TCU vs. Baylor: Score and Twitter Reaction

With their defense unable to force stops and everything going against them, the Baylor Bears needed quarterback Bryce Petty to have a career-best performance. He had just that in a 61-58 comeback win over No. 9 TCU on Saturday.

Petty threw for 510 yards and six touchdowns—both career highs—and overcame two interceptions to lead Baylor back from a three-touchdown deficit in the fourth quarter. His late heroics helped set up Chris Callahan for a game-winning 28-yard field goal that gave the Bears an improbable victory.

Trevone Boykin led the Horned Frogs with 287 passing yards, and B.J. Catalon had three total touchdowns to give TCU the edge late. But they were no match for Petty's stardom, as he rose to the occasion and re-emerged into the Heisman conversation in the process.

Regardless of the result, it was a shootout from both teams that wasn't for defensive traditionalists, as Paul Myerberg of USA Today noted:

Here's a glance at the final box score:

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
TCU	14	17	13	14	58
Baylor	10	17	10	24	61

Despite entering Saturday at 5-0 and in the Top 10, head coach Art Briles conceded coming into the game that his team is better than the Big 12 champions he coached in 2013—although it hasn't come to the surface just yet.

“That’s just the bottom line,” Briles said, per ESPN.com's Max Olson. “We are not where we need to be or have to be to have a chance to win the conference again. But I do think we are a better football team than we were a year ago at this time.” 

The confidence wasn't lost on either side in this Top 10 bout for Big 12 supremacy, as Gary Patterson flexed his defensive muscle on the opening coin flip, per NFL.com's Gil Brandt:

Briles' comments about his team's need for improvement rang truer than the ringing endorsement, at least early on. Meanwhile, Patterson's decision paid off nicely. 

TCU forced a turnover on downs on Baylor's opening 13-play drive, and the Horned Frogs wasted no time taking advantage. Boykin led them down the field and hit Kolby Listenbee for a 35-yard score with 9:32 left in the first.

Tom Pennington/Getty Images

After Shock Linwood fumbled for Baylor just four plays later, Boykin looked to Listenbee again for a 51-yard bomb. Catalon then punched it in from three yards out.

Suddenly, McLane Stadium had a hush over it as TCU had jumped out to a 14-0 lead in less than eight minutes. As Olson said, the Horned Frogs weren't quiet about their aggressive mindset early:

Fox Sports Live summed up some painful context for Baylor:

"

Before today, Baylor was the only team in the Power 5 Conferences that hasn't trailed at any point this season. They trail TCU 14-0 in 1st.

— FOX Sports Live (@FOXSportsLive) October 11, 2014"

After a wacky start to the game in Waco, things settled down a bit with four straight punts. But before you could blink, it turned into another old-fashioned Big 12 shootout. 

Petty started it in style with a 66-yard touchdown to Antwan Goodley, and a 47-yard pass on the next drive set up a short field goal to make it 14-10. But right when Baylor threatened the lead, it fell flat on defense to start the second quarter.

A drive that started on their own 10-yard line ended with the Horned Frogs going up 21-10 on another Catalon rushing touchdown. They needed a fourth-down conversion to get it, as the Big 12 noted:

Just like you'd expect a Briles team to do, Baylor answered as Petty orchestrated his longest drive of the game—10 plays, which ended with a 29-yard touchdown to Corey Coleman. A few minutes later, it was all tied up at 24 apiece after Petty's 67-yard strike to KD Cannon.

McLane Stadium was rocking after the quick comeback, but it didn't even last one play. Upon the Baylor kickoff, Catalon broke free on the resulting return and took it to the house for a 94-yard touchdown.

Catalon had three touchdowns at the half, and he was undoubtedly TCU's biggest weapon any time it had the ball, as Sporting News' Matt Hayes noticed:

Baylor's defense on the play, however, was questionable, as The Associated Press' Ralph D. Russo observed:

Both teams felt confident at the half—TCU dominated almost every facet, while Baylor had to feel invigorated to be within a score after holding on during the Horned Frogs' early rally.

But after playing turnover-free ball in the first half, Petty made a big mistake in his own territory, as Kevin White intercepted his pass to give the Horned Frogs great field position.

Then, Baylor's defense returned the favor and bailed Petty out, forcing a TCU field goal that was answered by the Bears on the very next drive. However, Baylor missed an opportunity for a game-tying touchdown, as John McClain of the Houston Chronicle noticed:

With both teams surpassing the 30-point mark, Aaron Green decided it was time to get in on the action.

Green got a 3rd-and-1 carry—his first touch of the game—in TCU territory and broke free for 59 yards into the Baylor secondary. The only problem? He couldn't hold onto the ball, but ESPN's Travis Haney noted Josh Doctson jumped on it at the 1-yard line:

That failed potential Baylor recovery was a huge swing, as TCU punched it in for a 41-30 lead the very next play and forced a Baylor three-and-out late in the third quarter. 

With the chance to take a big lead, TCU went to what was working—Boykin to Listenbee. They connected on an ill-advised 45-yard throw that helped to set up another Horned Frog field goal, this one making it a two-touchdown game.

The potential was always there for both players, but they validated all the hype with standout performances Saturday, as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Ryan Osborne noticed:

Another short drive ended in another Petty touchdown—a 47-yard touchdown to Jay Lee—to cut the deficit to seven, but try as they might, the Bears couldn't keep up with the Horned Frogs offense that was scoring at ease. It got the ball back and went 68 yards in three plays, aided by a reverse pass as TCU took a 51-37 lead. 

The last thing Baylor needed at that point was a pick-six with its defense struggling, and that's exactly what happened, per SI College Football:

Baylor faced just a one-touchdown deficit entering the fourth, but it had ballooned to a 21-point disadvantage early in the final quarter. Everyone, including Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman, had predicted a TCU win at that point:

Petty didn't get the memo.

He rushed the Bears down the field in less than a minute as Devin Chafin ran it in for a touchdown, and exactly four minutes later, he struck again to Goodley for a 28-yard score.

Even after Petty's fifth touchdown of the game, however, Baylor needed one more to tie the game, and he delivered with a beautiful deep pass to Coleman, as Hayes noted:

It had been a shootout through more than 55 minutes of play with the two teams combining for 116 points, but the final 4:42 was a slugfest with both trying to position themselves for a game-winning field goal. After being dominated all game, Baylor's defense forced a big stop and got the ball back to Petty.

That's all he needed to position Baylor for the win, as he led the Bears on a nine-play, 44-yard drive that shaved the time off the clock and set up Callahan for a game-winning field goal.

It looked impossible throughout so much of the game, but Baylor somehow did it. The Bears faced a 21-point hole with a little more than 10 minutes left, but Petty's late heroics were enough to get the victory.

While Baylor's fans were jubilant after the win, the feelings were opposite on the TCU sideline. With no Top 15 teams left on the Horned Frogs' schedule, they were in position to make a big-time statement for a College Football Playoff spot and gave it away.

Some of the Bears' biggest tests lie ahead, with a trip to Oklahoma and games versus Oklahoma State and Kansas State upcoming. But after overcoming the odds on Saturday, no deficit will be too much for Baylor to feel like it can't mount a comeback.