• Baylor football runs past 10th-ranked UNC, 49-38, to win 2015 Russell Athletic Bowl

    Baylor: 2015 Russell Athletic Bowl champs!

    In our bowl preview, we noted that Baylor’s rushing attack could carry the day, and to “expect the Bears to try and take advantage of this mismatch.”

    Boy, did they ever.

    Even without All-Big 12 running back Shock Linwood, the 17th-ranked Bears set a record for any bowl game, anywhere, ever, with 645 yards rushing, and rode that success to a 49-38 win over No. 10 North Carolina Tuesday night in the Russell Athletic Bowl.

    [LINKS: ESPN video highlights || Recaps: ESPN, Sports Illustrated || Trophy presentation video || Postgame interviews: Art Briles, Bowl MVP Johnny Jefferson || Photo gallery]

    With the team’s top running back, the nation’s best wide receiver, and the team’s top two quarterbacks all out with injuries, head coach Art Briles took advantage of the three weeks leading up to the bowl to draw up a completely new offense. And so it was that the Bears relied almost exclusively on their offensive line and running backs, led by sophomore Johnny Jefferson — the Bears’ No. 3 back most of the season — who rushed for a school-record 299 yards and three touchdowns. The win improves Baylor to 10-3 on the season — the Bears’ fourth 10-win season in five years after accomplishing the feat just once before Briles’ arrival. And so a roller-coaster of a season that saw the Bears start out 8-0 and reach as high as No. 2 in the country before injuries starting piling up ends on a high note.

    [BOWL WEEK PHOTOS: Visit to Give Kids the World Village || Pep rally || Pre-game tailgating]

    This year’s seniors will leave having tied last year’s graduates as the winningest class in Baylor football history, having won 40 games (and two Big 12 titles) in their four years here. Many of these seniors committed to Baylor before RG3’s Heisman, before McLane Stadium, before winning became the norm for this program.

    Want more good news? Baylor returns 14 of 25 starters next year; specifically, all five of the Bears’ leading rushers should be back next fall, and all three quarterbacks should be healthy and ready to go before the 2016 season begins.

    Thanks to Baylor Nation for turning out to support the team this year, through good and bad, including the 250 students who bussed 24 hours from Waco to Orlando to cheer on the Bears in person. (Their next stop? A day at Disney World on Wednesday before they return to campus.) In short…

    Sic ’em, Bears!