College Sports
DJ Lagway Throws Four Touchdowns As Baylor Beats UCF 41–9
Lagway passed for 319 yards as Baylor held UCF to three field goals in Friday’s road victory.
DJ Lagway threw four touchdown passes and Baylor beat UCF 41–9 in Orlando on Friday, giving Joe Klanderman a victory in his first game as interim head coach. The Bears improved to 5–3 overall and 3–2 in Big 12 play.
Lagway completed 16 of 25 passes for 319 yards, matching his career high for touchdown throws. Tony Livingston caught two, while Gavin Freeman and Matthew Klopfenstein supplied the other scoring receptions. Freeman finished with five catches for 114 yards, his fifth 100-yard receiving game this season.
Baylor led 20–6 at halftime and scored touchdowns on its first two possessions after the break. Lagway’s 21-yard strike and Freeman’s 77-yard score extended the advantage to 34–6, leaving UCF facing a four-touchdown deficit.
Will Stone provided all nine UCF points with three field goals. His 57-yarder before halftime set a school record, briefly cutting into Baylor’s lead after the Knights had fallen behind 20–3 late in the second quarter.
Baylor’s defense recorded seven sacks and limited UCF to 66 rushing yards. Jamaal Whyce Jr. and Kaleb Burns each contributed 1.5 sacks, while Travion Barnes and Micah Gifford led the Bears with six tackles apiece.
Alonza Barnett III entered at quarterback for UCF in the second half. His 67-yard completion to Josh Derry was the Knights’ longest play of the season and helped create another field-goal opportunity.
Klanderman took over Sunday after Dave Aranda’s departure. Baylor returns home November 7 to face Iowa State, with a chance to build on its third consecutive victory against UCF.
The Knights fell to 4–4 overall and 2–3 in conference play.
A sellout crowd of 45,906 attended their tenth annual Space Game. UCF, now 8–2 in those games, next travels to Kansas. The crowd was also the first sellout since the renovated Roth Tower opened, according to UCF.
