Wakley interception seals 34-28 win at Baylor, sends No. 22 BYU to 5-0

WACO, Texas — BYU clung to a six-point lead with a minute to play when safety Crew Wakley picked off a Baylor pass along the sideline, sealing the 34-28 win for the Cougars at McLane Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

"I was proud of the team and proud of the way their response to adversity within the game," BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said. "[The team’s] willingness to stick together, that was something special and speaks to the leadership on our team and the coaches on our team to get these guys ready. I give a lot of credit to Baylor making it interesting at the end. They could have easily folded up, especially at the beginning, but you have to give them credit for being resilient.”

With the win over Baylor, BYU moves to 5-0 on the season and 2-0 in Big 12 play.

The Cougars used efficient offense and yet another forced turnover to take a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. Baylor’s offense found its legs at the end of the first period and by half had cut the BYU lead to 31-14. The Cougar offense struggled to score in the second half, but the BYU defensive backfield came up with a flurry of critical incompletions to put the game away late.

Wakley was one of six BYU defenders to record a team-high four tackles. The safety recorded solo stops on each tackle, including a sack and the game-sealing interception.

Defensive tackle Blake Mangelson also posted four solo tackles and an interception, with his coming in the first quarter and immediately setting up a Cougar touchdown.

BYU’s defense forced six pass breakups, including two from defensive end Logan Lutui at the line of scrimmage. Tyler Batty and defensive tackle John Taumoepeau each recorded sacks, giving the Cougars three against the Bears on the day.

Meanwhile, the BYU offensive line didn’t allow a single sack to a Baylor defense that forced eight a week ago at Colorado.

Quarterback Jake Retzlaff completed 17 of 31 passes for 216 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. Retzlaff led BYU with 53 rushing yards on six carries, including his first rushing score of the season. Running back Enoch Nawahine added 51 rushing yards on 19 carries.

Darius Lassiter proved to be Retzlaff’s favorite target of the day. The senior wide receiver reeled in eight receptions for 120 yards and a touchdown, while averaging 15 yards per grab. 

First Quarter

BYU got off to a fast start on both sides of the ball, with touchdowns on each of its first three offensive drives of the game, along with a turnover and turnover-on-downs forced on its first two defensive series.

Retzlaff stoked the offense with completions on his first four attempts as the Cougars marched down the field for an early touchdown. Facing a 3rd-and-5 in its own territory, BYU moved to midfield as Retzlaff connected with Darius Lassiter over the middle of the field. Lassiter shook off would-be tacklers and turned the 3rd-and-5 into a gain of 24 yards, before picking up 13 more yards on the ensuing pass from Retzlaff.

The Cougars finished the drive with Retzlaff finding running back Miles Davis out of the backfield for a 26-yard scoring strike. BYU’s 7-0 lead came at the 10:52 mark of the opening quarter.

Baylor’s offense took the field for a brief stay as the Cougars forced a turnover on its first play from scrimmage. Defensive tackle John Nelson got a push into the Bear backfield, swatted the pass off course and into the hands of teammate Blake Mangelson for the interception at the Baylor 20-yard line.

The BYU offense made quick work of the takeaway and short field with Pokai Haunga rumbling up the middle for a gain of 11 yards to set up 1st-and-goal. Retzlaff then swung the ball out to Chase Roberts for a two-yard touchdown, giving the Cougars a 14-0 lead with 8:26 to play in the first.

The Bears marched to the BYU 31-yard line but were stood up there with Isaiah Glasker shooting into the backfield and dropping the ball-carrier for a loss of two on 4th-and-1.

After the turnover on downs, the Cougar offense moved downfield with a pair of positive carries from Enoch Nawahine and a 12-yard completion along the sideline from Retzlaff to Keelan Marion.

With nobody open downfield, Retzlaff tucked and ran for a gain of 15 yards plus 15 more with penalty yardage tacked on from a late-hit out of bounds. The Cougar signal-caller finished the drive with his feet, storming into the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown run that put BYU up 21-0 with 3:43 to go in the quarter.

Baylor capitalized on a pair of third down conversions and got on the board to trim BYU’s lead to 21-7 as the quarter closed.

Second Quarter

BYU responded to the Baylor touchdown as it converted on two key third down plays to extend a 10-play, 85-yard scoring drive at the top of the second quarter.

The Cougars faced 3rd-and-9 from their own 16 when Retzlaff found Roberts over the middle of the field for a chain-moving reception. On 3rd-and-5 from its own 31, BYU again moved the sticks as Retzlaff connected with Lassiter for a gain of nine. Retzlaff brought the Cougars into striking distance as he avoided pressure and checked down to Haunga who made defenders miss and picked up nine more yards.

Three plays later, BYU extended its lead with Retzlaff dropping back and letting loose a laser to Lassiter on a 44-yard touchdown pass. The Cougars 28-7 lead came with 9:32 to play before the half.

BYU’s defense kept the Bears at bay midway through the quarter with a pass breakup courtesy of Marque Collins and a sack for a loss of 11 yards from safety Crew Wakley blitzing off the edge.

Baylor forced a three-and-out and engineered a seven-play, 57-yard touchdown drive to cut into BYU’s lead 28-14 with 3:27 until the break.

The Cougars weren’t done scoring yet and advanced into plus territory with Retzlaff finding Lassiter and Roberts for completions of 14 and 10 yards, respectively. A 14-yard scamper from Retzlaff set BYU up for a field goal and Will Ferrin answered the call with a career-long 54-yarder that put BYU up 31-14 with 30 seconds remaining in the half.

The Cougars retained the 31-14 lead at halftime following a missed 50-yard field goal attempt from Baylor.

Third Quarter

Tyler Batty started the half strong for the Cougar defense with a sack for a loss of six yards on the very first play of the half, but Baylor recovered from the disruption and ended a 13-play, 66-yard drive with a touchdown. With the score, the Bears had cut into BYU’s lead at 31-21 with 8:44 to play in the third.

The Cougars’ ensuing drive appeared stalled at their own 35 yard-line when punter Sam Vander Haar moved the sticks on a 22-yard fake-punt run. Lassiter hauled in two more passes of 10 and nine yards to set up a 37-yard field goal from Ferrin. The made field goal put BYU up 34-21 with 3:33 left in the quarter.

A trio of scoreless drives ended the period with the Cougars retaining their 13-point lead.

Fourth Quarter

After a missed field goal attempt from BYU, Baylor put together a six-play, 68-yard touchdown drive to bring the Cougar lead to just six with 10:07 remaining.

While the BYU offense came up empty on its ensuing drive, Vander Haar came up with another key special teams play as the Australian punter booted the ball 70 yards to pin the Bears at their own three yard-line. The Cougar defense forced a three-and-out of its own with defensive tackle John Taumoepeau fighting through a block to pressure the quarterback and force an intentional grounding that put the Baylor attack off schedule.

BYU’s defense sealed the game with a series of critical plays in pass coverage.

On 3rd-and-6 with 1:54 to play and Baylor at the Cougar 24 yard-line, linebacker Jack Kelly broke up a pass and sent the Bears to fourth down. Corner Jakob Robinson hampered the would-be Baylor pass-catcher and forced an incompletion to return the ball to the BYU offense.

The Bears had one more shot on offense in the waning moments of the game but an incompletion with linebacker Aisea Moa in coverage and ensuing holding call against Baylor sent the home team to 2nd-and-20 from their own 29. The Bears let it fly for a receiver along the near sideline but Wakley read the eyes of the quarterback and plucked the ball away for the game-sealing interception.  

Following a bye week on Oct. 5, BYU returns home to face Arizona at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Oct. 12. Television broadcast details and kickoff time are forthcoming for the matchup between the Cougars and Wildcats. Fans can listen to live play-by-play of the game on BYU Radio.