COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — In the game’s first 14 snaps, Baylor’s state championship hopes had been all but dashed.
The Red Raiders’ first two possessions Thursday night ended disastrously as they turned the ball over to Ensworth on the wrong side of the 50 each time and the Tigers cashed in, needing just three pays to score two quick touchdowns. The only reason it wasn’t two touchdowns in two plays was because Keshonn Carter dropped a sure scoring pass one play before Corn Elder sprinted untouched up the middle of the field for a 38-yard score.
Even after having its first possession extended by a roughing-the-punter call, then being set up with a first-and-5 on another Ensworth penalty one snap later, Baylor still couldn’t pick up a first down, gaining just 1 yard on the next three plays. Facing a fourth-and-4 situation, Baylor tried a fake punt from its 45.
In their regular-season game against the Nashville team, the Red Raiders used a fake punt in the second quarter to overcome a sluggish start and kick-start the offense into high gear for what became a 28-point win. But Thursday night, the Red Raiders’ trickery had just the opposite effect when Colton Jumper, who had converted the regular-season fake, was stuffed for no gain.
After Rico Watson dashed for a touchdown on Ensworth’s first play after that, the Red Raiders gave it back when Matthew Oellerich was intercepted by Vanderbilt commitment Cory Batey, and Elder’s scoring run looked all too easy.