By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
Looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season, the 13th-ranked Baylor Bears couldn't have asked for a better start.
It was the next 59 ½ minutes that didn't go that well.
After Baylor (6-2, 3-2) opened the game with an 81-yard TD strike from Seth Russell to Ishmael Zamora, the visiting TCU Horned Frogs (5-4, 3-3) scored 31 straight points and pulled away for a stunning 62-22 victory before a McLane Stadium crowd of 48,129.
"I really felt like coming out of the locker room today that we were ready to play," said Baylor head coach Jim Grobe. "But, obviously not. . . . I didn't think we played good in any aspect defensively, run or pass. And then offensively, we were just really flat early and kind of go out of the game by halftime and really never got it going again in the second half."
TCU was coming off back-to-back losses and had a struggling offense that was ranked in the middle of the pack in the Big 12. But, led by Kyle Hicks' career-high 192 yards and five rushing touchdowns, the Frogs rolled up 431 yards on the ground and 688 yards total offense.
Senior cornerback Ryan Reid didn't hold any punches, saying the defense "played horrible."
"It's really disappointing," he said. "We have to pick it up. There's nothing to sugarcoat."
Things weren't much better on the offensive side, where the Bears went six straight series without scoring after that first quick-hitter. Russell was 22-of-42 for 282 yards and one touchdown and added two short rushing TDs, but the offense had just 159 yards in the second half and 415 for the game.
"TCU came out and played hard, they played tough," Russell said. "But at the end, we just didn't execute."
TCU cornerback Ranthony Texada, the older brother of freshman Raleigh Texada, got beat on that Zamora TD grab to start the game. But, he also turned in one of the key plays of the game when he picked off a Russell pass in the flat and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown that gave TCU a 31-7 lead with 10:37 left in the half.
"I gave them an easy touchdown," Russell said. "It was a pick-six, and that kind of put us behind the 8-ball a little bit more than what we already we were."
Texada's interception return capped off a 31-point run by the Frogs, who scored 24 last week in a double-overtime loss to Texas Tech.
Baylor's only lead of the game lasted all of 34 seconds. The Bears had a chance to get off the field, with the Frogs facing a third-and-eight after a two-yard run by Hicks, but Reid was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
On the very next play, TCU receiver Taj Williams hauled in a 37-yard pass from Kenny Hill to tie it up at 7-7.
Controlling field position, the Horned Frogs ran 15 plays inside Baylor territory on their next two series and had only three more points to show for it. Brandon Hatfield nailed a 26-yard field goal to put them up 10-7 through the first quarter.
Hicks scored on TD runs of 6 and 22 yards, followed by the Texada pick-six to make it 31-7.
"We'll get back tomorrow and look at the video and figure out how much of it was our players not doing what they were supposed to do and how much of it was our scheme," Grobe said. "I think that's the thing you've got to do as a football coach is make sure that the blame doesn't all go on the players, that coaches have a big responsibility to put in a game plan that gives the kids a chance, and that the kids are able to execute that plan."
Baylor's offense broke out of its funk, driving 97 yards on 19 plays - the most plays in a scoring drive in two years - to at least temporarily close the gap. The Bears converted twice on fourth-and-one, and then Russell walked in on a three-yard keeper on third-and-goal.
Any momentum they had, though, was taken away when TCU marched 85 yards on 11 plays and scored on another three-yard run by Hicks to go in 38-14 at the break.
Twice, the defense had the Frogs in third-and-10 and didn't get off the field. Hicks broke off 12 yards on a draw play off tackle, and then Hill gained 17 on a quarterback keeper. For the game, TCU averaged 7.3 yards per rush.
"I think as much movement as we're doing, we may need to look at just holding point a little bit better and not doing as much movement," Grobe said. "It just takes one guy not going with everybody else. If it's not in sync, then it creates a little bit more seam."
Backed up to their own 5-yard line after a holding penalty on the opening kickoff of the third quarter, the Frogs went 95 yards in just five plays and scored on Hicks' 18-yard TD run to go up 45-14.
Hatfield tacked on a 39-yard field goal at the end of the third quarter before the Bears got their only second-half points.
Russell hooked up with Chris Platt for a 45-yard pass, then finished off a 10-play, 79-yard drive with a two-yard keeper.
TCU finished the scoring with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, a three-yard run by Hicks and a 26-yarder by freshman Sewo Olonilua.
The Frogs had a scoring high for the 117-year, 112-game series and tied for the sixth-most yards (688) on the Baylor defense. Hill threw for 244 yards and one TD and added 85 yards rushing on 11 carries.
To turn things around over the last four weeks of the season, Reid said the team has to go 150 percent every day in practice.
"You've got to push yourself a little harder," he said. "You've got to push yourself until you feel you're just about to die out there. You've got to get the best out of yourself. That's one thing I'm going to do going into this next week with Oklahoma."
The Bears play three of their last four away from McLane Stadium, beginning with next Saturday's matchup at No. 12 Oklahoma (7-2, 6-0), with kickoff at either 11 a.m. or 2:30 p.m. OU held on to beat Iowa State, 34-24, Thursday night in Ames to win its sixth in a row after a 1-2 start.
"I would be disappointed if our guys felt good about losing," Grobe said. "We've got good kids, and our kids will bounce back. And we'll do the right things with them and get them going in the right direction."
