Despite being all but officially eliminated from Big 12 title contention following last week’s loss against Iowa State, Texas looked to end the season on a positive note, starting with a strong showing in Waco against Baylor. Instead of a strong showing, Texas struggled mightily on both sides of the ball, giving Baylor a 24-10 victory. The victory clinches a spot in the Big 12 championship game for the Bears. The loss drops Texas to 6-5 on the season and gives Texas back-to-back losses for the first time in 2019.
Texas appeared to catch a huge break on Baylor’s opening drive when Chris Platt fumbled the ball away following a long catch and run. Despite the turnover, the Texas offense was unable to capitalize. The Longhorns punted their first 5 possessions of the game, showing many of the same struggling signs that plagued the unit in Ames a week ago. Sam Ehlinger was unable to find any throws down the field and spent much of the game trying to elude pressure. The Longhorns offensive line allowed 5 sacks and also had 3 personal foul penalties.
Following a scoreless first quarter, Baylor found paydirt early in the second quarter on a 28-yard touchdown run from John Lovett. The 7-0 lead held until the closing minute of the first half, when Keaontay Ingram ripped off a 68-yard run that led to a 48-yard field goal from Cameron Dicker, cutting the lead to 7-3 heading into halftime.
The second half was all Baylor. The Bears scored 17 unanswered points before Texas’ garbage time TD with 1 second remaining in the game. Baylor scored a touchdown on their first two second-half possessions, the second coming on a great catch from Denzel Mims, who finished the evening with 125 yards on 7 catches. Despite Charlie Brewer not being close to 100% and having to leave the game early, the junior still finished the game with 221 passing yards and a touchdown. He also added 75 rushing yards and a TD.
There were not many bright spots for Texas on the afternoon. Sam Ehlinger finished the game right at 200 yards passing and added 79 yards on the ground. Devin Duvernay had a team-high 10 catches for 78 yards. Daniel Young had the only Texas touchdown on a 4-yard run.
The Longhorns will wrap up the regular season on Friday with a matchup at home against Texas Tech. Following the regular-season finale, Texas will await word on where they will head for their bowl game.
