Baylor 23, Iowa St. 13

Saturday, October 8th 2005, 5:19 pm

By: News On 6

AMES, Iowa (AP) _ Ryan Havens kicked three field goals and Baylor came up with two key fumble recoveries to win a Big 12 road game for the first time in the league's 10-year history, beating Iowa State 23-13 Saturday.

Baylor (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) had been 0-37 on the road in the Big 12 and had lost 38 straight conference games overall away from home. The Bears' last league victory on the road had been on Nov. 11, 1995 _ 48-7 over SMU in the old Southwest Conference.

Havens' 36-yard field goal put Baylor ahead to stay at 16-13 with 12:19 left. A junior who had never kicked a field goal or extra point in college before this year, he connected earlier from 49 and 21 yards.

Iowa State (3-2, 0-2) led 13-10 at halftime but was doomed by two costly fumbles in the second half. Baylor followed the second fumble with a 12-play, 81-yard drive for the game-clinching touchdown, a 1-yard run by Paul Mosley with 1:36 left.

When it was over, the Bears acted as if they had done this before. While a couple of managers hugged on the sideline, the players and coaches shook hands with their Iowa State counterparts, then walked calmly up the incline to their dressing room.

But make no mistake, this was a major step for a program that had come in 6-67 in all Big 12 games. The Bears almost ended their skid a week ago, losing at Texas A&M 16-13 in overtime. This time, they finished the job against an Iowa State team that shared the Big 12 North title last year but isn't looking anything like a contender now.

A critical play came in the third quarter with Iowa State leading by three and in position to take control. The Cyclones' Greg Coleman was hit at the Baylor 1-yard line and fumbled into the end zone, where the Bears' Maurice Lane recovered for a touchback.

After an exchange of punts, Willie Andrews' 15-yard return gave Baylor the ball at the Iowa State 35 and five plays later, Havens kicked a 21-yard field goal to tie it at 13.

Iowa State responded to Havens' go-ahead field goal with another drive, marching from its 20 to a first down at the Baylor 25. But R.J. Sumrall fumbled after catching a 6-yard pass from Bret Meyer and Josh Bell recovered for Baylor at the 19.

The Bears then drove to their game-clinching touchdown, helped by quarterback Shawn Bell's 16-yard run on third-and-14 from his 31 and a later personal foul on Iowa State. Once Mosley squirted into the end zone, Iowa State fans began filing out of the stadium.

Iowa State outgained Baylor 320-276, but three of the Bears' scoring drives started in ISU territory. Andrews was a big reason for that. In addition to his 15-yarder, he set Baylor up with punt returns of 16 and 29 yards.

Andrews also set the tone for Baylor early, sacking Meyer for a 7-yard loss on the game's second play. Iowa State went three-and-out, Andrews returned the punt 16 yards to the Iowa State 28 and Baylor scored on its second snap.

After a holding penalty pushed the Bears back to the 38, Bell hit Dominique Zeigler sprinting straight down the field. Zeigler was wide open when he caught the ball and went untouched to the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

Bret Culbertson kicked field goals of 27 and 23 yards for Iowa State and Ryan Kock scored on a 1-yard run.