Late rally not enough to overcome sluggish start as Baylor falls to Texas, 27-16
AUSTIN — Time will tell if Baylor actually knocked the rust off after a slow start against Texas or if it was just an opportunity to rake in the false false hope, but to no one’s surprise, Baylor did show they would never stop fighting in a 27-16 loss on Saturday.
Unfortunately for Dave Aranda’s squad, fighting back is not what goes down in the record book.
Baylor’s defense did everything they could early and often to keep the high-powered, No. 1 scoring offense in the country offense at bay, but as the offense struggled to put up points for the second time in as many games, Sam Ehlinger and the Texas offense did just enough to keep things from getting too serious late in the game.
After digging a deep 27-3 hole early in the fourth quarter, Baylor finally broke serve and found momentum with a 9-play, 75-yard drive that was capped off by a Charlie Brewer touchdown pass to Galvin Holmes. A two-point conversion attempt failed and the Bears trailed 29-9.
Baylor’s defense immediately responded with a big play of their own, getting the ball back to offense deep into Texas territory. On a third-down play, Baylor corner Mark Milton deflected a pass that was then intercepted by safety JT Woods who returned it the 25-yard line.
The Bears went on a five-play touchdown drive when Brewer found Lovett on a third-down play to cut the lead to 27-16 with 7:37 remaining. That was the closest the Bears could get it despite the defense forcing another Texas punt.
Brewer finished the game completing 30-of-43 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns. RJ Sneed hauled in four passes for 62 yards while Holmes finished with nine receptions for 57 yards.
The Bears were able to put the first points of the game on the board when kicker John Mayers connected on a 22-yard field goal with less than a minute in the first quarter, but that was the only scoring until early in the fourth quarter. The Longhorns answered immediately with a field goal of their own that was the start of a 27-0 scoring streak that put the game out of reach.
Holding a 6-3 lead, Texas took over at their own 20-yard line with 4:18 remaining in the first half. The Longhorns drove 80 yards in 2:32 and Ehlinger found receiver Joshua Moore for the games first touchdown. The score was Ehlinger’s first score against Baylor in his career.
Junior linebacker Terrel Bernard paced Baylor’s defense for the day, collecting 19 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss and 1.0 sacks. Sophomore Dillon Doyle finished with 11 tackles while senior William Bradley-King collected Baylor’s other sack of the day to go along with six tackles.
Baylor totaled 316 yards of offense on the afternoon while holding Texas to 429.
Baylor returns to Waco next weekend to take on TCU at McLane Stadium in a game set to kickoff at 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2.