And while Friday didn’t pack the scoring punch of last year’s 61-58 thriller, the fact that this went back and forth-and was stuck on no scoring for awhile-is another example of why it’s become one of the most anticipated games of the season.
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If Baylor beats Texas at McLane Stadium on Saturday and if Oklahoma reaches the College Football Playoff as expected, then the Bears would win a three-way Big 12 tiebreaker for second with TCU and Oklahoma State.
Baylor has more to play for – they can still win the Big 12 title – but TCU is prideful, and healthier where it matters.
Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder, right, stands with his team during a timeout in the first half of an NCAA college football game against Kansas in Lawrence, Kan., Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015. And it was a new outcome. This game was utterly ruined by the weather, bogging down both teams to well, well below their season averages in basically everything except punts. Torrential downpour and sub-30 temperatures held back the two programs that have established themselves as elite offenses in the past few seasons.
#1. As is always the case, it’s certainly very easy to dissect what’s going wrong with the team in the heat of the moment from the comfort of my couch within the confines of my temperature controlled living room inside my watertight home. “Our guys played extremely hard”.
“At the end of the day, turnovers were the telling tale of the game”, Baylor coach Art Briles said.
Tonight’s game odds have Baylor as two-point favorites to win on the road against Texas Christian.
If you follow Baylor and TCU fans, get ready for #28-21 to plaster Twitter and Facebook feeds – whether or not that really needs to exist considering the context around it compared to last season. Cornerback Zack Sanchez was beaten both times, though he was in position and slipped both times.
Baylor (9-1, 6-1 Big 12), which will be starting third-string quarterback Chris Johnson, can stay in contention for a third consecutive conference title with a victory Friday night. I mentioned that I’d heard that the field drains well, and it probably does, but with the amount of rain that hit Fort Worth on Friday, the field was bound to get saturated. He completed 17 of 25 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 77 yards on 11 carries with a variety of scrambles and keepers.
Taking care of business means beating Texas, something the Bears have done four times in the last five years. “I never thought of just falling on it. I wanted to make a play”. It’s pure speculation to say what would have happened in that event and it is unfair to lay the blame at the feet of a single player.
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Johnson fumbled in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter on third down as he was about to throw a pass. Sophomore receiver KD Cannon had broken away from his defender on a double move, leaving him wide open in the end zone. The Oklahoma defensive coaches already had a good feel for what Mayfield could do. But they remained set on their goal of a conference title and next Saturday they will have a chance to fight for one.
