1. It hasn't been a very fun season for Texas fans (or those of us who have to cover the team), but that was a damn fun game to watch and it feels good to actually cover an exciting win over a ranked-opponent. There's going to be a lot of celebrating in Austin tonight, and this team (and you fans) deserve it.
2. Hey Baylor, that's called karma.
3. I'm not sure this game changes anything in the big picture for Texas' season or Charlie Strong's status, but it keeps Strong's chances alive when a loss would have pretty much sealed the deal on his career at UT. There's still a lot of work to be done this year but this could be the type of game that gives Texas a big boost of confidence that it desperately needed.
4. As we mentioned during the week, Malik Jefferson and Anthony Wheeler were benched to start the game (as was Patrick Vahe). It didn't seem to make much difference for either starter. Neither Tim Cole nor Edwin Freeman did much of anything when they were on the field aside from one big red zone tackle by Freeman.
5. Maybe the benching was enough to light a fire for Jefferson. He finished with a team-high 10 tackles (8 solo), 2 sacks and should have had a defensive touchdown if not for a questionable call by the officials. I've been pretty tough on Malik for several weeks, but he bounced back this week and deserves a lot of credit. Wheeler was also productive with 9 tackles of his own.
6. Shane Buechele wasn't perfect but he turned in a pretty damn good game overall. He was accurate when throwing downfield and his decision to push the ball downfield to Armanti Foreman on a free play in which Baylor was flagged was something a lot of veteran quarterbacks don't do. Buechele's stats weren't great (12-of-21) but he averaged 24.5 yards per completion on the night and came though in the clutch. Big-time effort by the true freshman.
7. I'm not sure I can remember seeing a team struggle to defend the quarterback run game as much as Texas this year. Seth Russell finished with 138 yards on 21 carries and the total would have been 176 yards if you don't factor in the losses on sacks. He also had another long run called back on a penalty. Texas can't seem to stop the QB run in any form or fashion, but when Russell took off on unscheduled runs, he had nothing but green grass in front of him for about 20 yards.
8. I'll have to wait to see what the offensive line grades look like in the Deep Dig this week, but I thought McMillon was pretty solid at left guard for the most part. He and Zach Shackelford threw good blocks to spring D'Onta Foreman on Foreman's first touchdown run and Foreman had another long run behind McMillon's block later in the game.
9. As good as Shock Linwood is, I'm not sure Terence Wilson isn't better. Williams looked like a man playing among boys out there and there were times it looked like Texas wanted no part of tackling him.
10. Another amazing effort by D'Onta Foreman. Thirty-two carries for 250 yards and two touchdowns. I don't really need to say much here ... he was unbelievable yet again.
11. That may have been the worst-coached game I've ever seen that Baylor turned in. Man, if Charlie Strong gets crap for his in-game decisions, Jim Grobe and the Baylor staff should be run out of town immediately after some of the moves they made in this one.
12. Dylan Haines' open-field tackling was atrocious today. The missed tackle on Seth Russell's touchdown run on the opening drive and the hurdle over Haines were painfully bad, but there were a few others where Haines whiffed badly as well. I don't know that Texas has an answer on its roster as a replacement, but the other guys can't be much worse than what Haines produced on Saturday.
13. As bad as that play was by Haines when Russell hurdled him, I gotta admit ... that was one hell of a play by Russell.
14. I thought this game was going to go until midnight. The actual time of the game has to be close to some sort of UT record.
15. When I first saw Swoopes in at running back, I was thinking "why not?" and I was thinking it could open things up for a trick play or some creativity. A couple plays later, I decided it was time to throw that formation out. For some reason, Texas kept going back to it and never did anything with it to keep Baylor off-balance. There was even a hand-off to Swoopes on third-and-5. Curious, at best. Swoopes runs too high and isn't quick enough in his first couple steps to play running back. I'll be curious to see if that package is used in future games. It shouldn't be.
16. Credit to the UT coaches for the decision to put their faith in Trent Domingue. I had some serious doubts about the way Texas basically played for the field goal late in the game considering Domingue's issues, but he came through in the clutch so a tip of the cap to the coaches on that one.
17. D'Onta Foreman was D'Onta Foreman, but Armanti was terrific as well. He made the catch for a TD that he couldn't make last week and his play down the sideline in the fourth quarter was phenomenal. Armanti did have a hiccup with a fumble, but that was a hell of an effort by both guys with 392 yards between the two of them. The entire Foreman family should be celebrating tonight.
18. That fumble by JaMycal Hasty when Baylor was going in for a score in the fourth quarter to maybe put the game away was huge. Having Hasty in the game there was one of about 100 questionable decisions by the Baylor staff.
19. P.J. Locke didn't put up huge stats, but he came up big with an interception and fumble recovery.
20. Great win by Texas against a top-10 win. It wasn't always pretty, but the team made big plays down the stretch when it mattered and sent Baylor home with its first loss of the year. Heck of a game. As I said earlier, it's been a tough year for Texas fans, so I hope you all really get to enjoy this one.
Player of the game: D'Onta Foreman is the easy choice, yet again. Several players turned in solid efforts, but Foreman is on another level than anyone else on the team.
Best position group: I'll give the nod to the wide receivers. There were a couple mistakes, like John Burt's drop and Armanti Foreman's drop, but this group played well overall. Foreman, Jake Oliver, Lorenzo Joe and Collin Johnson all had good games.
This game was over when ... It really wasn't over until the clock hit zero, but with the play-calling by Baylor on its last drive, it may as well have been over when Domingue hit the field goal. What the hell was Baylor thinking running its quarterback with no time outs?
Best decision: Benching Jefferson and Wheeler. I don't know if it was the benching that propelled both guys to play better, but if it lit a fire under both guys it could pay big dividends down the stretch.
Head-scratcher: There were quite a few calls in this one I didn't agree with, but none more than the decision to try Swoopes at running back and give him the ball on a run up the middle on third-and-five.
What's next?:Texas will head to Lubbock to play a Texas Tech team that shocked TCU in Fort Worth in double overtime. Red Raider quarterback Patrick Mahomes did come off the field with an injury on Tech's last drive so that will be something to watch this week.
2. Hey Baylor, that's called karma.
3. I'm not sure this game changes anything in the big picture for Texas' season or Charlie Strong's status, but it keeps Strong's chances alive when a loss would have pretty much sealed the deal on his career at UT. There's still a lot of work to be done this year but this could be the type of game that gives Texas a big boost of confidence that it desperately needed.
4. As we mentioned during the week, Malik Jefferson and Anthony Wheeler were benched to start the game (as was Patrick Vahe). It didn't seem to make much difference for either starter. Neither Tim Cole nor Edwin Freeman did much of anything when they were on the field aside from one big red zone tackle by Freeman.
5. Maybe the benching was enough to light a fire for Jefferson. He finished with a team-high 10 tackles (8 solo), 2 sacks and should have had a defensive touchdown if not for a questionable call by the officials. I've been pretty tough on Malik for several weeks, but he bounced back this week and deserves a lot of credit. Wheeler was also productive with 9 tackles of his own.
6. Shane Buechele wasn't perfect but he turned in a pretty damn good game overall. He was accurate when throwing downfield and his decision to push the ball downfield to Armanti Foreman on a free play in which Baylor was flagged was something a lot of veteran quarterbacks don't do. Buechele's stats weren't great (12-of-21) but he averaged 24.5 yards per completion on the night and came though in the clutch. Big-time effort by the true freshman.
7. I'm not sure I can remember seeing a team struggle to defend the quarterback run game as much as Texas this year. Seth Russell finished with 138 yards on 21 carries and the total would have been 176 yards if you don't factor in the losses on sacks. He also had another long run called back on a penalty. Texas can't seem to stop the QB run in any form or fashion, but when Russell took off on unscheduled runs, he had nothing but green grass in front of him for about 20 yards.
8. I'll have to wait to see what the offensive line grades look like in the Deep Dig this week, but I thought McMillon was pretty solid at left guard for the most part. He and Zach Shackelford threw good blocks to spring D'Onta Foreman on Foreman's first touchdown run and Foreman had another long run behind McMillon's block later in the game.
9. As good as Shock Linwood is, I'm not sure Terence Wilson isn't better. Williams looked like a man playing among boys out there and there were times it looked like Texas wanted no part of tackling him.
10. Another amazing effort by D'Onta Foreman. Thirty-two carries for 250 yards and two touchdowns. I don't really need to say much here ... he was unbelievable yet again.
11. That may have been the worst-coached game I've ever seen that Baylor turned in. Man, if Charlie Strong gets crap for his in-game decisions, Jim Grobe and the Baylor staff should be run out of town immediately after some of the moves they made in this one.
12. Dylan Haines' open-field tackling was atrocious today. The missed tackle on Seth Russell's touchdown run on the opening drive and the hurdle over Haines were painfully bad, but there were a few others where Haines whiffed badly as well. I don't know that Texas has an answer on its roster as a replacement, but the other guys can't be much worse than what Haines produced on Saturday.
13. As bad as that play was by Haines when Russell hurdled him, I gotta admit ... that was one hell of a play by Russell.
14. I thought this game was going to go until midnight. The actual time of the game has to be close to some sort of UT record.
15. When I first saw Swoopes in at running back, I was thinking "why not?" and I was thinking it could open things up for a trick play or some creativity. A couple plays later, I decided it was time to throw that formation out. For some reason, Texas kept going back to it and never did anything with it to keep Baylor off-balance. There was even a hand-off to Swoopes on third-and-5. Curious, at best. Swoopes runs too high and isn't quick enough in his first couple steps to play running back. I'll be curious to see if that package is used in future games. It shouldn't be.
16. Credit to the UT coaches for the decision to put their faith in Trent Domingue. I had some serious doubts about the way Texas basically played for the field goal late in the game considering Domingue's issues, but he came through in the clutch so a tip of the cap to the coaches on that one.
17. D'Onta Foreman was D'Onta Foreman, but Armanti was terrific as well. He made the catch for a TD that he couldn't make last week and his play down the sideline in the fourth quarter was phenomenal. Armanti did have a hiccup with a fumble, but that was a hell of an effort by both guys with 392 yards between the two of them. The entire Foreman family should be celebrating tonight.
18. That fumble by JaMycal Hasty when Baylor was going in for a score in the fourth quarter to maybe put the game away was huge. Having Hasty in the game there was one of about 100 questionable decisions by the Baylor staff.
19. P.J. Locke didn't put up huge stats, but he came up big with an interception and fumble recovery.
20. Great win by Texas against a top-10 win. It wasn't always pretty, but the team made big plays down the stretch when it mattered and sent Baylor home with its first loss of the year. Heck of a game. As I said earlier, it's been a tough year for Texas fans, so I hope you all really get to enjoy this one.
Player of the game: D'Onta Foreman is the easy choice, yet again. Several players turned in solid efforts, but Foreman is on another level than anyone else on the team.
Best position group: I'll give the nod to the wide receivers. There were a couple mistakes, like John Burt's drop and Armanti Foreman's drop, but this group played well overall. Foreman, Jake Oliver, Lorenzo Joe and Collin Johnson all had good games.
This game was over when ... It really wasn't over until the clock hit zero, but with the play-calling by Baylor on its last drive, it may as well have been over when Domingue hit the field goal. What the hell was Baylor thinking running its quarterback with no time outs?
Best decision: Benching Jefferson and Wheeler. I don't know if it was the benching that propelled both guys to play better, but if it lit a fire under both guys it could pay big dividends down the stretch.
Head-scratcher: There were quite a few calls in this one I didn't agree with, but none more than the decision to try Swoopes at running back and give him the ball on a run up the middle on third-and-five.
What's next?:Texas will head to Lubbock to play a Texas Tech team that shocked TCU in Fort Worth in double overtime. Red Raider quarterback Patrick Mahomes did come off the field with an injury on Tech's last drive so that will be something to watch this week.
