TCU vs. Baylor: Game Grades, Analysis for Horned Frogs and Bears

What a game, and what a comeback for the Baylor Bears in their 61-58 win over TCU on Saturday.

While we all wish that a dubious pass interference call didn't effectively end the game, it's tough to complain about the on-field product otherwise. The combined 119 points made it the highest-scoring matchup of Top 10 teams ever, with Bryce Petty's first Heisman-type performance coming along the way.

For the Horned Frogs, they were a better secondary and a few coaching decisions away from rewriting the script in the formerly top-heavy Big 12. 

Position Unit	1st Half	2nd Half
Passing Offense	A-	D
Rushing Offense	A	C+
Passing Defense	C	D
Rushing Defense	A	D
Special Teams	C+	C
Coaching	A	C-

TCU Horned Frogs Game Grades

Passing Offense: Trevone Boykin showed that he really is a completely different player this season, but he missed a lot of throws in the second half. He finished just 21-of-47, but his receivers were stellar from start to finish, turning 22 catches into 346 yards of offense. 

Rushing Offense: The numbers don't do this group justice, mostly because of a minus-40-yard rush that came on a bad snap to the punter. B.J. Catalon walked in two touchdowns, and Aaron Green's 59-yard run set up TCU's first score of the second half. Plus, Boykin extended a lot of plays with his feet. These guys should have hammered out a victory in the fourth.

Passing Defense: Petty was uncomfortable for most of the day, tossing multiple picks for the first time in his career. Until the fourth quarter, that atoned for the bevy of open receivers we saw throughout. Once the comeback was on, this defense was barely in the way. Marcus Mallet's pick-six that helped make it 58-37 was almost enough to seal the victory.

Rushing Defense: Since Baylor spotted the Frogs 14 points, it stayed away from the run for most of the first half, especially after TCU linebacker Paul Dawson rocked running back Shock Linwood. The second half was a different story, and Linwood did whatever he wanted against a soft box. You have to pick your poison against this offense, but it's hard to justify allowing 272 rushing yards when the quarterback throws for 510.

Special Teams: It was a tale of two plays in the first half with the Catalon touchdown and then the bad snap that led to the Baylor field goal. Fair-catching the kickoffs in the second half was pretty odd. Jaden Oberkrom made all three of his field-goal attempts and seven extra points.

Coaching: As fun as it was to watch TCU try to go blow-for-blow with Baylor, much of this game plan was puzzling. Specifically, asking Boykin to hit fade routes cost the Frogs a third-quarter touchdown and made the important 4th-and-4 attempt far more difficult than it needed to be. There was also no attempt to control possession in the fourth that played right into Baylor's hands.

Position Unit	1st Half	2nd Half
Passing Offense	B	A-
Rushing Offense	D	A
Passing Defense	F	B
Rushing Defense	D	C
Special Teams	D+	B
Coaching	D	A

Baylor Bears Game Grades

Passing Offense: Petty was beaten up by the TCU defense, causing him to make uncharacteristic mistakes throwing the football. His pick-six looked like a back-breaker early in the fourth quarter, but he locked in from then on to deliver a career-best performance. Antwan Goodley, Corey Coleman and KD Cannon were uncoverable.

Rushing Offense: Linwood's fumble is the lone black mark for this group. Otherwise, the sophomore was superb at grinding out tough yards, especially in the second half. The fact that this offense can do what it does in the passing game and still run for 272 yards is just unfair.

Passing Defense: The secondary let the TCU receivers win a lot of jump balls and allowed some completions on subpar throws. Kolby Listenbee looked like he was going to go off for 300 yards before the Bears finally put a lid on him. In the end, it's the fourth quarter that matters, and this defense held when it mattered most. Ryan Reid's one-on-one coverage of Josh Doctson saved the day on TCU's decisive fourth-down attempt.

Rushing Defense: Catalon could have scored his two touchdowns on one foot and would have had a bigger day had TCU stuck with him. Other than Green's big run, this front held the ball-carriers to about three yards per carry. That's not bad when you consider how much Boykin extended plays.

Special Teams: The kick coverage was bad for most of the night and downright embarrassing on Catalon's return for the touchdown. Chris Callahan went 4-of-4 kicking, including the game-winner, after making just one of his first six attempts to start this season.

Coaching: Discipline was a big problem, as 12 penalties cost the Bears 117 yards. That would be a much bigger storyline had the Horned Frogs finished off the upset. They didn't, so instead we'll heap credit on Art Briles for sticking to his guns and engineering an unbelievable fourth-quarter comeback. It's due, because he's been the driving force behind everything that Baylor is today.