Two freshmen are leading Baylor in the right direction in a few oh-so-close losses.
Baylor is 0-7 for the first time since 1969, but the Bears appear to moving in the right direction.
A month ago, Baylor pushed Oklahoma, then ranked third, to the brink in a 49-41 loss. On Saturday, the Bears nearly knocked off West Virginia, which came into Waco ranked No. 23.
Freshman quarterback Charlie Brewer led Baylor to 23 points in the fourth quarter, but the Bears fell short 38-36. Baylor missed on a two-point conversion try after its last score with 17 seconds left, and the Mountaineers recovered the onside kick to escape.
Brewer was 8-for-13 passing for 109 yards and two touchdowns, and fellow freshman Trestan Ebner had 109 yards and two touchdowns receiving and a 40-yard scoring run — all in the final quarter. All of the Bears’ touchdowns were by freshmen.
“We’re going to keep going up,” Ebner said. “We’re going to keep going up the next week, the week after that, offseason, the year after that, the year after that.
“As long as coach (Matt) Rhule’s here, we’re going to keep going up. The man knows what he’s doing, and we’re 100 percent behind him.”
Up next for Baylor is Texas at Waco, but first there might be a quarterback controversy to address. Zach Smith started against West Virginia before Brewer came on.
“I think you would say that both quarterbacks would have an opportunity to start, but I’d have to see everything, see the film, and see who’s feeling well,” Rhule said. “I’d hate to jump to any conclusions. We’ve known Zach’s a good quarterback, and we’ve known Charlie is a good quarterback. They’re a freshman and a sophomore. So we’ll continue to bring them along, and see who continues to emerge.”
Brewer knows a bit about the Longhorns. His father Robert was a UT quarterback and MVP of the 1982 Cotton Bowl.
As for the Horns, freshman quarterback Sam Ehlinger had a rough finish against Oklahoma State, throwing an interception in the end zone in overtime to let the then-No. 10 Cowboys escape with a 13-10 victory.
Texas (3-4) is trying to win three games to reach a bowl. Baylor looks a lot tougher on the schedule, now.
At the other end of the Big 12 spectrum, TCU is the only unbeaten after a 43-0 rout of Kansas at Lawrence that featured a running clock in the fourth quarter so the game could get over before an impending storm.
Iowa State is the surprise team in the mix of the five 3-1 teams behind the Horned Frogs in the Big 12 standings. The Cyclones, who have a victory over the Oklahoma, took care of Texas Tech to earn a No. 25 ranking and set up a showdown at Ames this week against No. 4 TCU.
Showdown set for Big Ten
Penn State set up the Big Ten’s game of the year with a 42-13 romp over Michigan.
The No. 2 Nittany Lions will face No. 6 Ohio State at Columbus on Saturday. Last year, Penn State beat the Buckeyes and have not lost in the regular season since Michigan beat the Nittany Lions a year ago.
Saquon Barkley scored on a 69-yard run on the second play of the game and finished with 161 total yards in Saturday’s 42-13 victory over the then-No. 19 Wolverines to help his Heisman bid.
Michigan came into the game allowing 223 yards per game, but Penn State finished with 506.
A similar performance against the Buckeyes this week, and Penn State might challenge Alabama for the No. 1 ranking when the first College Football Playoff rankings come out Oct. 31.
Notre Dame adds to playoff résumé
Notre Dame moved into the Associated Press top 10 at No. 9 after a 49-14 victory at home over Southern Cal, which was ranked 11th and lost for the second time this season and saw its national title hopes disappear.
Notre Dame’s loss is by a point to No. 3 Georgia.
The Irish have plenty of chances to move up, with their eyes on making the CFP. They are at home against No. 14 North Carolina State this week and have games against No. 8 Miami and No. 20 Stanford.
“We want to be unique,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. “Unique means this is not the crown jewel for us. We want more.”
Odds and ends
Mississippi lost quarterback Shea Patterson for the rest of the season with a knee injury in the first half of a 40-24 loss to LSU. … Georgia Southern fired coach Tyson Summers halfway through his second season with the school after an 0-6 start. The Eagles were routed 5520 by previously winless Massachusetts on Saturday, dropping Summers’ record to 5-13.