Baylor 69, Albany 10
(AP Photo/LM Otero)
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer
WACO, Texas - Blake Shapen completed 17 of 20 passes for 214 yards with two long touchdowns and had a nifty dive into the end zone for another score on the final play of the first half as 10th-ranked Baylor opened its season with a 69-10 victory over FCS team Albany.
Gavin Holmes, the sixth-year Bears wideout who missed all of last season because of a foot injury, returned a punt 72 yards for a score. Monaray Baldwin had two touchdowns, on a 47-yard catch for Baylor's first score before adding a 50-yard reverse run after halftime.
The reigning Big 12 champion Bears have a six-game winning streak, matching fourth-ranked Clemson for the longest active among FBS teams. The Tigers open their season Monday night against Georgia Tech.
Shapen's 1-yard TD run gave Baylor a 35-7 halftime lead. Shapen swept to the right sideline and dived toward the end zone. He switched the ball from his right to left hand and was able to reach it out to hit the pylon before falling down out of bounds.
One of Shapen's two starts while Gerry Bohanon was hurt last season came in the Big 12 championship game when he completed his first 17 passes and had three TDs. Shapen won the quarterback job in spring practice over incumbent starter Bohanon, who is now starting at South Florida.
The Bears led 21-0 with 5 1/2 minutes left in the first quarter when Holmes broke away from an initial tackler after fielding the punt, then weaved through other defenders toward the sideline and into the end zone. He started four games as a freshman in 2017, but was limited to one game the next two seasons after twice tearing the ACL in the same knee. He had 33 catches while starting all nine games during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Albany sophomore Reese Poffenbarger threw a 17-yard TD to Julian Hicks while completing 13 of 26 passes. Poffenbarger, a transfer from Old Dominion, had never taken a college snap before coming out of a four-quarterback competition in fall camp to start the first game.
THE TAKEAWAY
Albany: The Great Danes are 3-13 overall since making the FCS playoffs during the 2019 season. They were 2-9 last fall, after going 1-3 in a spring season when the 2020 fall season was pushed back because of the pandemic.
Baylor: Third-year coach Dave Aranda got what he wanted with a crisper start this season. This game was never in question, and the Bears scored four touchdowns in the final 17 minutes after the starters were out of the game. That included two rushing TDs by freshman Richard Reese. Long before their Big 12 title and Sugar Bowl victory last season while winning a school-record 12 games, the Bears had to grind out a 29-20 win in their opener at Texas State, a Sun Belt team that went on to a losing record.
| Scoring Summary |
| First Quarter |
Albany | Baylor |
| Baylor |
TD |
10:59 |
Monaray Baldwin 47 yard TD pass from Blake Shapen (Isaiah Hankins Extra Point) |
0 |
7 |
| Baylor |
TD |
8:03 |
Craig Williams 4 yard TD run (Isaiah Hankins Extra Point) |
0 |
14 |
| Baylor |
TD |
5:37 |
Gavin Holmes 72 yard punt return for TD (Isaiah Hankins Extra Point) |
0 |
21 |
| Albany |
TD |
0:00 |
Julian Hicks 17 yard TD pass from Reese Poffenbarger (John Opalko Extra Point) |
7 |
21 |
| Second Quarter |
Albany | Baylor |
| Baylor |
TD |
11:55 |
Hal Presley 38 yard TD pass from Blake Shapen (Isaiah Hankins Extra Point) |
7 |
28 |
| Baylor |
TD |
0:00 |
Blake Shapen 1 yard TD run (Isaiah Hankins Extra Point) |
7 |
35 |
| Third Quarter |
Albany | Baylor |
| Baylor |
TD |
11:48 |
Monaray Baldwin 50 yard TD run (Isaiah Hankins Extra Point) |
7 |
42 |
| Albany |
FG |
6:19 |
John Opalko 25 yard field goal |
10 |
42 |
| Baylor |
TD |
1:54 |
Kyron Drones 9 yard TD run (Isaiah Hankins Extra Point) |
10 |
49 |
| Fourth Quarter |
Albany | Baylor |
| Baylor |
TD |
12:33 |
Richard Reese 1 yard TD run (Isaiah Hankins Extra Point) |
10 |
56 |
| Baylor |
TD |
9:10 |
Richard Reese 7 yard TD run (Isaiah Hankins Extra Point) |
10 |
63 |
| Baylor |
TD |
5:46 |
Qualan Jones 27 yard TD run (Isaiah Hankins Kick Failed) |
10 |
69 |
| Team Stats |
| |
Albany |
Baylor |
| First downs |
10 |
30 |
| Rushing |
3 |
12 |
| Passing |
6 |
12 |
| Penalty |
1 |
6 |
| 3rd Down Efficiency |
5-17, 29% |
6-10, 60% |
| 4th down efficiency |
0-0, -% |
1-2, 50% |
| Rushes-Yards |
30-87 |
40-243 |
| Passing Yards |
148 |
315 |
| Return Yards |
31 |
171 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int |
13-30-0 |
22-27-0 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost |
2-10 |
2-6 |
| Punts |
9 |
2 |
| Fumbles Lost |
1-1 |
0-0 |
| Penalties - Yards |
10-72 |
8-75 |
| Albany Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| Baylor Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| Albany Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| T. Pastula |
9 |
408 |
45.3 |
| Baylor Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| I. Power |
2 |
71 |
35.5 |
| Albany Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| Albany Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| Baylor Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
