San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
No change of course
Being walked over in Waco eliminates Horns from Big 12 title contention
WACO — For Texas, Saturday’s game against No. 16 Baylor presented a chance to change its narrative for the better. But the Longhorns couldn’t climb out of the hole they dug for themselves inside McLane Stadium.
For the third straight week, UT couldn’t hold a lead, couldn’t mount a comeback of its own and couldn’t close. The Bears (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) were the latest beneficiaries, winning 31-24 and fully eliminating the Longhorns (4-4, 2-3) from the Big 12 title picture.
The scene and circumstances this weekend were different, as was the opponent. But really, it was more of the same: Texas played inspired, even dominant at times, then receded into a tentative, uncertain state of mind as another strong start transformed into a recurring nightmare.
“That was a tough one to swallow,” UT coach Steve Sarkisian said. “Anytime you lose a game like that, with a little bit of the trend that we’ve had now for three consecutive weeks, that’s tough. It’s tough on our locker room.”
Texas safety B.J. Foster picked off Baylor quarterback Gerry Bohanon’s second pass of the day, churning for 31 yards on the return. That turnover setup receiver Joshua Moore’s 10-yard touchdown catch on a laser beam from quarterback Casey Thompson.
Baylor responded with a meticulous 11play, 75-yard drive that sucked up about five minutes of clock and concluded with some fitting Halloween weekend trickeration.
Bohanon handed off to tailback Trestan Ebner, who flipped to wideout Tyquan Thornton on the reverse. The surprise QB looked toward Bohanon, only to find him smothered, so instead he made an alternate read and lofted a 6-yard touchdown pass to receiver R.J. Sneed.
After another sustained Baylor drive resulted in a 38-yard field goal, Texas struck again. Thompson aired it out to freshman receiver Xavier Worthy on a sizzling fly route for a 63-yard go-ahead TD strike.
With Texas up 14-10, the Big 12 rivals started playing blunderfor-blunder.
Baylor kicker Isaiah Hankins blasted a 51-yard field-goal attempt a couple car lengths left of the uprights. Both Texas and Baylor fell short on fourth-down conversions near midfield. Moore also lost a fumble inside Baylor territory after a catch-and-run first down.
Late in the half, Bohanon tossed his second pick, lofting a ball into a frenzy of defenders. Texas linebacker Luke Brockermeyer emerged with an easy interception.
UT returned the favor when Thompson slapped too much sauce on a would-be touchdown pass to Moore, overthrowing him out of bounds. On the next play, Moore let a pass skip off his fingers for a Baylor interception just outside the red zone, ending another scoring chance with a few seconds remaining before halftime.
The Longhorns opened the second half with a 14-play, 75yard scoring drive that ate up more than six minutes of clock. Running behind 246-pound nose tackle Keondre Coburn and 297pound defensive tackle Byron Murphy, Bijan Robinson rammed through the line on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line.
Baylor had a key fourth-down conversion on its ensuing scoring drive, too, with Bohanon firing a quick dart to Sneed inside the red zone. Bohanon scored on a 6-yard keeper two plays later, cutting Texas’ lead to 21-17.
That’s when the Bears took control.
After a quick Texas possession and punt, Baylor pounded out a 14-play, 80-yard scoring drive that ended with another creative score on a tight end around to Ben Sims, who plunged in from 1-yard out.
UT unraveled on its next drive. Thompson took a 6-yard sack on a first down near midfield, then right guard Tope Imade drew a false-start penalty on third-and-6 inside Baylor territory. On fourth down, punter Cameron Dicker used his legs to run rather than kick, tucking and gaining just 2 yards on a dicey run-pass option.
Not long after, Bears tailback Abram Smith spun away from a sea of defenders, reversed field and dashed into the end zone on a 32-yard touchdown run that left heads drooping on the Longhorns’ sideline. Those 21 unanswered points gave Baylor a 31-21 lead with 7:59 remaining.
Texas did grant itself one last opportunity to win after Dicker kicked a short 27-yard field goal and the defense forced a Baylor punt with 2:18 left. But the Longhorns couldn’t even gain a yard on their final drive, going fourand-out to seal the Bears’ win.
In the end, Baylor outgained Texas 427-382, outrushed it 199102 and outscored it 21-10 in the second half. Robinson, the nation’s third-leading rusher entering the game, finished with just 43 yards on the ground and 47 overall, his lowest output this season.
“History can creep into your head,” Sarkisian said. “And that’s something we worked on this week. I thought we were better. But clearly, it wasn’t good enough. So we’ve got to stay the course. We’ve got to continue to work. We’ve got to fight through this thing.”