Baylor buries UCLA in Holiday Bowl
SAN DIEGO – Glasco Martin ran for three touchdowns, Nick Florence threw for two scores and ran for another, and Baylor overwhelmed UCLA 49-26 in the Holiday Bowl on Thursday night.
Lache Seastrunk rushed 16 times for 138 yards and one score for Baylor, which outgained UCLA 494-362.
The Bears came in leading the nation in total offense with 578 yards per game.
Florence completed 10 of 13 passes for 188 yards, giving him 4,309 for the season to break Robert Griffin III’s school season record of 4,293 set in 2011.
Baylor’s defense came up big, too. The Bears sacked Brett Hundley six times, including two by Chris McAllister, and shut down UCLA’s career rushing leader Johnathan Franklin.
Franklin, who averaged 130.8 yards this season, gained 12 yards on his first carry of the game but was a non-factor after that, finishing with just 34 yards on 14 carries.
Baylor (8-5) won its final four games and five of six.
UCLA (9-5) lost its final three.
Hundley was 26 of 50 for 329 yards and three touchdowns to set UCLA’s season passing record with 3,740 yards. The record had been 3,470 by Cade McNown in 1998.
The Bruins were never in this one. Baylor raced to a 21-0 lead by early in the second quarter on Martin’s 4-yard run and Florence’s TD passes of 8 yards to Antwan Goodley and 55 yards to Tevin Reese.
UCLA punted four times and lost the ball on downs before getting a break when Baylor’s Jordan Navjar fumbled after a reception when he was hit by Eric Kendricks, with Randal Goforth recovering at the Bears’ 21.
Two plays later, Joseph Fauria caught a 22-yard pass from Hundley to pull the Bruins to 21-7.
Baylor quickly added two more touchdowns to put it out of reach at 35-7. Martin burst up the middle for his second touchdown run of the game, a 26-yarder, and, after UCLA punted yet again, Seastrunk broke free for a 43-yard touchdown run with 1:58 left before halftime.
UCLA then converted two fourth downs, including a fake punt, to move to the Baylor 12 with 7 seconds left. On fourth-and-10, coach Jim Mora opted to go for a field goal and Ka’imi Fairbairn converted from 30 yards.
Martin added a 1-yard TD run in the third quarter and Florence had a 1-yard scoring run in the fourth.
Martin had 98 yards on 21 carries.
USC’s Kiffin apologizes
USC coach Lane Kiffin, who delivered several apologies for missteps during the regular season, offered another for etiquette slips by the Trojans in the run-up to Monday’s Sun Bowl against Georgia Tech at El Paso, Texas.
On Wednesday night, the Trojans arrived late for a kickoff dinner that was to involve both teams and bowl officials. Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson and his team were leaving as the Trojans arrived. The perceived slight, fueled by a photo of an empty dining room, became a hot topic on Twitter and news outlets.
Kiffin said the Trojans were 30 minutes tardy because of their late arrival at the airport, which pushed back the start of a late-afternoon practice.
Baylor 49, UCLA 26
| Baylor | 14 | 21 | 7 | 7 | — | 49 |
| UCLA | 0 | 10 | 3 | 13 | — | 26 |
Bay—Martin 4 run (A.Jones kick)
Bay—Goodley 8 pass from Florence (A.Jones kick)
Bay—T.Reese 55 pass from Florence (A.Jones kick)
UCLA—Fauria 22 pass from Hundley (Fairbairn kick)
Bay—Martin 26 run (A.Jones kick)
Bay—Seastrunk 43 run (A.Jones kick)
UCLA—FG Fairbairn 30
UCLA—FG Fairbairn 40
Bay—Martin 1 run (A.Jones kick)
UCLA—Evans 24 pass from Hundley (pass failed)
Bay—Florence 1 run (A.Jones kick)
UCLA—Sweet 34 pass from Hundley (Fairbairn kick)
A—55,507.
| Bay | UCLA | |
| First downs | 25 | 17 |
| Rushes-yards | 67-306 | 28-33 |
| Passing | 188 | 329 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 10-13-0 | 26-52-0 |
| Return Yards | 17 | 50 |
| Punts-Avg. | 4-40.8 | 6-42.7 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 4-3 | 2-0 |
| Penalties-Yards | 1-5 | 6-59 |
| Time of Poss. | 35:30 | 24:30 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Baylor, Seastrunk 16-138, Martin 21-98, Florence 18-37, Salubi 8-27, Goodley 1-5, T.Reese 1-4, Petty 1-(minus 1), Team 1-(minus 2). UCLA, Franklin 14-34, Locke 1-8, James 2-3, Fuller 1-0, Walker 1-(minus 2), Hundley 9-(minus 10). PASSING—Baylor, Florence 10-13-0-188. UCLA, Hundley 26-50-0-329. RECEIVING—Baylor, T.Reese 2-68, T.Williams 2-68, Goodley 2-19, Najvar 2-16, Norwood 1-10, Sampson 1-7. UCLA, Evans 7-82, J.Johnson 5-116, Fauria 5-59, Walker 3-19, Fuller 3-12, Sweet 1-34, Franklin 1-4, Payton 1-3.