Griffin, the sophomore star from Copperas Cove, threw three touchdowns with his knee heavily wrapped after taking a hard hit on the opening drive, then watched after halftime as the Bears beat Northwestern State 68-13 Saturday night in their highest-scoring game in 67 years.
After hyperextending his knee when stopped for no gain on fourth down, Griffin remained on the ground for several minutes while Baylor students chanted his name. He then walked gingerly to the sideline and was tended to while the Demons (0-4) drove 75 yards over seven minutes for their only touchdown.
"I knew I had to get back in the game no matter what was wrong with my knee," Griffin said. "Whether it was tape or a brace or something, I was going back into the game. Once your adrenaline starts pumping, you don't feel the pain anymore."
Griffin didn't miss a snap before halftime and was 13-of-19 passing for 226 yards, leading the Bears (2-1) to four touchdowns in an eight-minute span after returning. He threw TDs of 42 and 38 yards to Kendall Wright while Terrance Ganaway (1 yard, the first of his three TDs) and Jarred Salubi (76 yards) ran for scores.
"For him to be able to come back and play, I certainly do think showed a lot of guts and determination, which he's always shown," coach Art Briles said. "He performed tremendously well the rest of the first half when we needed him to."
Asked to rate on a scale of 1-to-10 his level of concern when Griffin remained on the ground, Briles responded, "We're stopping at 10?"
Griffin accounted for 28 TDs (15 passing, 13 rushing) as an 18-year-old freshman last year. The Bears came into this season with big expectations, such as breaking their 15-year bowl drought that matches Duke for the longest for a team playing in a Football Bowl Subdivision conference, based largely on the quarterback.
An MRI is planned for today, though Griffin said he wasn't concerned.
"I played on it, so I should be able to play on it again," he said.
After Griffin helped push Baylor to a 41-10 lead by halftime, their most first-half points since 49 in a 54-20 victory at San Jose State in 1994, Jason Lamb (25 yards) and Chance Casey (66 yards) returned interceptions for touchdowns in third quarter.
"(Griffin) is tough. We hit him. We hit him hard. I thought he was a tough guy coming in," first-year Demons coach Bradley Dale Peveto said. "He even has my respect more because we hit him and he kept going, and he taped up and came back in and played."
The Bears finished with their highest point total since a 68-0 victory over Blackland AAF in 1942. They could have had more, but after reaching the Northwestern State 4 on second down early in the fourth quarter, Briles had his team take a knee on three straight plays, and they punted for the only time with less than two minutes left.
Northwestern State, a Football Championship Subdivision team from Louisiana, is 0-4 for the first time since 1974. The Demons lost 10 games that season before winning their finale.
Blake Szymanski, a senior who was a starter before Griffin arrived on campus, took over after halftime and was 3-of-5 for 58 yards and a touchdown.
Bears starting tailback Jay Finley didn't dress out because of an ankle injury.
A week after Finley's 72-yard TD run was Baylor's longest in 12 years, Salubi busted through the right side of the line and was untouched until a defender caught up with him near the 10. But the defender slipped off his back and the 76-yard TD made it 28-7.
A 42-yard pass to David Gettis with 2 seconds left before halftime ensured that Griffin wouldn't play any more.
"He's Superman," Gettis said. "He gets knocked around. He takes more hits than I've ever seen any quarterback take and play like nothing ever happened."
