Baylor topped Vanderbilt 45-38 on Thursday in the Texas Bowl, one of the wildest college football games of the season. One day after the nine-interception, 10-7 overtime abomination between TCU and Cal in the Cheez-It Bowl, the Bears and Commodores combined for six touchdown plays of 30 or more yards, 1,241 combined yards and produced plenty of fun at NRG Stadium in Houston.
The dagger was a 52-yard touchdown catch and run from Bears quarterback Charlie Brewer to Marques Jones with 1:50 left. Brewer completed 21-of-34 passes for 381 yards and two touchdowns, and he was the team's leading rusher with 116 yards and another score. He became the third quarterback in Baylor history to throw for 300 yards and rush for 100 yards in a single game, joining Seth Russell in 2015 and Robert Griffin III in 2011. Running back Trestan Ebner added 90 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown, three catches for 109 yards and another touchdown.
Check out some of the ridiculous offensive stats from the game.
| Team | Total Yds | Yds per play | 4th down | Scoring plays of 30+ yds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Vanderbilt | 573 | 9.2 | 1-2 | 3 |
Baylor | 668 | 8.2 | 5-5 | 3 |
The win pushes Baylor's record to 7-6 in 2018, one year after a 1-11 campaign in Matt Rhule's first season with the program. Rhule promised the Bears would get to a bowl game in his second year, and they not only did so, they beat a worthy SEC team in the Texas Bowl.
Vanderbilt gave Baylor all it could on Thursday. Running back Ke'Shawn Vaughn rushed for 243 yards and two touchdowns on just 13 carries, including scoring runs of 68 and 69 yards in the first half. In doing so, he set the program record for rushing yards in a bowl game. In his last game with the program, senior quarterback Kyle Shurmur threw for 286 yards and one touchdown for the Commodores. The loss drops Vandy to 6-7 on the season, despite the valiant effort against the Bears.