Things start to look up for Baylor when they hold Illinois to 14 yards after the Bears’ first points and force a punt. That ends up with Baylor getting the ball near midfield with the momentum at their back.
Texas Bowl, Baylor Vs. Illinois: Luckless Bears Finally Score Again, And Illini Lead Is Down To 24-14
And then, as you kind of figured if you’ve been watching this one, things fall apart. Baylor gets flagged for a false start; two plays later, Josh Gordon is called for offensive pass interference. On the next snap, Robert Griffin III is sacked for a loss of seven. Not surprisingly, the Bears come up short on 3rd-and-31 and are forced to kick the ball back.
But they force another punt by Illinois, then begin another march into Illini territory. This time, it looks like luck might not abandon them entirely: A snap gets past Griffin, but he picks it up and throws it complete … only to have the play called back on yet another offensive pass interference call for an early block. That gives Baylor an untimed down, and after a 6-yard pass we’ll end the third quarter with the Bears facing a 2nd-and-19 from the Illinois 44.
On fourth down, Baylor and Griffin go for it, and the quarterback hits his longest pass of the night, a 39-yard strike to Kendall Wright. Ron Zook challenges the play, which succeeds only in burning one of Illinois’ timeouts in what suddenly seems to be a game again, with Baylor down 10 and almost all of the fourth quarter left to go.
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