2011 Baylor Bears football team

The 2011 Baylor Bears football team represented Baylor University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Art Briles and played their home games at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas. They are members of the Big 12 Conference. They finished the season 10–3, 6–3 in Big 12 play to finish in a tie for third place with Oklahoma (whom they defeated during the season). The ten wins tied a school record for wins in a season while the 6–3 conference record is its best since joining the Big 12. They were invited to the Alamo Bowl where they beat Washington, 67–56, for their first bowl win since the 1992 John Hancock Bowl.

2011 Baylor Bears football
Alamo Bowl champion
Alamo Bowl, W 67–56 vs. Washington
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 12
AP	No. 13
2011 record	10–3 (6–3 Big 12)
Head coach	Art Briles (4th season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Randy Clements (4th season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Philip Montgomery (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Phil Bennett (1st season)
Home stadium	Floyd Casey Stadium (Capacity: 50,000)

2011 Big 12 Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 3 Oklahoma State $		8	–	1					12	–	1
No. 15 Kansas State		7	–	2					10	–	3
No. 13 Baylor		6	–	3					10	–	3
No. 16 Oklahoma		6	–	3					10	–	3
Missouri		5	–	4					8	–	5
Texas		4	–	5					8	–	5
Texas A&M		4	–	5					7	–	6
Iowa State		3	–	6					6	–	7
Texas Tech		2	–	7					5	–	7
Kansas		0	–	9					2	–	10
$ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Junior starting quarterback Robert Griffin III won the Heisman Trophy, becoming the first Baylor player to win the award.

Recruiting

Baylor's recruiting class was ranked #46 by Rivals.com and #50 by Scout.com.[1][2]

Regular season

Building on the success of the previous year's team, Baylor began the season at home with a 50–48 upset of then #14 TCU, winners of the previous season's Rose Bowl.[3] The Bears won their next two games against Stephen F. Austin and Rice at home, before traveling to Kansas State where they lost a tightly contested game 35–36 to the greatly improved Bill Snyder-coached team.[4][5][6] After defeating Iowa State 49–26 at home, the Bears finished October losing two straight on the road at Texas A&M and eventual conference champion Oklahoma State.[7][8][9]

The Bears rebounded to finish the regular season with five straight victories including a Homecoming win over Missouri, a 31–30 overtime victory at Kansas in which Baylor tied a school record by overcoming a 21-point deficit in the 4th quarter, and the program's first win over then #5 Oklahoma on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Griffin to Terrance Williams with 8 seconds remaining in the game.[10][11][12] Baylor concluded November in Dallas playing against Texas Tech in Cowboys Stadium; although Griffin left the game due to a concussion at the half, backup Nick Florence entered the game to lead the Bears to a 66–42 victory.[13] Baylor's win over Texas Tech was their first since 1995.[14]

The Bears finished the regular season at home with a 48–24 victory over then #22 Texas that propelled the team (9–3, 6–3 Big 12) to the Alamo Bowl with #12 and #15 BCS and AP rankings respectively.[15] The victory also propelled quarterback Robert Griffin III to the top of the Heisman Trophy voting; he became the first Baylor player to win the award and the first Baylor player since Don Trull in 1963 to factor significantly in the voting.[16]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	7:00 p.m.	No. 14 TCU*		Floyd Casey Stadium Waco, Texas	ESPN	W 50–48	43,753
September 17	6:00 p.m.	No. 19 (FCS) Stephen F. Austin*	No. 19	Floyd Casey Stadium Waco, Texas		W 48–0^A	43,090
September 24	6:00 p.m.	Rice*	No. 17	Floyd Casey Stadium Waco, Texas	FSN	W 56–31	40,088
October 1	2:30 p.m.	at Kansas State	No. 15	Bill Snyder Family Stadium Manhattan, Kansas	ABC/ESPN	L 35–36	49,399
October 8	6:00 p.m.	Iowa State	No. 25	Floyd Casey Stadium Waco, Texas	FSN	W 49–26	41,625
October 15	11:00 a.m.	at No. 21 Texas A&M	No. 20	Kyle Field College Station, Texas (Battle of the Brazos)	FX	L 28–55	87,361
October 29	2:30 p.m.	at No. 3 Oklahoma State		Boone Pickens Stadium Stillwater, Oklahoma	ABC/ESPN2	L 24–59	58,274
November 5	6:00 p.m.	Missouri		Floyd Casey Stadium Waco, Texas	FSN	W 42–39	40,194
November 12	1:00 p.m.	at Kansas		Memorial Stadium Lawrence, Kansas		W 31–30 ^OT	35,188
November 19	7:00 p.m.	No. 5 Oklahoma	No. 25	Floyd Casey Stadium Waco, Texas	ABC/ESPN3	W 45–38	40,281
November 26	6:00 p.m.	vs. Texas Tech	No. 21	Cowboys Stadium Arlington, Texas (Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Shootout)	FSN	W 66–42	51,615
December 3	2:30 p.m.	No. 22 Texas	No. 19	Floyd Casey Stadium Waco, Texas	ABC	W 48–24	46,543
December 29	8:00 p.m.	vs. Washington*	No. 15	Alamodome San Antonio (Alamo Bowl)	ESPN	W 67–56	65,256
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

[17][18]

• ^A Game was called at the end of the 3rd quarter due to lightning.

Game summaries

Missouri

Missouri at Baylor

1 2 3 4 Total Missouri 7 7 0 25 39 • Baylor 0 13 15 14 42 Date: November 5 Location: Floyd Casey Stadium, Waco, Texas Game start: 6:00 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:45 Game attendance: 40,194 Referee: Greg Burks TV announcers (FSN): Joel Meyers (Play-by-play), Brian Baldinger (Color) & Jim Knox (Sideline)

Scoring summary 1 8:04 MU Henry Josey 6-yard run (Trey Barrow kick) MU 7–0 2 12:33 BAY Terrance Williams 6-yard pass from Robert Griffin III (Aaron Jones kick) Tied 7–7 2 3:38 MU Henry Josey 2-yard run (Trey Barrow kick) MU 14–7 2 0:01 BAY Robert Griffin III 1-yard run (kick blocked) MU 14–13 3 13:12 BAY Terrance Williams 28-yard pass from Robert Griffin III (Robert Griffin III run) BAY 21–14 3 1:24 BAY Terrance Ganaway 38-yard run (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 28–14 4 13:46 MU Trey Barrow 30-yard field goal BAY 28–17 4 8:22 BAY Tevin Reese 68-yard pass from Robert Griffin III (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 35–17 4 7:05 MU Marcus Lucas 24-yard pass from James Franklin (Kendial Lawrence run) BAY 35–25 4 6:53 BAY Terrance Ganaway 80-yard run (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 42–25 4 3:55 MU T.J. Moe 17-yard pass from James Franklin (Trey Barrow kick) BAY 42–32 4 1:59 MU L'Damian Washington 15-yard pass from James Franklin (Trey Barrow kick) BAY 42–39

[19]

Oklahoma

#5 Oklahoma at #22 Baylor

1 2 3 4 Total Oklahoma 3 7 14 14 38 • Baylor 3 14 14 14 45 Date: November 19 Location: Floyd Casey Stadium, Waco, Texas Game start: 7:00 p.m. CST Elapsed time: 3:49 Game attendance: 40,281 Referee: Mike Defee TV announcers (ABC/ESPN3): Joe Tessitore (Play-by-play), Matt Millen (Color) & Erin Andrews (Sideline)

Scoring summary 1 5:34 OU Mike Hunnicutt 47-yard field goal OU 3–0 1 1:09 BAY Aaron Jones 34-yard field goal Tied 3–3 2 7:14 BAY Terrance Ganaway 15-yard run (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 10–3 2 2:38 OU Blake Bell 3-yard run (Mike Hunnicutt kick) Tied 10–10 2 2:23 BAY Tevin Reese 69-yard pass from Robert Griffin III (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 17–10 3 13:13 OU Trey Millard 5-yard run (Mike Hunnicutt kick) Tied 17–17 3 11:11 OU Blake Bell 1-yard run (Mike Hunnicutt kick) OU 24–17 3 6:39 BAY Kendall Wright 87-yard pass from Robert Griffin III (Aaron Jones kick) Tied 24–24 3 1:15 BAY Jordan Najvar 13-yard pass from Robert Griffin III (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 31–24 4 12:49 BAY Terrance Ganaway 11-yard run (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 38–24 4 5:55 OU Blake Bell 5-yard run (Mike Hunnicutt kick) BAY 38–31 4 0:51 OU Blake Bell 6-yard run (Mike Hunnicutt kick) Tied 38–38 4 0:08 BAY Terrance Williams 34-yard pass from Robert Griffin III (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 45–38

Baylor's first victory over Oklahoma in school history.[20]

Texas Tech

Texas Tech vs. #18 Baylor

1 2 3 4 Total Texas Tech 7 21 7 7 42 • Baylor 10 21 21 14 66 Date: November 26 Location: Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas Game start: 6:00 p.m. CST Elapsed time: 3:44 Game attendance: 51,615 Referee: Randy Christal TV announcers (FSN): Bill Land (Play-by-play), Dave Lapham (Color) & Emily Jones (Sideline)

Scoring summary 1 11:13 BAY Aaron Jones 28-yard field goal BAY 3–0 1 6:57 BAY Kendall Wright 33-yard pass from Robert Griffin III (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 10–0 1 3:39 TT Kenny Williams 5-yard run (Donnie Carona kick) BAY 10–7 2 14:54 BAY Robert Griffin III 4-yard run (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 17–7 2 10:55 TT Eric Ward 2-yard pass from Seth Doege (Donnie Carona kick) BAY 17–14 2 8:40 BAY Terrance Ganaway 4-yard run (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 24–14 2 7:57 TT Darrin Moore 43-yard pass from Jacob Karam (Donnie Carona kick) BAY 24–21 2 1:36 BAY Robert Griffin III 3-yard run (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 31–21 2 0:14 TT Kenny Williams 14-yard run (Donnie Carona kick) BAY 31–28 3 10:09 BAY Kendall Wright 46-yard pass from Nick Florence (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 38–28 3 6:05 BAY Terrance Williams 40-yard pass from Nick Florence (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 45–28 3 2:26 BAY Joe Williams 90-yard interception return (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 52–28 3 0:14 TT Kenny Williams 14-yard run (Donnie Carona kick) BAY 52–35 4 14:03 TT Eric Ward 33-yard pass from Seth Doege (Donnie Carona kick) BAY 52–42 4 9:33 BAY Nick Florence 1-yard run (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 59–42 4 6:24 BAY Terrance Ganaway 4-yard run (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 66–42

Robert Griffin III was knocked out just before halftime with a concussion.[21]

Texas

Texas at #19 Baylor

1 2 3 4 Total Texas 7 14 3 0 24 • Baylor 14 10 17 7 48 Date: December 3 Location: Floyd Casey Stadium, Waco, Texas Game start: 2:30 p.m. CST Elapsed time: 3:22 Game attendance: 46,543 Referee: Reggie Smith TV announcers (ABC): Sean McDonough (Play-by-play), Matt Millen (Color) & Samantha Steele (Sideline)

Scoring summary 1 14:38 BAY Kendall Wright 59-yard pass from Robert Griffin III (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 7–0 1 8:03 BAY Terrance Ganaway 20-yard run (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 14–0 1 0:33 TEX Blaine Irby 2-yard pass from Case McCoy (Justin Tucker kick) BAY 14–7 2 10:53 TEX Luke Poehlmann 3-yard pass from Case McCoy (Justin Tucker kick) Tied 14–14 2 7:40 TEX Marquise Goodwin 80-yard pass from Case McCoy (Justin Tucker kick) TEX 21–14 2 4:39 BAY Aaron Jones 22-yard field goal TEX 21–17 2 0:50 BAY Robert Griffin III 2-yard run (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 24–21 3 13:04 TEX Justin Tucker 39-yard field goal Tied 24–24 3 11:34 BAY Terrance Ganaway 1-yard run (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 31–24 3 7:21 BAY Robert Griffin III 10-yard run (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 38–24 3 1:18 BAY Aaron Jones 40-yard field goal BAY 41–24 4 7:43 BAY Terrance Williams 39-yard pass from Robert Griffin III (Aaron Jones kick) BAY 48–24

[22]

2011 Alamo Bowl

Washington vs. #15 Baylor

1 2 3 4 Total Washington 7 28 14 7 56 • Baylor 21 3 29 14 67 Date: December 29 Location: Alamodome, San Antonio Game start: 8:00 p.m. CST Elapsed time: 3:41 Game attendance: 65,256 Referee: Ron Cherry TV announcers (ESPN): Dave Pasch (Play-by-play), Chris Spielman (Color) & Quint Kessenich (Sideline)

On December 4, 2011, Baylor accepted an invite to represent the Big-12 in the 2011 Alamo Bowl. Their opponents were the Washington Huskies of the Pac-12.[23] The game was played at the Alamodome. The crowd of 65,256 represented the 5th largest attendance in the history of the bowl game. A very good showing since the highest ever attendance at an Alamo bowl was only 66,100 which was set several years before. The Bowl officials stated it was also the most exciting college football game ever witnessed at the Bowl.

The contest became the second-highest scoring bowl game in history, and the highest-scoring regulation bowl game ever. Baylor went up 21–7 early in the game, with Griffin throwing for one touchdown and rushing for another. The Huskies roared back with 28 unanswered points, and the teams finished the half with Washington leading 35–24. In the second half, with the defenses showing limited ability to cope with the high-powered offenses led by Griffin and Husky QB Keith Price, the teams traded scores. The Bears overcame the halftime deficit, going ahead for good 60–56 halfway in the 4th quarter, and Baylor RB Terrance Ganaway tacked on a final 43-yard touchdown run with 2:28 left to play. Ganaway finished with 21 carries for 200 yards and 5 TDs, and was recognized as the game's offensive MVP. The victory represented Baylor's first bowl win since a victory in the John Hancock (Sun) Bowl in 1992. With the win, Baylor had their first 10-win season since 1980.[24]

Awards and honors

• Davey O'Brien Award: Robert Griffin III
• Heisman Trophy: Robert Griffin III
• AP Player of the Year: Robert Griffin III
• Sporting News Player of the Year: Robert Griffin III

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	NR	20	19	17	15	25	20	RV	RV	NR	RV	25	21	19	15	13
Coaches	NR	RV	24	19	16	RV	24	RV	RV	NR	RV	RV	20	18	16	12
Harris	Not released						21	RV	RV	NR	RV	25	20	18	16	Not released
BCS	Not released							NR	NR	NR	25	22	18	17	12	Not released

References

1. Rivals.com 2011 Team Recruiting Rankings. Rivals.com Retrieved December 17, 2011.
2. Football Recruiting 2011. Scout.com. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
3. "Baylor Blows 24-Point Lead but Recovers to Edge No. 14 TCU". ESPN. September 2, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
4. "Baylor Romps in Game Halted in 3rd Quarter by Lightning". ESPN. September 17, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
5. "Robert Griffin III Accounts for 6 TDs in Baylor's Beating of Rice". ESPN. September 24, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
6. "Kansas State Picks off Robert Griffin III, No. 15 Baylor in Fourth Quarter". ESPN. October 1, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
7. "Robert Griffin III, Terrance Ganaway Help No. 25 Baylor Run Over Iowa State". ESPN. October 8, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
8. "Ryan Tannehill Tosses 6 TDs as Texas A&M Leaves Past Collapses Behind". ESPN. October 15, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
9. "Joseph Randle Runs for 4 TDs as No. 3 Oklahoma State Whips Baylor". ESPN. October 29, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
10. "Baylor Rides School-Best 697 Yards Past Mizzou". ESPN. November 5, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
11. "Kansas Misses 2-Point Conversion in OT as Baylor Rallies for Victory". ESPN. November 12, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
12. "Robert Griffin III Shocks Sooners on TD Pass with 8 Seconds Left". ESPN. November 19, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
13. "Baylor Pummels Texas Tech Even After Robert Griffin III Leaves Game". ESPN. November 26, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
14. Miller, Jeff (November 26, 2011). "Baylor 66, Texas Tech 42". USA Today. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
15. "Griffin Accounts for 4 TDs as Baylor Trounces Texas". ESPN. December 3, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
16. Dufresne, Chris (December 10, 2011). "Robert Griffin III Wins the Heisman Trophy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
17. "Baylor Bears Schedule – 2011". ESPN. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
18. "NCAA Football TV Listings". NCAA Football. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
19. "Baylor Rides School-Best 697 Yards Past Mizzou". ESPN. November 5, 2011. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
20. "Robert Griffin III Shocks Sooners on TD Pass with 8 Seconds Left". ESPN. November 19, 2011. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
21. "Baylor Pummels Texas Tech Even After Robert Griffin III Leaves Game". ESPN. November 26, 2011. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
22. "Griffin Accounts for 4 TDs as Baylor Trounces Texas". ESPN. December 3, 2011. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
23. "Washington, Baylor To Play in 2011 Valero Alamo Bowl". Alamo Bowl. December 4, 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-12-06. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
24. "Baylor Wins Alamo Bowl Shootout". USA Today. December 30, 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2011.