Texas vs. Baylor: Game Grades, Analysis for Longhorns and Bears

It was not a particularly flashy game, but the Texas Longhorns held on for a 23-17 victory over the Baylor Bears inside McLane Stadium. Baylor entered as a 21-point favorite, but an injury to quarterback Chris Johnson changed the game in the first quarter. 

Johnson left the game with a concussion, so Baylor turned to its fourth option in wide receiver Lynx Hawthorne. Hawthorne was 10-of-22 passing for 64 yards and two interceptions in relief of Johnson, but it was the rushing game that dominated and kept Baylor in this one. 

Hawthorne scrambled for 66 yards and a touchdown, but running back Johnny Jefferson set the pace with 158 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. 

Texas took advantage of some early Baylor turnovers and led 20-0 at halftime, but the change in offensive play-calling helped Baylor charge back to make it 20-17. Rather than trying to throw it down the field, the Bears simply lined up in Wildcat formation for most of the third quarter. Texas was able to come up with a late turnover and some key first downs to hold on for the six-point victory. 

The loss moves the once Big 12-favorite Baylor to 9-3, while the Longhorns are now 5-7 and go into the offseason with some momentum. 

Positional Unit	First-Half Grade	Final Grade
Passing Offense	C	C
Rushing Offense	B	B-
Pass Defense	A-	A
Run Defense	C	F
Special Teams	B-	B
Coaching	B+	C-

Game Grades Analysis for the Longhorns 

 Passing Offense 

Texas did not light up the stat sheet with its passing numbers. Quarterback Tyrone Swoopes finished the game 12-of-19 passing for 151 yards and one touchdown. There weren't many shots down the field, but Swoopes was able to find Caleb Bluiett for a 57-yard touchdown to put Texas up 7-0 early on. It was not a great passing effort, but Texas did enough here to win the game. 

Rushing Offense 

The Longhorns weren't breaking any records with the rushing game either, but they did just enough here also. Running back Chris Warren led the way with 106 yards on 28 carries, and Swoopes added 52 rushing yards and a touchdown. 

Texas was able to chew some clock and extend drives in the fourth quarter with the running game, so it gets an overall-positive grade for this game. 

Pass Defense 

The success had something to do with Baylor being on its fourth quarterback, but the Longhorns secondary made plays regardless of who was behind center. Texas gave up only 84 passing yards and came away with two interceptions.

The secondary gets an "A" grade because Baylor was never able to get into a rhythm with its passing game, and the two interceptions really helped with field position.

Run Defense 

The run defense, on the other hand, was terrible for Charlie Strong's group. Texas gave up 395 rushing yards to Baylor, and there wasn't much of a mystery to the play-calling in the second half. Baylor lined up in the Wildcat formation with its running backs for much of the second half, but Texas still could not stop the run game.

Whenever your defense gives up 395 yards on the ground and 6.0 yards per carry, the grade is not going to be very good.

Special Teams 

Nick Rose was 3-of-4 on his field goal attempts, and two field goals was the difference in the game. Rose connected on a 53-yarder to put Texas up by 20 right before the half, and he made another field goal late in the fourth quarter. 

Daje Johnson also had an explosive kickoff return that gave Texas excellent field position. 

Coaching 

The Longhorns did a good job at the beginning of this game of getting the ball out of Swoopes' hands quickly, but Texas abandoned the run game a little too early. The offense was not able to get much going in the second half, and some of that was because of play-calling. The coaching staff swapped the two quarterbacks in and out in the first half, and it hurt them not being able to stick with just one. 

Also, the defense could not stop the run game in the second half despite knowing it was coming, so some of that has to be put on defensive play-calling. Overall it was a pretty good effort by the staff, though, because the game plan helped upset the No. 12 Baylor Bears. 

Positional Unit	First-Half Grade	Final Grade
Passing Offense	F	F
Rushing Offense	B-	A
Pass Defense	B-	B
Run Defense	C	C+
Special Teams	D	D
Coaching	C-	C

Game Grades Analysis for the Bears  

Passing Offense 

This was not the Baylor passing attack we expected to see. Last week the weather took away the vertical threat that Baylor's offense poses, but this week it was simply a lack of personnel. The Bears were down to their fourth quarterback, but either way they could not get it done. 

The passing offense gets an "F" here because it averaged only 3.6 yards per attempt and threw two interceptions. The rushing offense did enough to make the 84 yards less of a problem, but the two interceptions really hurt with field position. 

Rushing Offense 

The Bears rushing attack was on fire Saturday, and some of their running backs may still be running. The Bears had six players go over 30 yards rushing, and Jefferson led the way with 158 yards.

Baylor did not run the ball as much as it needed to in the first half, but the offensive line took control of the game in the third quarter. It wasn't quite enough in the end, but the coaches have to be proud of the effort from a run game perspective.

Pass Defense 

Baylor gets a "B" here because it limited Texas' passing game. The Bears did not come away with any interceptions, but there weren't many big passing plays outside of the early 57-yarder to Bluiett.

Run Defense 

Texas was able to run the ball pretty well in the first half, but the Bears made improvements in the final two quarters. They made some stops, but they still get a "C+" because of the way Texas extended drives by running the ball in the fourth quarter. 

Special Teams 

Baylor's special teams was not very good on Saturday. The Bears were 1-of-3 on their field goal attempts and gave up a 52-yard kickoff return to Texas' Daje Johnson. Those two field goals could have been useful for Baylor, which lost by six points. 

Coaching 

You have to cut the staff a little slack because of the injuries, but it took Baylor too long to figure out the running game. This game would have finished with a different result had Baylor went to the run game in the second quarter instead of trying to pass it down the field. 

The offensive play-calling was too fancy at times, and the clock management at the end of the game was terrible. Baylor wasted nearly one minute of clock time because of two plays in which the players stayed in bounds with no timeouts.