Texas Brought Down By Bears

Texas’ defense came to play, but it wasn’t enough to keep Baylor at bay for four quarters. The Bears walked out of Austin with a 28-7 victory that dropped the Longhorns to 2-3 overall, and catapulted Baylor to the top of the Big 12.

Texas looked to get on the board first early in the game with a 52-yard field goal, but Baylor blocked it and returned the kick 58 yards for a touchdown. The rest of the first half was a dull combination of Texas’ offensive futility and defensive grit, which combined to keep both sides far from the end zone until the final minutes.

The game changed on the final two drives of the half. Baylor had first and goal inside the Texas ten, and the Longhorn defense came up big by stopping the Bears on both third and fourth down from inside their own 1. This was the type of goal-line stand that can turn an entire season around. A series like this can go a long way towards helping Texas’ highly-touted recruits believe in themselves, and give them the self-confidence they’ve been lacking.

Coaches called a perfect drive after Texas took over. The stagnant offense came to life as their receivers found some space downfield. Running backs Jonathan Gray and Malcolm Brown showed some burst, getting Texas to to Baylor’s goal line.

But as quickly as the Longhorns seized momentum, they gave it right back, After engineering a 99-and-a-half yard drive, Texas QB Tyrone Swoopes fumbled the exchange on the snap. Baylor pounced on the ball and killed the type of drive that would have been a psychological turning point for this Longhorns team. Instead, Texas walked into the locker-room down 0-7 – nothing short of devastating.

The Longhorns came out flat in the second half. Texas limited Heisman QB candidate Brice Petty to a remarkably low 111 yards passing, but with little help from their offense, their defense tired out in the third quarter as Baylor finally found a rhythm with their ground game. Bears running back Shock Linwood put up 148 yards rushing and a touchdown, which helped Baylor cruise to an easy, but unconventional low-scoring win to help them claim the top position in the Big 12.

Texas dropped to 1-1 in the conference and 2-3 overall going into the Red River Rivalry in Dallas this weekend, where they’ll take on a disappointed Oklahoma team that just lost to TCU.