By KEVIN LONNQUIST
Publisher
No. 19 TCU knocked off No. 7 Baylor, 28-21, in double overtime Friday night at Amon Carter Stadium in a game that was consumed by a constant cold and heavy rain. The Horned Frogs ended their regular season at 10-2, 7-2. Baylor was eliminated from the Big 12 title and national championship races. The Bears are now 9-2 and 6-2 with the finale against Texas on Dec. 5 at McLane Stadium. The series after 111 meetings is 52-52-7.
So what did the publisher think?
>When you beat your arch rival, you feel invincible. When you lose to your arch rival, you feel worse than miserable. There’s nothing in between. That’s what makes the Baylor-TCU rivalry stand on its own as one of the best in college football. The last three games have been decided on either the last play or in the final seconds.
*In 2013, Terrell Burt intercepts a tipped ball in the end zone with 11 seconds to play. Baylor hangs on, 41-38.
*In 2014, Baylor PK Chris Callahan boots a 28-yard field on the final play as Baylor completes a 21-point comeback in the fourth quarter to win, 61-58.
*In 2015, TCU’s defensive front stuffs Devin Chafin on a 4th and 1 at the TCU 16 in double overtime to win 28-21.
Now, if you want drama in a rivalry, this is about as good as it gets in college football. The passion, hatred and intensity all run together. This will only add to the color of a game between two programs that are probably going to finish the regular season with double digit winning seasons. TCU is there. Baylor should get there next week against Texas. Rivalry games take on their own personality. They are played differently. The sense of urgency reaches different heights. And neither team wants to walk off the field believing that it didn’t leave anything on the field.
>This one hurts. It hurts bad. Baylor’s hopes of trying to claim another Big 12 title and the national playoffs are gone. Now, the Bears have to reset their goals of trying to finish the regular season on a good note, prepare for a bowl game and keep their fingers crossed that Jarrett Stidham will have a chance to play in it. But remember, this game just had a different tone to it because of so many injuries to either side.
>The weather was just about as wretched as it gets. This was all about wanting to be out there. Both teams played like they wanted to be out there. They dealt with the conditions as best as possible. There’s no reason to wonder if the game was played straight up what would have happened. It’s a waste of time. Football isn’t about playing in ideal conditions. It’s about adjusting to whatever the conditions present.
>Baylor isn’t taking care of the football. With five turnovers Friday, that’s eight in the last two games. You don’t win if you’re doing that.
>You can blame the wet and tough conditions. You can blame a heavy ball (I believe the Baylor radio network said the staff wanted to play with it like that). And Baylor can say it doesn’t have a depth chart. But it does have a depth chart. There’s a reason Chris Johnson is the No. 3 quarterback on this roster and was moved to wide receiver earlier this season. Baylor didn’t know what to do with him. He’s not very good. And deep down, every single Baylor follower was just hoping that it could shoestring something together so the Bears could escape Amon Carter Stadium with a win. Well it didn’t happen. Those first few balls at Oklahoma State were fun and everybody went crazy excited. But remember when I told you that if you watched the way that game ended in Stillwater ended, that that's needed to be watched. It was messy.
>On Friday night in Fort Worth, Baylor’s worst nightmare came true. With no Seth Russell or Jarrett Stidham to run this offense, the coaching staff had to turn it over to Johnson who is a Division I athlete without a position to play. When Zack Smith arrives in January, Johnson is going to get moved or should get moved to a new position because he doesn’t belong taking shotgun snaps from center. His footwork is brutal. He has no touch on any ball he throws. It’s really bad. And I feel bad for him because he was asked to save a season when he didn’t have the tools to do it. He was 7-of-24 for 62 yards and a pick and costly fumble that led to TCU’s tying score in the second quarter. He also had the fumble on the possession deep in TCU territory after Terence Williams blocked the punt. He completed 1 pass in the second half, a 4-yard TD wobbler to Devin Chafin in the first overtime.
Baylor’s lack of consistent QB depth finally caught up with it. It lived on the edge in 2013 and 2014 and got away with it. Now it should be better next year when you have Stidham, maybe Russell and Smith. Smith will have spring football behind him. If I’m a betting man, I suspect Baylor will push back the start of the 2016 spring season to sometime after spring break (mid-March). That way it gives both Russell and Stidham a chance to be 100 percent and Smith the opportunity to segue into the demands of college life.
>To his credit, Johnson has been as stand up as what you can ask for through a difficult situation. What is it that they say about people and character and tough situations? It doesn’t show character. It reveals it.
>Baylor ran 95 plays, 71 on the ground. No one should be surprised. This is a game that the running game was going to have to lead the way. Devin Chafin (119 yards) had his best game at Baylor since rushing for 100 yards against Texas Tech in 2013. He was the offense. Shock Linwood gutted through his leg injury but wasn’t himself.
>I don’t think the play calling helped Johnson to a great extent. Deep or middle range shots down the field on a night like this make the low completion percentage play even lower. I can see why Kendal Briles did it. He was probably hoping to get one to connect that would put Baylor in position to score in the second half and win the game. None of it worked. If you go underneath or screens on a deteriorating field, then you’re just hoping someone doesn’t slip. It was just a night run the football.
>I won’t be as hard on the Baylor offensive line in this one as I was with it from the second half of West Virginia through Oklahoma because of the messy track. But it’s fair to suggest that what we thought was a strength of this team is just ok. It’s not a bad offensive line. It’s just not a dominant offensive line. It doesn’t consistently own the line of scrimmage. It has its moments like last week at Oklahoma State. It hurt to an extent against TCU. We already talked about the issues against Oklahoma.
>Phil Bennett’s defense played great. Yes, the Chance Waz pass interference was bad because it looked like TCU was about to go on the ropes in the first overtime. He then got used by Kavonte Turpin on the go-ahead touchdown in the second overtime. But you can’t ask for more: TCU had 302 yards of total offense, was 2-of-17 on third down, Trevone Boykin (bad ankle) threw for 148 yards and rushed for 16. Aiavion Edwards and Taion Sells had standout nights. When you play defense in overtime, it’s just Russian Roulette and you hope the bullet isn’t in the chamber when you click the trigger.
>As much fun as the Big 12 championship seasons were in 2013 and 2014, this game offers the learning tool that nothing is handed to you. You have to earn it. This is a season where Baylor started off as expected through the first seven games, suffered catastrophic injuries, endured but didn’t have enough to win a third consecutive title. That’s the game. But just because major hardware isn’t coming to Waco, it doesn’t mean this hasn’t been a great season. When you win at least nine games, it doesn’t mean you lucked into it. When nine wins is considered not where you want to be, then the standard is set.
>As for Baylor-TCU No. 112? Mark you calendar for No. 5, 2016 at McLane Stadium.
Publisher
No. 19 TCU knocked off No. 7 Baylor, 28-21, in double overtime Friday night at Amon Carter Stadium in a game that was consumed by a constant cold and heavy rain. The Horned Frogs ended their regular season at 10-2, 7-2. Baylor was eliminated from the Big 12 title and national championship races. The Bears are now 9-2 and 6-2 with the finale against Texas on Dec. 5 at McLane Stadium. The series after 111 meetings is 52-52-7.
So what did the publisher think?
>When you beat your arch rival, you feel invincible. When you lose to your arch rival, you feel worse than miserable. There’s nothing in between. That’s what makes the Baylor-TCU rivalry stand on its own as one of the best in college football. The last three games have been decided on either the last play or in the final seconds.
*In 2013, Terrell Burt intercepts a tipped ball in the end zone with 11 seconds to play. Baylor hangs on, 41-38.
*In 2014, Baylor PK Chris Callahan boots a 28-yard field on the final play as Baylor completes a 21-point comeback in the fourth quarter to win, 61-58.
*In 2015, TCU’s defensive front stuffs Devin Chafin on a 4th and 1 at the TCU 16 in double overtime to win 28-21.
Now, if you want drama in a rivalry, this is about as good as it gets in college football. The passion, hatred and intensity all run together. This will only add to the color of a game between two programs that are probably going to finish the regular season with double digit winning seasons. TCU is there. Baylor should get there next week against Texas. Rivalry games take on their own personality. They are played differently. The sense of urgency reaches different heights. And neither team wants to walk off the field believing that it didn’t leave anything on the field.
>This one hurts. It hurts bad. Baylor’s hopes of trying to claim another Big 12 title and the national playoffs are gone. Now, the Bears have to reset their goals of trying to finish the regular season on a good note, prepare for a bowl game and keep their fingers crossed that Jarrett Stidham will have a chance to play in it. But remember, this game just had a different tone to it because of so many injuries to either side.
>The weather was just about as wretched as it gets. This was all about wanting to be out there. Both teams played like they wanted to be out there. They dealt with the conditions as best as possible. There’s no reason to wonder if the game was played straight up what would have happened. It’s a waste of time. Football isn’t about playing in ideal conditions. It’s about adjusting to whatever the conditions present.
>Baylor isn’t taking care of the football. With five turnovers Friday, that’s eight in the last two games. You don’t win if you’re doing that.
>You can blame the wet and tough conditions. You can blame a heavy ball (I believe the Baylor radio network said the staff wanted to play with it like that). And Baylor can say it doesn’t have a depth chart. But it does have a depth chart. There’s a reason Chris Johnson is the No. 3 quarterback on this roster and was moved to wide receiver earlier this season. Baylor didn’t know what to do with him. He’s not very good. And deep down, every single Baylor follower was just hoping that it could shoestring something together so the Bears could escape Amon Carter Stadium with a win. Well it didn’t happen. Those first few balls at Oklahoma State were fun and everybody went crazy excited. But remember when I told you that if you watched the way that game ended in Stillwater ended, that that's needed to be watched. It was messy.
>On Friday night in Fort Worth, Baylor’s worst nightmare came true. With no Seth Russell or Jarrett Stidham to run this offense, the coaching staff had to turn it over to Johnson who is a Division I athlete without a position to play. When Zack Smith arrives in January, Johnson is going to get moved or should get moved to a new position because he doesn’t belong taking shotgun snaps from center. His footwork is brutal. He has no touch on any ball he throws. It’s really bad. And I feel bad for him because he was asked to save a season when he didn’t have the tools to do it. He was 7-of-24 for 62 yards and a pick and costly fumble that led to TCU’s tying score in the second quarter. He also had the fumble on the possession deep in TCU territory after Terence Williams blocked the punt. He completed 1 pass in the second half, a 4-yard TD wobbler to Devin Chafin in the first overtime.
Baylor’s lack of consistent QB depth finally caught up with it. It lived on the edge in 2013 and 2014 and got away with it. Now it should be better next year when you have Stidham, maybe Russell and Smith. Smith will have spring football behind him. If I’m a betting man, I suspect Baylor will push back the start of the 2016 spring season to sometime after spring break (mid-March). That way it gives both Russell and Stidham a chance to be 100 percent and Smith the opportunity to segue into the demands of college life.
>To his credit, Johnson has been as stand up as what you can ask for through a difficult situation. What is it that they say about people and character and tough situations? It doesn’t show character. It reveals it.
>Baylor ran 95 plays, 71 on the ground. No one should be surprised. This is a game that the running game was going to have to lead the way. Devin Chafin (119 yards) had his best game at Baylor since rushing for 100 yards against Texas Tech in 2013. He was the offense. Shock Linwood gutted through his leg injury but wasn’t himself.
>I don’t think the play calling helped Johnson to a great extent. Deep or middle range shots down the field on a night like this make the low completion percentage play even lower. I can see why Kendal Briles did it. He was probably hoping to get one to connect that would put Baylor in position to score in the second half and win the game. None of it worked. If you go underneath or screens on a deteriorating field, then you’re just hoping someone doesn’t slip. It was just a night run the football.
>I won’t be as hard on the Baylor offensive line in this one as I was with it from the second half of West Virginia through Oklahoma because of the messy track. But it’s fair to suggest that what we thought was a strength of this team is just ok. It’s not a bad offensive line. It’s just not a dominant offensive line. It doesn’t consistently own the line of scrimmage. It has its moments like last week at Oklahoma State. It hurt to an extent against TCU. We already talked about the issues against Oklahoma.
>Phil Bennett’s defense played great. Yes, the Chance Waz pass interference was bad because it looked like TCU was about to go on the ropes in the first overtime. He then got used by Kavonte Turpin on the go-ahead touchdown in the second overtime. But you can’t ask for more: TCU had 302 yards of total offense, was 2-of-17 on third down, Trevone Boykin (bad ankle) threw for 148 yards and rushed for 16. Aiavion Edwards and Taion Sells had standout nights. When you play defense in overtime, it’s just Russian Roulette and you hope the bullet isn’t in the chamber when you click the trigger.
>As much fun as the Big 12 championship seasons were in 2013 and 2014, this game offers the learning tool that nothing is handed to you. You have to earn it. This is a season where Baylor started off as expected through the first seven games, suffered catastrophic injuries, endured but didn’t have enough to win a third consecutive title. That’s the game. But just because major hardware isn’t coming to Waco, it doesn’t mean this hasn’t been a great season. When you win at least nine games, it doesn’t mean you lucked into it. When nine wins is considered not where you want to be, then the standard is set.
>As for Baylor-TCU No. 112? Mark you calendar for No. 5, 2016 at McLane Stadium.
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