In a day of surprising bowl results, Baylor's 31-12 victory against Boise State in the Cactus Bowl might have been the most stunning of all.
The Bears, losers of their last six regular-season games and arguably the most disliked program in college football because of an egregious sexual assault scandal, looked more like the program on the field that fans came to know under former coach Art Briles.
It was also Boise State's worst postseason loss ... ever.
Leading the way was wide receiver KD Cannon, who had 14 catches for 226 yards and a pair of scores. The first came on an impressive jump ball ...
... while the second came on a long yards-after-catch reception in the second quarter. In the first half alone, Cannon had eight grabs for 182 yards.
It wasn't merely Cannon making plays for the offense. The Baylor defense shut the Broncos offense out of the end zone until the end of the game. Boise State had five trips inside the Baylor 20-yard line and walked away with six points on two field goals, two turnovers and a turnover on downs. Quarterback Brett Rypien also tossed a second interception just outside the Baylor red zone.
Baylor finishes the season 7-6 under interim coach Jim Grobe. The Matt Rhule era begins in earnest on Wednesday.
