Baylor football upsets nation’s No. 1 team for first time in program history

One year ago this weekend, Baylor football shocked the world. Saturday night, the Bears did it again.

For the first time in program history, Baylor took down the No. 1 team in the nation — and the Bears did so handily, beating top-ranked Kansas State 52-24 at Floyd Casey Stadium.

[LINKS: AP recap || Video highlights from Sic ‘Em Sports and ESPN || Photos from Baylor Photography and the AP] 

The Bears accomplished the feat with a balanced game in which Nick Florence threw for two touchdowns and ran for another while Lache Seastrunk and Glasco Martin combined to rush for nearly 300 yards and four TDs. Meanwhile, the Baylor defense picked off Heisman frontrunner Collin Klein, the Wildcats’ QB, three times — as many interceptions as Klein had thrown all year coming into the night.

Before last season, Baylor hadn’t defeated a top-5 team since 1985; now, BU has won two straight against such opponents. And boy was it fun to see Baylor Nation react… To see the fans rush on the field on a primetime, national ESPN broadcast. To see a Facebook post announcing the score gather 8,000+ likes less than an hour after the game ended. To watch my phone buzz continually the rest of the night from people tweeting their Baylor pride.

And of course, it’s fun to see major websites like ESPN and SI.com splashing “BAYLOR” across their front pages. Perhaps my favorite tweet of the night came from Sports Illustrated: “Waco, Texas: where ranked teams go to lose.”

The Bears still need one more win to clinch a third-straight bowl game, and good crowds in the next two games — next Saturday against Texas Tech at Cowboys Stadium, and Dec. 1 in Waco against Oklahoma State — could help make the difference. Art Briles called Saturday night’s crowd the most energetic he’d seen in Waco; let’s give the Bears that energy every game the rest of the year. Get your tickets now!

Sic ’em, Baylor football!