Baylor Football: 3 takeaways from gritty road win over Iowa State

An old maxim says, “sometimes you have to take a step back to take a step forward.” After a tough loss to the BYU Cougars last week, Baylor football rebounded by winning a close, physical game against the Iowa State Cyclones 31-24 in Ames earlier this afternoon. The atmosphere at BYU helped them deal with the atmosphere in Iowa.

”We struggled a little bit at BYU, with the noise and things like that,” Shapen said after throwing for 238 yards and three touchdowns against Iowa State. ”People look at that and don’t give it too much credit at times, but it’s always a big win when you go on the road in conference.”

”I know it’s a tough place to play,” Baylor coach Dave Aranda said. ”It’s just a difficult place. They never beat themselves. You have to win it.”

Coach Aranda had his defensive unit ready, limiting the Cyclones’ offense to 67 rush yards and forcing two turnovers. Offensively, quarterback Blake Shapen was efficient, completing 19 26 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns.

Baylor took control of the game with a ten-play, 93-yard drive to take a 24-14 lead into the fourth quarter.

Here are three takeaways from Saturday afternoon’s game.