No. 14 Baylor hosted Texas Saturday in Waco, and the Bears rebounded from last weekend’s disappointing loss with a huge win over their rival.
The first half was a defensive struggle we didn’t see coming. Texas and Baylor combined for 10 points, with the home team taking a 7-3 halftime lead.
The Bears woke up in the second half, but the Longhorns did not. The result was a dominant 24-10 victory for Baylor, which improved to 10-1 on the season.
These are the biggest winners and losers from Baylor’s big win over Texas on Saturday.
Winner: Charlie Brewer and Denzel Mims were cooking
Charlie Brewer did his best Sam Ehlinger impersonation Saturday as the Baylor Bears romped at home over Texas. The only thing that slowed Brewer down was a big hit in the fourth quarter that knocked him out of the game with a concussion.
Showing off speed and toughness, Brewer was a force both on the ground and through the air. All told, he racked up 296 yards and two touchdowns from scrimmage.
When Brewer was dropping back to pass, he often looked for his top receiver, Denzel Mims. As we’ve seen all year, Mims delivered big catch after big catch (seven catches for 125 yards) and hauled in Brewer’s only passing score of the game.
Loser: Sam Ehlinger had a rough outing
Because Texas has struggled defensively in most games this year, Sam Ehlinger has been the biggest reason the Longhorns have won games in 2019. So, when he’s off his game, the team has little chance of success. That played out big time on Saturday as Texas was downed by Baylor.
Ehlinger attempted 32 passes and ran the ball 19 times (including five sacks). Despite all those chances to do something positive, the Texas quarterback was held to 279 yards from scrimmage, didn’t score once and threw a bad interception into double coverage on a drive that held promise.
Winner: Bears find their defense again
Heading into Saturday’s big game against Texas, Baylor had allowed 833 yards and 57 points to TCU and Oklahoma the past two games. This uncharacteristic lapse on defense was the biggest reason the Bears lost to Oklahoma last weekend. It did not carry over to Week 13, however, as Baylor put the clamps down in a big way.
The Bears smothered Texas’ offensive efforts most of the game. Aside from one monster play just before halftime, Baylor allowed just 323 yards on 67 plays (4.82 yards per play) to a Longhorns offense that came into the game averaging over 461 yards per game.
Loser: Tom Herman didn’t have his team ready
Already in the midst of a disappointing season, Tom Herman’s Texas Longhorns were thoroughly out-coached, out-played and out-schemed by Matt Rhule and the Baylor Bears.
It was a disappointing effort from a program that has threatened to be “back” for a few years yet unfortunately has remained mediocre, instead. With Saturday’s loss, the Longhorns fell to 6-5 on the season.
After last year’s impressive 10-4 record, fans were hoping to see Texas take another big step in 2019. That has not happened. Instead, one wonders how much longer Herman will have to turn things around.
Winner: John Lovett provided an early spark
The first quarter was a whole lot of both teams feeling each other out. It ended in a scoreless tie. Then, as the second quarter commenced, Baylor’s John Lovett provided the first jolt of energy to the home crowd with an electric 28-yard touchdown run that he capped off by trucking the defender trying to stop him before he crossed the goal line.
Baylor didn’t utilize its running backs often, but Lovett was clutch when his number was called. He finished the game with 54 yards and a touchdown on 10 touches, providing just enough balance to keep the Longhorns from keying in on the quarterback.
Loser: Those Baylor uniforms were ugly
All yellow. Or gold. Or whatever the heck Baylor wants to call it. We call the Baylor uniforms pure ugly (check them out here if you missed the game).
The majority of those out there on social media agree. So, for the sake of all our eyeballs, can we please — oh, pretty please — never have to see that abomination again?