Top 25 football roundup: No. 12 Baylor beats West Virginia 17-14 to improve to 8-0

Charlie Brewer threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns, and John Mayers kicked a go-ahead 36-yard field goal to help No. 12 Baylor win its 10th game in a row, 17-14 over West Virginia on Thursday night in Waco, Texas.

The Bears (8-0, 5-0 Big 12), who two seasons ago won only one game, are the league’s only undefeated team – and one of eight remaining among FBS teams.

Mayers’ kick with 10 minutes, 19 seconds left broke a 14-all tie and put Baylor ahead to stay after a 13-play drive that took more than 6 minutes off the clock on an often frustrating offensive night for the Bears.

West Virginia (3-5, 1-4) had eight quarterback sacks. With second-and-goal from the 1 late in the second quarter, Baylor was stuffed for no gain on three consecutive plays and had to settle for a 7-0 halftime lead.

Still, the Bears avoided what happened last Saturday, when the Big 12’s other three ranked teams that did play lost while they had an open date. That included Oklahoma’s loss at Kansas State that left Baylor alone atop the conference standings.

Georgia Southern 24, (20) Appalachian State 21: Wesley Kennedy ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns and the Eagles (5-3, 3-1 Sun Belt) upset the Mountaineers (7-1, 4-1) for the second straight season.

The Eagles ran for 335 yards and held the country’s ninth-highest scoring offense in check most of the night on a rainy, windy Halloween night. Georgia Southern ended Appalachian State’s 13-game winning streak, handing the Mountaineers their first loss since the Eagles knocked them out of the Top 25 more than a year ago with a 34-14 victory.

Kennedy took an option pitch from Shai Werts and raced 68 yards for a touchdown on the first possession of the second half.