Texas’ third most-played opponent, Baylor comes into Austin with only one loss. The Longhorns can make it five wins in a row on Saturday.
Texas and Baylor have been playing against each other for a long time, with the first game dating back to 1901. Only Texas A&M and Oklahoma have played the Longhorns more. The Bears are also the team Texas has beaten the most in their history. Dominating the series for years, the momentum swung towards Baylor in the first half of the decade. Now on a four-game winning streak and back in favor of Texas, they can add another win against an old rival on Saturday.
Here is the series record between the Longhorns and Bears:
All-time series record: Texas leads 78-26-4
Largest wins: Texas 77-0 in 1913, Baylor 50-7 in 1989
Latest Texas win: Oct. 13, 2018
Last season’s victory against Baylor was one that was led by then backup and now SMU quarterback Shane Buechele. Sam Ehlinger left the game injured in the first quarter and Buechele played well in this place.
Buechele was 20-34 with 184 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. His touchdown was a 44-yard deep throw to Collin Johnson who beat one on one coverage down the right sideline to give the Longhorns a 13-10 lead.
Where the Longhorns really succeeded though was on the ground. Keaontay Ingram had a season-high 110 yards on just 19 carries. Tre Watson contributed 41 yards and Texas rushed for 170 total yards. Lil’ Jordan Humphrey had the only rushing touchdown for the Longhorns, scoring on a wildcat formation touchdown.
Holding Baylor go 100 rushing yards, the Bears’ 88 rushing yards were third-fewest Texas allowed in the regular season. Quarterback Charlie Brewer led the Baylor in rushing with 22 yards. As for passing the ball, Brewer struggled, only completing 51% of his throws. His 240 yards, a touchdown, and an interception were apart of an offensive struggle for the Bears.
Texas won 23-17, making it four wins in a row against Baylor. It is the longest winning streak the Longhorns have had in the series since winning 12 straight from 1998 to 2009.
Latest Baylor win: Oct. 4, 2014
Ranked No. 7 at the time, Baylor was riding a 4-0 start with an average margin of victory of 41 going into the 2014 matchup against Texas. Under first-year Head Coach Charlie Strong, Texas was 2-2 and still trying to find themselves.
Both quarterbacks had an awful day, completing a combined 41% of their throws. Baylor’s Bryce Petty was 7-22 with 111 yards. Two of those seven completions were second-half touchdowns to Antwan Goodley and Corey Coleman. Texas’ Tyrone Swoopes was a little better going 16-34 with 144 yards, but he had two interceptions.
Both teams excelled running the ball, especially the Bears. Baylor’s Shock Linwood averaged 5.3 yards per carry, with 148 yards on 28 carries. Other running back Johnny Jefferson had 72 yards on 11 carries. Texas had Jonathan Gray and Malcolm Brown go for 134 yards on 24 carries, while Gray scored the Longhorns’ only points of the game.
In a low scoring affair, both offenses struggled to find points. The only scoring play of the first half was a first-quarter blocked field goal by Baylor and Terrell Burt returned it 62 yards to give the Bears a 7-0 lead.
Baylor beat the Longhorns 28-7, making it their second win in Austin since 2010. Before those two wins, it had been since 1991 that the Bears beat Texas on the road. Baylor ended the season 11-1 and just missed out on the inaugural College Football Playoffs, while Texas stumbled to a 6-7 season.
Texas will play Baylor on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CST on FS1.