ORLANDO, Fla. -- The old adage that if a team has two quarterbacks, it doesn't have one, took a beating Tuesday night.

So did the North Carolina Tar Heels.

No. 17 Baylor used five quarterbacks -- actually two wide receivers and three running backs posing as quarterbacks -- to roll over No. 10 North Carolina 49-38 in the Russell Athletic Bowl.

The Bears set Russell Athletic Bowl records for total offense (756 yards) and rushing yards (645) even though they had to play without starting quarterback Seth Russell and his backup, Jarrett Stidham, both out with injuries.

"Everybody was saying that after our quarterbacks got hurt our offense went down the drain," Baylor cornerback Ryan Reid said. "I think our offense showed tonight that they are still the best in the country."

Johnny Jefferson and Devin Chafin, two running backs, were the two most productive of the five players who played quarterback. Jefferson ran for a Russell Athletic Bowl-record 299 yards on 23 carries. He scored three times, including an 80-yard sprint that broke the game open in the third quarter.

Chafin gained 161 yards on 27 carries and scored once. Nearly every carry went right between tackles after a direct snap from center. Tailback Terence Williams also produced 97 yards on 16 carries and scored two touchdowns.

"Our offensive line was just tremendous," said Baylor offensive coordinator Kendal Briles, who spoke for his dad, head coach Art Briles, at the postgame press conference. "We tried to take a few shots downfield early, but we were moving them out up front, and our guys were creating a lot of space with the running game, so we just decided to take advantage of it."

In all, Baylor ran the ball 84 times for 645 yards and passed only 18 times for 111 yards. Chris Johnson, a former wide receiver who started the game at quarterback, completed seven of 12 passes for 82 yards.

"We thought Baylor would throw it around a lot more, but all they did was come out and run it down our throat," North Carolina coach Larry Fedora said. "You've got to give their coaches credit. They put together a plan of 'Wildcat,' and every other form of quarterback-style running game you can possibly run and did a great job with it."

North Carolina's only answer was their one quarterback, Marquise Williams, who passed for 243 yards and three touchdowns. Williams also ran the ball 17 times for 81 yards and the other two Tar Heels touchdowns.

"We tried to keep everybody positive and tell them if (Baylor) was going to score every time, we had to answer," Marquise Williams said. "We just needed to get a stop sometime."

They did, but only once in the game, on Baylor's first possession. That led to a 9-yard scoring pass from Marquise Williams to tight end Brandon Fritts and a 7-0 lead that was the only time the Tar Heels had reason to celebrate.

Baylor wasn't shy about its strategy. The Bears went for it twice on fourth down on their first possession. They broke Illinois' 16-year old Russell Athletic Bowl rushing record of 325 yards -- before halftime.

Jefferson had 173 yards on 12 carries in the first half. Chafin had 74 yards on 12 carries. Lynx Hawthorne added 49 yards and Terence Williams 45, but they only carried five times each.

Baylor broke the Russell Athletic Bowl team rushing record when Jefferson scored his second touchdown, a 27-yard burst up the middle late in the second quarter. That was one of 10 rushes for more than 10 yards in the first half. Baylor finished the half using five players to take snaps from center, rushing for 358 yards and passing for another 66.

The net result was a 28-17 halftime lead that really wasn't secure, thanks mostly to Marquise Williams.

The Tar Heels' quarterback did his best to keep North Carolina in the game, completing 11 passes for 96 yards and one touchdown and running 11 times for 62 yards and a score.

He threw what appeared to be a 75-yard scoring pass to Mack Hollins on the first play of the second half, but the wide receiver stepped out of bounds, untouched at the Tar Heels 41. No problem. The 75-yard scoring drive lasted eight more plays before Williams walked around end for a 1-yard scoring run to cut the deficit to 28-24.

That was as close as North Carolina would come. Baylor steamrolled to three more touchdowns and was never challenged. The Bears averaged eight plays and 74 yards on their seven scoring drives. Their shortest drive was 61 yards.

"It all comes down to who wants it more, who is going to grind it out," Chafin said. "All week, I was excited while we were practicing the Wildcat because it's a running back's dream: Take the ball, see it all and attack. Our O-line played physical and we just fed off them."

NOTES: Baylor coach Art Briles had a clever way of spinning the injuries that forced the Bears to play without All-American WR Corey Coleman (hernia), QB Seth Russell (neck), QB Jarrett Stidham (ankle), RB Shock Linwood (broken foot) and OT Pat Colbert. "If you've got a bowl of cereal and you wanted bacon and eggs, you get to eat the cereal," Briles said. "We got what we want. You know what I'm saying? That's kind of where we are." ... North Carolina DT Nazair Jones tweeted before the game that he would not play because of a concussion. ... North Carolina was first in the nation in average yards per play (7.3). Baylor is second (7.25). ... This was the first time since 1996 that North Carolina played in a bowl with both teams ranked.