Looking back, the Bearkats could point to a handful of plays they wish they could have back.

A few would-be first-half touchdown passes that just fell short along with snapping and blocking miscues in the final 30 minutes erased a double-digit halftime lead and negated any chance of Sam Houston pulling off a upset against Baylor and getting a little redemption from a season-opening loss to the Bears two years ago.

The second-ranked Bearkats knew it could have been a different result had the ball bounced differently, but fell nonetheless to the Bears 48-23 in a closer-than-the-score-indicated contest on Saturday night at Floyd Casey Stadium.

"We should've finished the game and that was my fault," Bearkats quarterback Brian Bell said. "Our motto this year is 'finish' and that's what we've got to do. We've got to start the second half like we did the first half with the same intensity. Unfortunately, we didn't start off as fast as we wanted to in the second half and had a couple of things set us back. It was just real unfortunate for our football team."

Leading 20-10 at halftime, Sam Houston had all of the momentum and got the ball first in the second half.

Just a few botched plays changed everything.

On the third play from scrimmage in the third quarter, the Kats (1-1 overall) were looking at third-and-9 from their own 21. Bell was searching for an opening in the coverage when Bears defensive end Terrance Lloyd got his hand on the ball just as the throw nearly left Bell's hand. Baylor defensive tackle Trevor Clemons-Valdez pounced on it to give Baylor tremendous field position.

Bears quarterback Nick Florence hit tight end Jordan Navjar in the flat and Baylor quickly found the end zone to pull to within a field goal.

On Sam Houston's next play, the snap went past Bell and nearly into the end zone, but the Kats recovered and were backed against their own goal line.

The Bearkats couldn't do anything with the poor field position, but it didn't ending up hurt them as Baylor (2-0) punted on its next possession.

"We really had a bad first five minutes in the second half. It really wasn't even a bad five minutes, it was a bad minute," Sam Houston coach Willie Fritz said. "It's really inexcusable. It was the first play of the series and then we had some snap count problems. We had some new guys playing and really had some untimely mistakes."

Late in the third, the Bears took the lead for good as Florence found wide receiver Terrance Williams in the back of the end zone for an 18-yard score to give Baylor a 24-20 advantage.

Despite all of the miscues, Sam Houston was still very much in the game.

Following a 49-yard return punt return by senior Trey Diller, the Kats were inside the 10. After a 3-yard run by Flanders, the Bearkats stared at fourth down following two straight incompletions. Sam Houston went for it, but Bell's foot was stepped on by one of his linemen just after the snap and the junior signal-caller fell to the ground to end the scoring threat.

The Bearkats had another opportunity near the goal line, but had to settle for another field goal and pulled to within 24-23 with a little more than 11 minutes to play.

After the errors that started the third quarter, the Bearkats didn't have the same effectiveness offensively that allowed them to score a pair of touchdowns in the first half.

"We came out in the second half with a lot of rhythm and a lot of confidence. When you have a couple of plays like that, those things just kind of set us back," Bell said. "It was just hard for us to get our feet back under us. We've just got to finish."

Just as the Bearkats were starting to get some momentum back on their side, Florence broke loose for a 60-yard quarterback scamper. Bears running back Glasco Martin punched the ball in to extend the lead.

Pressed into rally mode with a 31-23 deficit, the Kats were unable to move the ball downfield to give themselves a chance as Bell threw three interceptions down the stretch.

"We should've played better in the second half," said running back Timothy Flanders, who finished with 56 receiving yards and a touchdown reception and 84 rushing yards. "When you go up against a team like Baylor, it's always good to be ahead in the first half. We had them right where we wanted them, but in the second half, we just came out too slow."

Bell was intercepted by cornerback K.J. Morton and few plays later, the Bears pushed their lead to 34-23.

Before the final seconds ticked off the clock, Baylor scored two more TDs to finish with a 25-point cushion.

"I don't know who is going to beat them," Baylor coach Art Briles said of Sam Houston. "They are a well-coached, talented football team that has a good amount of depth for an FCS school.

"I've been in this long enough to know that if you have more points at the end of the game, regardless of who you are playing, you better be happy, because you don't get to be happy too often."

In the first half, the Bearkats were in the Baylor red zone twice but could only finish those drives with field goals, which kept valuable points off the board.

"That would have helped us as well. When you get down in that red zone, you need to score touchdowns instead of kicking field goals," Fritz said.

The Bearkats have a long road trip ahead of them this week as they'll make their way to Conway, Ark., for the Southland Conference opener against Central Arkansas on Saturday afternoon.

Baylor 48, Sam Houston State 23

Sam Houston State        3    17    0    3 - 23
Baylor                           3    7    14    24 - 48


First Quarter
    Baylor - FG A.Jones 33, 13:00.
    SHSU - FG Antonio 31, 5:02.

Second Quarter
    SHSU - FG Antonio 23, 14:01.
    Baylor - T.Williams 22 pass from Florence (A.Jones kick), 12:52.
    SHSU - Bell 1 run (Antonio kick), 10:00.
    SHSU - Flanders 26 pass from Bell (Antonio kick), 1:30.

Third Quarter
    Baylor - Najvar 9 pass from Florence (A.Jones kick), 14:10.
    Baylor - T.Williams 18 pass from Florence (A.Jones kick), 6:17.

Fourth Quarter
    SHSU - FG Antonio 28, 11:17.
    Baylor - Martin 5 run (A.Jones kick), 10:33.
    Baylor - FG A.Jones 26, 8:48.
    Baylor - Seastrunk 15 run (A.Jones kick), 2:10.
    Baylor - D.Jones 73 interception return (A.Jones kick), :12.

    A - 44,856.

--

            SHSU    Baylor

First downs        22        27

Rushes-yards        44-126    39-232

Passing        285        312

Comp-Att-Int        20-39-3    24-41-2

Return Yards        90        109

Punts-Avg.        4-37.8    3-49.0

Fumbles-Lost        2-1        1-0

Penalties-Yards        7-48        11-84

Time of Possession        34:37    25:23

--

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

    RUSHING - Sam Houston State, Flanders 16-84, T.Williams 1-28, Frank 3-18, Hill 3-14, Nelson 1-12, Sincere 5-9, Robinson 1-(minus 4), Bell 13-(minus 11), Team 1-(minus 24). Baylor, Salubi 17-83, Florence 9-80, Martin 9-34, Seastrunk 1-15, T.Reese 1-12, Norwood 1-7, Trahan 1-1.

    PASSING - Sam Houston State, Bell 20-39-3-285. Baylor, Florence 24-41-2-312.

    RECEIVING - Sam Houston State, Diller 5-66, Robinson 4-47, Flanders 3-56, Nelson 2-50, T.Jones 2-29, T.Williams 2-17, Frank 1-11, Wilkerson 1-9. Baylor, T.Williams 6-131, T.Reese 5-91, Sampson 5-40, Salubi 4-14, Najvar 3-24, Norwood 1-12.