Football Falls at Texas, 27-16

Saturday, October 24

Austin, Texas

2:30 PM CT

Baylor

1-2 , 1-2

Texas

3-2 , 2-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Baylor

Texas

Football Falls at Texas, 27-16

10/24/2020 6:47:00 PM | Football

Box Score Game Book Baylor Postgame Notes

Brewer Throws for 256 Yards, Two 4th-Quarter Touchdowns

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            AUSTIN – Shaking off the rust from playing their first game in three weeks, the Baylor Bears finally got their offense clicking in the fourth quarter and made things interesting against a Texas team that seemed to be on cruise control.
            Charlie Brewer provided some more fourth-quarter magic, completing 10-of-12 passes for 97 yards in a pair of scoring drives. But this time, the Bears (1-2) came up short, falling to the Texas Longhorns, 27-16, Saturday afternoon at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium.
            "Offensively, once we were able to get into rhythm, protection-wise as well as Charlie getting the ball out . . . we were able to move the ball," Baylor coach Dave Aranda said. "Even earlier, there were some spots where we put a few plays together that illustrated that. We just weren't able to finish the drive. At the end of the game, we were able to finish the drives."
            In a matchup of two of the elite schoolboy quarterbacks to come out of Austin in the last decade, Texas' Sam Ehlinger from Westlake finally won a head-to-head battle with Brewer, who led Lake Travis to the 6A state championship in 2016.
            Ehlinger completed 15-of-23 passes for 270 yards and one touchdown – the first he's thrown against Baylor's defense in his four-year career – and added two rushing TDs to lead a Texas offense that rolled up 429 yards total and 159 yards on the ground.
            The Bears held most of the Longhorns' explosive offensive weapons in check, but Texas made the Baylor defense pay for a couple coverage lapses with a 72-yard pass to Tariq Black and a 47-yarder to tight end Jared Wiley.
            "The main thing was not having communication," safety JT Woods said. "I hold myself (accountable) for a couple of them. We have to get all the defense on the same page. We just have to do a good job of communicating."
            Leading 13-3 at the break, Texas put together a pair of 75-yard drives in the third quarter and went up 27-3 on TD runs of one and nine yards by Ehlinger.
            That's when Brewer and the offense finally got untracked. Hitting on five straight passes, the senior QB marched the Bears down the field and then capped it with a short pass in the flat to running back John Lovett, who strolled into the end zone with a three-yard touchdown that whittled the deficit to 27-9.
            Trying to make it a two-score game, Brewer missed on a two-point conversion attempt that Tyquan Thornton caught behind the back line of the end zone.
            The defense, which was solid most of the day, came up with the game's only turnover just three plays later. Ehlinger took a deep shot down the right sideline and seemed to have a receiver open, but cornerback Mark Milton got there in the nick of time to deflect the ball to Woods, who returned his second career pick 32 yards to UT's 25.
            "We were talking about it on the sidelines, getting a turnover and letting the offense get into the end zone," said Woods, who also had an interception in the Bears' 27-21, double-overtime loss at West Virginia three weeks ago. "Luckily, he threw it right to me."
            Five plays later, Brewer connected with Gavin Holmes on a seven-yard TD pass, his third career score and first in three years. Holmes, who has gone through two ACL surgeries, had a career-high nine catches for 57 yards.
            The defense came up with another stop, when Milton chased down receiver Joshua Moore on a reverse play and dropped him for a one-yard loss on third-and-two from Baylor's 42.
            Brewer, who has led five game-winning fourth-quarter drives and nearly engineered another comeback two years ago on this same field, had the Bears on the move again with three straight completions.
            But, after a false-start penalty, he couldn't connect with RJ Sneed over the middle on a fourth-and-seven from the 25-yard line and gave the ball back to the Longhorns (3-2, 2-2).
            Passing former All-Big 12 quarterback Bryce Petty, Brewer moved up to No. 2 all-time with 8,369 career yards passing. He was 30-of-43 for 256 yards and two touchdowns, picked up a couple first downs with his feet and even caught a pass from Trestan Ebner that was nullified by an illegal formation penalty.
            Linebacker Terrel Bernard matched his career-high with 19 tackles – his sixth career game with double-digit tackles – and had one sack, two stops behind the line and a pass breakup.
            Redshirt junior defensive tackle Ryan Miller made his first start since the first two games of the 2017 season, when he began the year as the Bears' center.
            Baylor returns home to host TCU (1-3) at 2:30 p.m. next Saturday, Oct. 31, in a game that will be televised by ESPN2. The Horned Frogs, who upset a then-No. 9 Texas team, 33-31, three weeks ago in Austin, dropped their second in a row with a 33-14 loss at home to Oklahoma.