Baylor upends No. 17 SMU in 2 OTs as Sawyer Robertson throws for 440 yards, 4 TDs
DALLAS (AP) — Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson threw two of his four touchdowns in the final 5 1/2 minutes of regulation and redshirt freshman Connor Hawkins kicked a game-ending 27-yard field goal in the second overtime as the Bears rallied to beat 17th-ranked SMU 48-45 on Saturday.
Robertson was 34-of-50 passing with 440 yards for the Bears (1-1), who have won 14 meetings in a row against their former Southwest Conference rival since 1986. Bryson Washington ran for 115 yards and two scores, including a 2-yard TD in the first overtime.
“It’s a way competitive group. There’s guys that want to win. … We talk about battle, and hey, you’re in it to win it. You saw that,” Baylor coach Dave Aranda said.
“We can’t get all 14 (points) back right now, so I just said one play at a time,” Robertson said about the deficit midway through the fourth quarter. “In my brain, I was thinking that we’ve got to make something shake and pretty fast. Thankfully we did, and then we had to get the ball back and go do it again. Pretty crazy.”
Collin Rogers was well short on a 57-yard field goal attempt at the end of regulation, then was wide right on a 38-yard try when SMU (1-1) had the ball first in the second overtime period but were held without a first down.
Kevin Jennings threw for 296 yards and three touchdowns, with two 75-yard scores and then a 25-yarder to Romello Brinson on the Mustangs’ first play in overtime. Brinson had one of the 75-yarders on the first play of the game, and Jennings hit freshman Jalen Cooper in stride for the other long score when he got open behind the secondary late in the second quarter.
TJ Harden ran for 115 yards and three touchdowns for SMU, including on back-to-back drives between a Baylor fumble in the fourth quarter to turn a 24-all tie into a 38-24 lead with 8:38 left in regulation. Brinson had four catches for 126 yards.
“For 3 1/2 quarters, we were the better team and then we didn’t finish. You can’t start the job and not finish the job,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said. “Obviously in the second overtime we weren’t able to put the ball in the end zone, and then on top of it we missed the field goal. So we kind of it made it easy on them, didn’t make them have any game pressure there.”
Ashtyn Hawkins had 10 catches for 145 yards for Baylor, which had 601 total yards. Josh Cameron (nine catches, 151 yards) and Kobe Prentice (four catches, 63 yards) each scored twice. Cameron had a 48-yard TD with 5:23 left in regulation, and Prentice’s 21-yard catch with 34 seconds left tied the game.
While the schools are only about 100 miles apart, this was only the seventh time they played since the SWC broke up after the 1995 season. It was the first since 2016.
Robertson rolling
Robertson’s third consecutive 400-yard passing game made him only the fourth Big 12 QB in 15 years to do that. Patrick Mahomes did it for Texas Tech in 2016, five years after Robert Griffin III for Baylor and Brandon Weeden for Oklahoma State. … Only two other FBS quarterback since 2000 have had at least 850 yards passing with seven touchdowns and no interceptions through the first two games in a season. Both were from Texas Tech: Nic Shimonek in 2017 and Cody Hodges in 2005.
The Takeaway
Baylor: After trailing by at least 10 points four times, the Bears took their only lead on the game-ending kick. This was a nice rebound after a season-opening 38-24 loss to Auburn.
SMU: The Mustangs last year made the 12-team College Football Playoff in their ACC debut and first season in a major conference since the SWC, but have lost their last three games against FBS opponents (Clemson in the ACC title game; Penn State in the CFP; and Baylor). The opener this year was a 42-13 win over FCS East Texas A&M, which lost 77-3 at Florida State on Saturday.
Another early loss
Before going undefeated in ACC play last year, SMU lost 18-15 at home to Big 12 team BYU in the third game of the season.
Up next
Baylor is home on Saturday to play FCS team Samford.
SMU plays at Missouri State, a first-year FBS team in Conference USA.
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By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer
