DJ Lagway passed for two touchdowns and rushed for a third, and Baylor scored a 42-31 win over visiting Iowa State on Saturday in Waco, Texas, to secure bowl eligibility.
The Bears (6-3, 4-2 Big 12 Conference) came out of the blocks slowly against a Cyclones team that came in winless away from home this season. Baylor was forced to punt on each of its first four possessions and trailed by 10 points twice in the first half.
But when Iowa State’s Aiden Flora muffed the fourth of those punts near midfield, Lagway needed just two completions to get the Bears into the end zone for the first time.
A 29-yard connection with Gavin Freeman and a 19-yard scoring strike to tight end Tony Livingston reenergized Baylor.
After surrendering a 50-yard touchdown pass from Jaylen Raynor to Cameron Pettaway, the Bears answered in five plays and 75 yards, 54 of which came on a Lagway run to the end zone.
Baylor forced a punt to regain possession, and its ensuing drive nearly ended in another Lagway touchdown run. The Bears quarterback had the ball knocked free at the goal line, but lineman Koltin Sieracki was there to fall on the fumble and secure the score.
Iowa State (4-5, 2-4) scored first-half touchdowns on drives of 91 and 75 yards, the former capped by Flora’s 40-yard run to the end zone. The Cyclones also drove 71 yards on a possession that ended with Kyle Konrardy missing a 41-yard field goal attempt.
Over four drives from the late second quarter into the mid-third quarter, however, Iowa State mustered just 35 yards total. Baylor opened the floodgates during this stretch, flipping what had been a 10-point deficit into an 18-point lead.
Lagway threw his second touchdown pass on a deep ball along the sideline to Taz Williams Jr., who beat his man en route to a 62-yard score. Ryelan Morris added touchdown runs of 33 and 11 yards to put the win away for the Bears, who improved to 2-0 under interim head coach Joe Klanderman.
Lagway finished 16 of 28 for 229 yards passing and led Baylor with 119 yards on 13 carries.
Saturday’s touchdown catch was the third in the last two games for Livingston, a Florida transfer along with Lagway.
Flora rushed for 182 yards to pace Iowa State. Raynor rushed for 23 yards and scored a 3-yard touchdown in the closing minutes to go with his two scoring passes.
Raynor finished 22 of 37 for 256 yards and connected with tight end Vince Benetti on a 9-yard TD pass at the start of the fourth quarter.