AUSTIN, Texas — The Baylor Bears football program traveled south down I-35 to face the No. 23 Texas Longhorns in their regular season finale.
The Bears were looking to snap a two-game losing streak and eliminate UT from having any chance of playing in a Big 12 Championship Game next week in Arlington.
Baylor jumped off to a hot-start when Quinn Ewers was flagged for intentional grounding in the end zone in the first quarter which resulted in a safety.
On the ensuing drive, the Bears punched the Longhorns in the face with a five play, 62-yard drive which resulted in a 47-yard touchdown pass from Blake Shapen to Jaylen Ellis.
Things flipped quickly for Baylor. After dominating through most of the first quarter, UT found their rhythm and made Baylor look like the team that has lost two straight.
In a matter of two minutes towards the end of the quarter, Texas scored 14 points. The first-seven came from a Quinn Ewers touchdown run followed by a Bijan Robinson touchdown score.
UT had a 14-9 lead entering the second quarter.
With :40 seconds to go before the half and Longhorns leading 17-12, Shapen hit Ben Sims on a 14-yard strike and a score to give the Bears a 19-17 lead heading into the locker room.
After two straight punts by each team to begin the second-half, Baylor's Devin Lemear recovered a fumble forced by Al Walcott at the Texas 27-yard-line.
In perfect field position, the Bears missed a wide-open Qualan Jones on third-down followed by a missed John Mayers 40-yard field goal.
Texas saw their opportunity and jumped on it, driving 78-yards in just over three minutes to score and take a 24-19 lead with 2:21 left in the third quarter.
With all the momentum in Texas' favor, Al Walcott hit Quinn Ewers with 13:30 left in the fourth which knocked the ball loose. Big man Gabe Hall was on it immediately and returned the fumble for 17-yards. Baylor went for two and was successful, giving them a 27-24 lead.
Texas retaliated, riding Bijan Robinson down the field as he scored from one-yard out to give team a 31-24 lead. He rushed for 65 yards on the drive.
With seven minutes left in the fourth, the Bears got themselves in a third-and-long situation after Shapen took a sack. He then threw an interception which gave UT the ball at the Bears' 43.
The Longhorns put the nail in the coffin late in the fourth quarter when Roschon Johnson hurdled a Baylor defender to cap off an 11-yard touchdown run to give UT a 38-27 lead.
Texas went on to win by that final score.
