Cactus Bowl, Boise State vs Baylor: Highlights, score and recap
Recapping the 2016 Cactus Bowl between the Boise State Broncos and Baylor Bears on Tuesday night at Chase Field.
The Baylor Bears snapped a six game losing streak with a dominant 31-12 upset of the Boise State Broncos in the 2016 Cactus Bowl on Tuesday night at Chase Field.
Baylor dominated much of the first quarter, but was kept off the scoreboard by a Boise State interception and fourth down stop. Finally, the Bears opened the scoring nine minutes in on backup quarterback Zach Smith’s 30 yard touchdown pass to star receiver K.D. Cannon.
Boise State responded with its first sustained drive of the night on a 16 play drive, although Baylor held inside the 10 to force a field goal. Just over a minute later, Baylor pushed the lead to 14-3, as Cannon torched Jonathan Moxey for a 68 yard touchdown.
The Broncos offense continued to move the ball effectively before Orion Stewart picked off Brett Rypien in the end zone. Baylor was stopped deep in its own territory on the next drive, but got a fresh set of downs on a roughing the punter penalty, leading to another touchdown and a commanding 21-3 Bears advantage.
Boise State managed another short field goal before the half, as its inability to finish drives led to a 21-6 deficit. After struggling for the past few weeks, Smith threw for 285 yards in the first half, 170 of which went to Cannon, as the Broncos defense had its worst half of the season so far.
Jeremy McNichols led the Broncos down the field for the the fourth consecutive possession, but Boise State was stuffed twice inside the five and came away with no points yet again. Linebacker Taylor Young made a terrific open field tackle on McNichols on third and goal, continuing his strong showing from the first half.
The Bears took six minutes off the clock on an 18 play drive that featured a healthy mix of Cannon and running back Terrance Williams, leading to a field goal and 24-6 advantage. While Rypien found some rhythm on the next drive, McNichols fumbled on the Baylor 17, as Boise State failed to get back in the game with another turnover in the red zone.
A few minutes later, Baylor took an insurmountable 31- 6 lead on Smith’s short touchdown pass to Ishmael Zamora. Rypien couldn’t engineer a comeback, as the Bears held on for a comfortable 31-12 victory following a garbage time touchdown.
After looking lifeless for weeks, Baylor’s offense came alive with 515 yards against a solid Boise State defense. The Broncos managed just 12 points with 388 total yards, and lost the turnover battle against a Baylor team that had a -7 margin in the regular season. Rypien had one of the worst games of his career, completing 32 of 51 passes for 305 yards, one touchdown and two picks.
Highlights
Three Stars
1. K.D. Cannon, WR, Baylor. Reeled in two long touchdown passes in the first half to give Baylor the early lead, finishing with 14 catches for 226 yards.
2. Zach Smith, QB, Baylor. Struggled to replace the injured Seth Russell during the regular season, but was terrific on Tuesday with 375 passing yards and three touchdowns to one interception.
3. Orion Stewart, S, Baylor. Ended two Boise State drives in the red zone with an interception and fumble recovery while leading the effort to limit Rypien.