WACO, Texas – Baylor scored eight out of the first nine times it had the football on the way to a 73-42 victory over West Virginia Saturday night at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas.

The 17th-ranked Bears (4-0) matched the 63 points it scored in last year’s seven-point defeat at West Virginia with 9:36 left in the third quarter, putting their No. 1-ranked offense on full display to a nationally televised audience.

Baylor has scored at least 69 points in every game this year, including its third 70-plus-point outburst of the season with the other two coming against Buffalo and Louisiana-Monroe. Baylor’s eight rushing touchdowns and 864 total yards are the most the Mountaineer defense has ever allowed, and Baylor’s 73 points were second to the 130 points Michigan scored against WVU in 1904.

Also, Baylor’s 56 first half points were the most against West Virginia during the school’s modern era of football dating back to at least World War I. Records prior to that are incomplete. The total yardage record fell with 17 seconds remaining in the third quarter when Shock Linwood ran 56 yards to the WVU 35.

Baylor played most of the second half with its offensive starters on the bench.

West Virginia (3-3) produced two first half TDs – the first coming on Levi Norwood’s muffed punt at the 3 that Karl Joseph recovered in the end zone. The Mountaineers’ other first half score was the result of a Clint Trickett-to-Kevin White 39-yard hookup with 5:49 left in the second quarter. By then, however, the Bears had amassed 42 points in a half that took more than two hours to complete.

In the second half, Charles Sims ran 39 yards for a touchdown and backup quarterback Paul Millard completed TD passes to Ronald Carswell (43 yards) and White (1 yard). The Mountaineer defense added a late score when Travis Bell picked off Baylor backup quarterback Seth Russell at the 28, and he lateraled the ball to Darwin Cook, who dashed down the sideline to score. The play went into the books as a 32-yard touchdown return for Cook.

Bryce Petty completed 17-of-25 passes for 347 yards and two touchdowns, and Lache Seastrunk ran for 172 yards and two TD in a little more than two quarters of play. Linwood contributed 126 yards on the ground as the Baylor rushing attack accounted for 468 yards on 62 attempts.

The Bear offense was in danger of having its first three-and-out series of the season with 6:44 left in the game, but Russell completed a 36-yard pass to Robbie Rhodes on a third-and-six play that led to Russell’s 7-yard score.

After tonight’s game, the Mountaineer defense has now surrendered 50 points or more six times in the last two years.

White led the WVU offense with seven catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Millard completed 8-of-13 passes for 115 yards in relief of Trickett, who was just 9-of-28 for 161 yards and a touchdown. Sims rushed for 91 yards on 18 attempts.

WVU is winless in its three road games this year and has been outscored 110-42 in its last two road losses against Maryland and Baylor.

An announced crowd of 45,467 – the most to watch an out-of-state opponent at Floyd Casey Stadium since 1980 – was on hand for tonight’s game.

West Virginia will have a week off before resuming Big 12 play in Morgantown on Saturday, Oct. 19, against Texas Tech.

Baylor is at Kansas State next weekend.