Sophomore wide reciever R.J. Shelton scores a touchdown Jan. 1, 2015, during The Cotton Bowl Classic football game against Baylor at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. At halftime, the Bears were leading the Spartans, 24-14. Erin Hampton/The State News
When two teams average 48 and 43 points per game, a shootout in the first half shouldn't come as much of a surprise.
There were almost as many touchdowns as punts in the first half, and when the dust settled Baylor went into the locker room leading 24-14.
No. 5 Baylor (11-1 overall) used their fast paced, quick strike offense to score on long passes in the first quarter, one from Bryce Petty and one from wide receiver Jay Lee.
Petty was able to find K.D. Cannon for a 56 yard touchdown pass as well.
MSU used balance to score twice and the first quarter. R.J. Shelton scored as well as Jeremy Langford. The first quarter ended tied at 14-14.
On their first drive of the second quarter MSU tried a fake field goal from the 32-yard line that wasn't successful. BU took over and marched down the field with a 10 play drive highlighted by two drive saving penalties from MSU. The Bears scored on a one yard touchdown run to take a 21-14 lead with 8:13 remaining in the quarter.
Baylor added a field goal with 3:14 remaining in the first half to make it 24-14.
Senior running back Jeremy Langford busted off a 65-yard run on the second play from scrimmage to put MSU on the one yard line of BU. He struggled for the rest of the quarter but picked it up in the second quarter and finished the half with 16 carries for 116 yards and one touchdown.
Junior quarterback Connor Cook was efficient, going 12-20 with 105 yards, but BU quarterback Bryce Petty stole the show, breaking the Cotton Bowl record for total offense in the first half by going 18-27 with 245 yards and one touchdown with countless long passes. He had 249 yards of total offense.
Stay tuned to The State News for second half updates.
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