dot to TE Lachey up the seam in the back of the EZ score now 22-20.
A couple of angry runs later by RB Pendergrass, and the Baylor Bears are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel as they go up 29-20 late in the 4th. Iowa now pressured into being forced to lean on QB McNamara, throw a game clinching pick 6 to Safety Coleman, ad the Bears win 36-20 and look forward to the facing the winner of the Fiesta Bowl (ALABAMA and KANSAS) in the upcoming Cotton Bowl (CFP Semifinals)
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