No. 4 TCU Tops Bears with Last-Second Field Goal

Saturday, November 19

Waco, Texas

11 a.m.

Baylor

TCU

No. 4 TCU Tops Bears with Last-Second Field Goal

11/19/2022 2:33:00 PM | Football

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Bears roll up 501 yards total offense, but fall to 6-5

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Bouncing back from a blowout loss to Kansas State, the Baylor Bears did exactly what they needed to do to knock off a fourth-ranked and undefeated TCU team Saturday afternoon at McLane Stadium.
            They just didn't finish the job.
            Overcoming a fourth-quarter deficit . . . again, the Horned Frogs (11-0, 8-0) scored nine unanswered points in the last 2 ½ minutes and won it, 29-28, on a 40-yard field goal by Griffin Kell as time expired.
            Out of timeouts, TCU quarterback Max Duggan completed two passes for 28 yards and had a big 12-yard pickup with a third-down keeper, setting up Kell for the game-winner after the senior kicker missed an extra point earlier in the game when he clanged one off the upright.
            This looked like a completely different Baylor (6-5, 4-4) team than the one that got rolled up by K-State, 31-3, just seven days ago. The Bears churned out 501 yards total offense, kept the ball for nearly 34 minutes and effectively shut down the explosive Horned Frogs until the last seven minutes when the game was on the line.
            "It's a tough locker room," Baylor coach Dave Aranda said. "I told them that I wish we, that I, could take the pain away. You bounced back from a hardship and put the pieces back together to fight for another day. To do it all in the right matter, you wish that it would work out in the end.
"We all know that's not the case. I think this game in a lot of ways is a microcosm of us. For them to kind of fight and to stick with it, I have a lot of respect for them."
            This was a gut-punch loss for the 25 seniors who were recognized before the game and really the whole team. The Bears were one first down, one defensive stop away from getting their first ranked win of the season and just their second win in this series in the last eight years.
            "It's really hard to see it go that way," said running back Craig "Sqwirl" Williams, who rushed for 112 yards on 19 carries. "Great game plan, guys went out there and gave it their all. For it to end that way is really hard. We have a lot of guys on our team that I felt really deserved to walk out of here as winners today. For it to end that way, it really hurts"
            Even after the Frogs scored on a three-yard TD run by Emari Demercardo with 2:07 left, Baylor seemed to be in good position to walk away with the win when Demercardo dropped the two-point conversion pass attempt from Duggan, leaving the Bears up 28-26.
            Probably needing just one first down to shut the door – TCU used all three of its timeouts – quarterback Blake Shapen came up two yards short on a third-down scramble after two running plays netted zero yards.
            Asked about being more aggressive on that series, Aranda said, "I would think that, if it wasn't for some of the success we had running the ball."
            "There was tight coverage, for sure, and it was a sellout to stop the run. But, there were times they were doing that throughout the game, and the runs we had were accounting for that. I'd have to look at the film and see exactly what happened, but I was confident with us doing what got us to that point."
            On the game-winning drive, Duggan hooked up with Taye Barber for 19 yards and Sarion Williams for nine more and provided the dagger with his 12-yard run on a keeper on third-and-one from the 41.
            After a short run and a spike to stop the clock, Demarcardo picked up another three yards to the 23, setting off a fire-drill swap between the TCU offense and field-goal unit as Kell got the kick off with just three ticks left on the clock.
            "That looked like chaos," said TCU coach Sonny Dykes, "but we practice it every Thursday exactly like that."
            Safety Christian Morgan, one of those 25 seniors, sank to his knee and pounded his helmet in disgust after watching the kick go through the uprights and send the Bears to their second-straight loss and third at home this season.
            "It was a game of a couple of inches," safety Devin Lemear said. "We were in the right spot, just inches away from making the play. That's what makes it painful because you know where you're supposed to be and you're that close to making the play. To fall short really hurts, especially knowing what's on the line with the seniors in their last game here."
            From the opening drive, Baylor had no problems moving the ball on the TCU defense, picking up 18 first downs and 319 yards total in the first half alone. But somehow, it went to the half all tied up at 14-14
            Other than a couple passes, the Bears stuck to the ground and drove 76 yards in 11 plays, going up 7-0 on Qualan Jones' 10-yard TD run. TCU's defense held Texas to 28 yards rushing for the game the week before, and Baylor had twice that much on the opening drive.
            Getting the ball right back after a three-and-out by the defense, Baylor marched from its own 27 to the Frogs' 23. But, with a chance to extend the lead, the Bears got flagged for a false-start penalty, Shapen missed Monaray Baldwin on a third-down pass and John Mayers missed his first field goal of the year, short on an attempt from 46.
            The Horned Frogs tied it up on a seven-yard TD run by Duggan, but Baylor answered with a 75-yard drive and went back on top, 14-7, when freshman tight end Kelsey Johnson scored on a two-yard run on an end-around. It was the first of two touchdowns by Johnson, who had career highs for catches (three) and yards (40).
            "Last week was an embarrassment. We didn't want to put anything like that on tape ever again," Williams said. "We came into the week really emphasizing things like getting the ball carrier on the ground, getting the ball out as an offense, having edge and executing. Today, we went out there and we did those things."
            TCU took just five plays to tie it up, even after starting at its own 10-yard line after a holding penalty. Barber picked up 77 yards on the first play, then Kendre Miller scored from two yards out after a questionable pass interference penalty on Mark Milton.
            The Bears had two more chances to score in the last five minutes of the half, but the TCU defense dumped Williams for a three-yard loss on a fourth-and-one from the 36 and then safety Bud Clark intercepted a Shapen pass in the end zone to stop an 11-play, 76-yard drive.
            Taking its first lead of the game, TCU went up 20-14 on Duggan's 26-yard TD pass to slot receiver Gunnar Henderson, but Kell's extra point bounced off the right upright to leave it a six-point game.
            Baylor answered again, scoring 14 unanswered points on Shapen's 12-yard TD pass to Johnson and a one-yard plunge by freshman Richard Reese. Picking up 56 yards on 10 carries, Reese broke Shock Linwood's freshman rushing record and now has 908 yards with 14 touchdowns, tied for the most in the Big 12.
            "I was way impressed (with the way we responded), and it's been a long time coming for that," Aranda said. "You can feel what's going to happen prior, just being on the sidelines, just the energy that's there and the talk and kind of the vibe. A lot of that was good, and you knew that we were going to fight through this. For sure, the loss is a gut punch, but there's a lot of growth today."
            Shapen was 21-of-30 for 269 yards and one touchdown, while Baldwin had a huge day with six catches for 123 yards. Defensively, Lemear had a career-high nine tackles and fellow safety Devin Neal came up with his second interception of the season.
            Baylor will close out the regular season with a matchup against Texas at 11 a.m. Friday in Austin in a game that will be televised by ESPN or ABC. The Longhorns (7-4, 5-3) remained in contention to play TCU in the Big 12 Championship with a 55-14 blowout of Kansas.