Baylor
Texas
Longhorns Steamroll Bears, 62-0
7/27/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 25, 1999
WACO, Texas - A full moon rose over Floyd Casey Stadium's southeast corner Saturday night, but nature's nocturnal orb, tinged burnt orange as it began to traverse the heavens, paled in comparison to the way the men whose uniforms were trimmed in the same hue shone on the venue's green plain.
Texas' 62-0 win was every bit as nightmarish for the Bears as the score indicated.
The loss ranks as the third-largest ever by Baylor, and nothing in recent BU history comes close. Only an 89-0 pasting by LSU in 1908 and 77-0 steamrolling by the Texas in 1913 provided bigger defeats.
And those came before the Bears joined the dearly- departed Southwest Conference, making Saturday's loss Baylor's worst ever to an intraleague foe.
"I never dreamed of anything like this in my wildest imagination," coach Kevin Steele said.
While moving the ball and scoring with equal effectiveness over land and through the air, the Longhorns' smothering defense limited Baylor at every turn.
Texas totalled 586 yards offense (No. 16 ever at UT), 233 rushing and 353 passing, while holding Baylor to just 159 total yards. The first down margin, 34-8, further indicated just how lopsided an affair it was.
There were stars aplenty in the Longhorn universe. Texas quarterback Major Applewhite led the attack, completing 26 of 37 passes for 333 yards. Chris Simms added 20 yards on three of four passe completions.
Texas running back Hodges Mitchell led the 'Horns with 131 yards on 22 carries. Longhorn receivers Kwame Cavil and Ryan Nunez combined for 14 catches, 157 yards and one touchdown. Bobby Darnell led the Bears with 35 receiving yards.
For the Bears, quarterback Jermaine Alfred was 10 of 22 for 107 yards while Odell James contributed 40 yards passing on three of eight.
The leading Bear rusher, James, collected 14 yards on the night. Starting tailback Darrell Bush lost 12 running the ball while the entire Bear team totalled a dozen.
"This was the most complete game that we have played in the last two years I've been at Texas," UT coach Mack Brown said. "Major probably played as well as any quarterback we've had, and the second and thrid strong players played bettertonight than they ever have."
Texas drew first blood on its opening drive, marching 53 yards in 11 plays to make it 7-0. Applewhite mixed the pass and run well, working the ball to Cavil for two nice gainers. Chris Robertson capped it off with a one-yard plunge with 7:50 to play in the first.
Robertson played a big role in the Longhorns' next series, but the result went in the Bears' favor this time. After the BU defense forced Texas into a fourth-and-two from the UT 37, the 'Horns lined up in punt formation.
But the snap went to Robertson, the personal protector, on a fake punt attempt. Robertson bobbled the short snap and McKinley Bowie stopped him a yard short of the first down.
The Bears couldn't convert, though, and Kyle Atteberry's punt set UT up on its own 20.
Texas wasted little time in moving 80 yards to make it 14-0. With 36 seconds to go in the opening period, Hodges Mitchell barrelled up the middle on a three-yard scoring run, capping an eight-play, 80-yard drive that consumed 3:01.
Along the way, Applewhite hit Montrell Flowers in a nice 37-yard pass play down the right side.
UT quickly got back on the board after Odell James, inserted into the game at quarterback, was picked off by Longhorn sophomore linebacker De'Andre Lewis. Mitchell went in from the 13 on the very next snap to make it 21-0 with 14:47 to go before intermission.
"You can't turn the ball over when you're playing the No. 22 team in the country," Steele said.
Baylor's next possession produced the initial Bear first down of the game - it came on a beautifully executed screen pass from James to Bush - but the Baylor drive ended when Atteberry's pass attempt from punt formation was intercepted by Ervis Hill.
Texas tried a little special teams trickery of its own after the Bear defense held. Lining up in field goal formation, kicker Kris Stockton punted the Bears down to their own one.
From there Alfred, now back in the game, completed a nice 11-yard cross pattern to Randy Davis. But while attempting to avoid a heavy UT rush on the next play, he took a hard shot from defensive end Aaron Humphrey and fumbled, setting up UT on the Bear 17
It took Texas four plays to score with Robertson doing the honors from the one, making it 28-0 with 6:41 to go in the second.
"We turned it over in the red zone to get down 28- 0 against a good football team. The momentum shifted and we couldn't get it turned," Steele said. "We dug oursevles into a hole and couldn't get out."
The lead very quickly went to 35-0 when Applewhite conected with Chris Smith on a 14-yard scoring strike to cap a six-play, 80-yard drive that took 1:24 off the clock.
Baylor had a nice drive going in the final two minutes of the half, but Hill intercpeted Alfred on the UT 42, setting up another 'Horn scoring march.
This time Applewhite connected with Ryan Nunez on an eight-yard scoring toss, capping a three-play, 58-yard drive that took 48 seconds to unfold.
With 47 seconds to play in the half, Texas had built its lead to 42, the fourth-largest halftime lead in the UT record book. And those 42 points were the fifth-most Texas ever scored in a first half of play.
Texas opened the second half with a long scoring drive that ended with a 42-yard Stockton field goal. The drive covered 55 yards but took 14 plays and 5:14 of possession time.
The onslaught continued when Applewhite hit Mitchell on a 10-yard TD toss with 2:31 to go in the third. The highlight of the 12-play, 81-yard drive making it 52-0 was a 41-yard connection between the UT QB and Jeremy Jones.
Stockton added a 50-yard field goal with 12:54 to play as Longhorn backup quarterback Chris Simms took the helm.
After another short Baylor drive, Simms engineered a 13-play, 79-yard drive, capped by a three-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Healy with 3:31 left in the game to put Texas up by the final score of 62-0.
It all added up to the 'Horns' largest margin of victory ever over a conference opponent and their first shutout since 1991 against TCU.
"You have to remember, we're 16 quarters into a building process," coach Kevin Steele said. "We're not giving up. We'll keep fighting as a team and keep diligently working. Some will look and say we're not getting it done, but we're not looking at it that way."
