Southwest Roundup : Baylor Bounces Back to Win, 45-14

As Texas Tech quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver put it: “Even Betty Crocker burns a cake every now and then.”

Baylor’s 17th-ranked Bears scorched Tolliver at Lubbock, Tex., Saturday, intercepting five Tech passes, to beat the Red Raiders, 45-14, in a Southwest Conference opener for both teams.

“We were really fired up. We knew we were going to win,” said Baylor quarterback Cody Carlson, who threw for 2 touchdowns and completed 13 of 26 passes for 309 yards as the Bears (3-1) bounced back from last week’s 17-14 loss to USC.

Carlson, this year’s SWC leader in total offense, is closing in on Baylor’s total offense and passing records. Carlson trails only Don Trull as the school’s total-offense leader.

His touchdown passes came on a 22-yard strike to halfback Charles Perry and a 4-yard toss to split end David Davis, who turned it into a 69-yard scoring play.

With the victory, Grant Teaff became the winningest coach in Baylor history. Teaff (84-74-5) moved ahead of Morley Jennings, whose teams won 83 games from 1926 to 1940. The loss dropped Texas Tech to 2-2.

Reserve quarterback Ed Lovell picked up where Carlson left off, throwing a four-yard touchdown pass to Derrick McAdoo.

The Bears amassed 377 yards passing and total yardage of 568 to Texas Tech’s 361.

SMU 31, TCU 21--At the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Mustang quarterback Bobby Watters victimized the Horned Frogs with two touchdown passes and ran for another score.

Watters, who hit 8 straight passes, completed 11 of 18 attempts for 187 yards. He took the Mustangs on touchdown drives of 80, 81, 80 and 74 yards.

The victory was SMU’s 15th in a row over TCU and left both teams, which are ineligible for SWC title contention or bowl participation because of NCAA sanctions, with 2-1 records.

Watters ran two yards for a touchdown. He threw a six-yard touchdown pass to fullback Cobby Morrison and hit tight end Albert Reese on a seven-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter to put the game out of the reach of the Horned Frogs, who had closed to 24-21 on Bobby Davis’ two touchdowns runs of one yard each.

Tony Jeffery, the nation’s leading rusher and scorer, ran 25 yards for a TCU touchdown. He finished with 110 yards.

Jeff Atkins had 110 yards rushing in 17 carries for the Mustangs, who lead the series with TCU, 34-28-7.

TCU rushed for 220 yards, but it entered the game second in the nation with 429 yards rushing per game.

Arkansas 42, New Mexico St. 11--Quarterback Greg Thomas engineered three touchdown drives in four possessions as the ninth-ranked Razorbacks routed the Aggies at Little Rock, Ark.

Cornerback Odis Lloyd sandwiched a 47-yard pass interception return between two Joe Johnson touchdowns as Arkansas (3-0) opened a 21-3 lead in the first 18 minutes.

New Mexico State (1-4) managed only 93 yards total offense in the first half against an Arkansas defense that was missing injured starting linebackers Rickey Williams and Eric Whitted.

The Razorbacks’ string of not allowing a rushing touchdown ended at 50 quarters when Keith Lott scored from the one with 8:30 left in the game.

SW Texas State 31, Rice 6--Tailback Roy Jackson scored three touchdowns and rushed for 143 yards as the Bobcats stunned the Owls at Houston.

The game was the first for Southwest Texas, a Division I-AA school, against a Southwest Conference school since 1923, when it defeated Rice, 19-6.

Jackson, a junior from Houston, scored on runs of 1, 3 and 1 yards as the Bobcats (1-3) broke a five-game losing streak dating to last season.

Tulsa 24, Houston 14--Quarterback Steve Gage rushed for 2 touchdowns and Derrick Ellison gained 121 yards as the Golden Hurricane knocked off the Cougars at Houston.

Ellison, who carried 17 times, teamed with Kenneth Lee, who had 100 yards in 20 carries, to allow Tulsa (2-1) to control the ball and the game. Raymond Tate countered with 95 yards for Houston (1-2).