North Carolina vs Baylor

Baylor fans were probably expecting to see sophomore quarterback Chris Johnson taking the majority of the snaps for the Bears’ offense before the Russell Athletic Bowl kicked off in Orlando, Fla.

With Baylor at 9-3 and North Carolina at 11-2, the Tar Heels are favored to win the Russell Athletic Bowl by a small margin.

No. 22 LSU 56, Texas Tech 27: In Houston, Leonard Fournette scored five touchdowns and ran for 212 yards as the No. 22 Tigers used a big third quarter to pull away for a win over the Red Raiders. The score was tied at seven with 4:25 left in the first quarter.

Each side scored once more in the fourth quarter.

Most rushing TDs in a game – Baylor record. Starting running back Shock Linwood was hurt, too. With Baylor’s capability of running 96 plays in a game (only 18 of which were passes tonight), the Bears are just as durable and prolific as any offense in the country.

Baylor’s scheme seemed simple, its plays predictable. “From a whole, the adversity we went through this year, the guys stuck together as only a team could do”. Stidham had taken over for starter Seth Russell when Russell injured his neck in October and had to undergo surgery.

For most of this season North Carolina was able to distinguish itself as the more dominant offensive team on the football field.

The preseason ACC co-player of the year looked just fine, scoring 14 points in 21 minutes. Art Briles had a solution: don’t run.

Chafin would finish with 161 yards and a touchdown and Terrence Williams would have 97 yards and two touchdowns. But he extended his own school season records he had already broken, finishing with 43 touchdowns and a Pac-12 record 4,719 yards.

But it was the Tar Heels’ offense that was the story of the game. With 2:18 left in the third quarter, the score was 42-24, with Baylor extending their lead. Baylor responded with two consecutive touchdowns, Terrance Williams scored from 3-yards out and Jefferson’s 80-yard run.

The Tar Heels had just 11 seniors on their depth chart for the bowl game and are expected to return the bulk of their roster including Hood, receivers Ryan Switzer and Mack Hollins, and several offensive linemen. Lynx Hawthorne had 49 yards and Williams 45, but they only carried five times. The Bears finished with 759 total yards. The Tar Heels’ success this season was defined by grit _ by a never-give-in attitude. They also had a couple of unlucky breaks as the end of the first half touchdown drive showed. The Tar Heels only other loss on the season came in the season-opener to a bad SC team. The most pressing issue was fixing a defense that had allowed more points and yards than any in school history. Yet this, what happened on Tuesday, was hard to fathom _ especially given Baylor’s injuries.

Despite missing two quarterbacks, an award-winning receiver and a 1,000-yard running back, the Bears’ top-ranked scoring offense stayed creative, pounding out 645 yards rushing – the most ever in a bowl game – and 756 total yards.

The Tar Heels were in contention for a College Football Playoff spot, albeit a long shot, before their 45-37 loss to No. 1 Clemson in the ACC title game.