Niya Johnson had 12 assists for Baylor in the rematch of a first-round NCAA Tournament game last March that the Lady Bears won 77-36 at home. Safety Kevin Vaccaro even fell on top of Hawthorne and the Baylor players ran over to protect their quarterback. Here’s the video, via ESPN. Winning a conference championship, I would have never thought we would have done it five or six years ago.
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“Me and Coach Briles and my mom and Coach Kaz, we discussed it and that’s what we think the best route is”, Coleman responded when asked if he was going to skip his senior year for the NFL. Those selections will be made in order of best available April, and there were at least seven teams above Texas on that list.
It didn’t look like any punches were thrown, but Texas defensive back DeShon Elliott was ready. Down 20-0 and with the emergency QB in the game, Baylor basically ditched the offense that has brought us out of the Dark Ages and is as synonymous with our program as the colors green and gold, and went to a throwback single-wing attack.
It was a insane way to win a game, but the Texas Longhorns will take it. Charlie Strong has a crucial offensive coordinator hire looming that might help matters, but if he does land TCU co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie, Cumbie will have a enormous task ahead.
Following a three-and-out by the Bears, the Longhorns tacked on a 23-yard field goal by Nick Rose after nickel back Travon Blanchard dropped an interception on second down and receiver John Burt failed to corral a third-down pass over the middle.
Hawthorne threw another interception in the second quarter, a play when Locke was called for holding on the return after what was really a scuffle with Coleman on the opposite side of the field from where the ball was. “Everything we practiced this week with our starting quarterback, and he goes down early, so we’ve got to switch up a lot of stuff on the fly”. Texas controlled the game from the beginning and led 20-0 at halftime. Andrew Billings, Jamal Palmer, and Shawn Oakman set the tone in what might be the last game all three play at Baylor, and they were simply marvelous. Other Big 12 bowl tie-ins that could extend Baylor a bid include the Cactus Bowl, the Liberty Bowl, the Alamo Bowl and the Russell Athletic Bowl.
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Looking for another “Miracle on the Brazos”, the Bears battled back from a seemingly insurmountable 20-0 hole at the half.
