Dec 29, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Baylor Bears running back Johnny Jefferson (5) runs the ball 80 yards for a touchdown as North Carolina Tar Heels cornerback M.J. Stewart (6) gives chase during the second half of a football game at Florida Citrus Bowl. Baylor won 49-38. Photo Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
ORLANDO, Fla. — Baylor running back Johnny Jefferson produced 299 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries, and the Bears earned a 49-38 win over North Carolina in the Russell Athletic Bowl on Tuesday.
Jefferson scored on second-quarter runs on 11 and 27 yards, and he added an 80-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
Fellow Bears running back Devin Chafin contributed 156 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries, and running back Terence Williams had 97 yards and two scores on 16 rushes. Baylor (10-3) finished with 645 yards and seven TDs on 84 carries.
Quarterback Marquise Williams produced five touchdowns for North Carolina (11-3). He completed 22 of 36 passes for 243 yards, three scores and one interception, and he ran 17 times for 81 yards and two TDs.
Tar Heels running back Elijah Hood gained 118 yards on 13 carries.
Baylor wasn’t shy about its strategy. The Bears used three quarterbacks and went for it twice on fourth down on their first possession. Carolina stopped them the second time at the UNC 31, but that was it for highlights for the Tar Heels defense.
Baylor broke Illinois’ 16-year old Russell Athletic Bowl rushing record of 325 yards — before halftime.
Jefferson had 173 yards on 12 carries. Chafin had 74 yards on 12 carries. Lynx Hawthorne had 49 yards and Williams 45, but they only carried five times.
Jefferson broke the RAB rushing record on his second touchdown run, a 27-yard burst up the middle late in the second quarter. That was one of 10 rushes for more than 10 yards in the first half. Baylor finished the half using five players to take snaps from center, rushing for 358 yards and passing for another 66.
The net result was a 28-17 halftime lead that really wasn’t secure, thanks mostly to Williams.
The Tar Heels’ quarterback did his best to keep Carolina in the game, completing 11 passes for 96 yards and one touchdown and running 11 times for 62 yards and a score.
NOTES: Baylor coach Art Briles had a clever way of spinning the injuries that forced the Bears to play without All-American WR Corey Coleman (hernia), QB Seth Russell (neck), QB Jarrett Stidham (ankle), RB Shock Linwood (broken foot) and OT Pat Colbert. “If you’ve got a bowl of cereal and you wanted bacon and eggs, you get to eat the cereal,” Briles said. “We got what we want. You know what I’m saying? That’s kind of where we are.” … North Carolina DT Nazair Jones tweeted before the game that he would not play because of a concussion. … North Carolina was first in the nation in average yards per play (7.3). Baylor is second (7.25). … This was the first time since 1996 that North Carolina played in a bowl with both teams ranked. … North Carolina RB Elijah Hood was second in the ACC with 1,345 yards rushing and entered the bowl with 17 touchdowns.
