CHAMPIONSHIPS REVISITED
10/31/2024 4:17:00 PM | Football
Baylor football's best two-year stretch included back-to-back titles
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
In what is indisputably the best two-year stretch in Baylor football program history, the Bears won back-to-back Big 12 Conference championships, went a combined 22-4 and had a perfect 13-0 home record in closing Floyd Casey in 2013 and opening McLane Stadium the next year.
Baylor's 2013 and 2014 Big 12 championship squads are being recognized as this year's honor teams for Friday night's Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet.
Picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 in the 2013 preseason media poll, Baylor used a high-powered offense to win its first nine games and jump up to No. 3 in the AP poll going into the last three weeks of the regular season.
Led by quarterback Bryce Petty, the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, the Bears scored 70 or more points in four of their first six games and routed then-No. 12 Oklahoma, 41-12. They blew out Texas Tech, 63-34, at AT&T Stadium before the first slip-up in a 49-17 loss on the road at No. 11 Oklahoma State.
"Closing out the Case" in the best possible way, Baylor blew open a tight game with a 27-point second half and defeated 25th-ranked Texas, 30-10, on Dec. 7 in the final game at the 64-year-old Floyd Casey Stadium. With Oklahoma upsetting Oklahoma State, 33-24, earlier in the day, the Bears captured their first Big 12 championship and first outright conference title in 33 years.
"I just started crying uncontrollably, and I don't really do that that much," said Petty, who completed 21-of-37 for 287 yards and two touchdowns despite the freezing conditions with a wind-chill factor of 12 degrees. "But it's just been a process, and it's the fact that when you put your trust in God, and He is faithful – when things work out and it happens – it's just a great feeling, it really is."
The 2013 team featured a pair of first-team All-Americans in Cyril Richardson, who was also the two-time Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year; and safety Ahmad Dixon, who totaled 81 tackles, six pass breakups, one interception, one fumble recovery and a blocked kick.
Baylor also set a program record with 10 All-Big 12 selections, highlighted by Petty as the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. Finishing seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting, he threw for 4,200 yards and 32 touchdowns.
The other All-Big 12 honorees included offensive lineman Spencer Drango, wide receivers Antwan Goodley and Tevin Reese and running back Lache Seastrunk, who became the first player in school history to rush for over 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons. Besides Dixon, the other defensive players honored were lineman Chris McAllister, linebacker Eddie Lackey and punter Spencer Roth.
Baylor's first 11-win season (11-2) ended with a 52-42 loss to 15th-ranked UCF in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., the Bears' first BCS bowl game.
Dixon said it was "very frustrating to have as many penalties as we had."
"I don't know very many ball clubs that can win with 17 penalties in one game," he said. "What happened tonight is going to happen to you if you have 17 penalties against a team like that."
While ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. had Petty as the No. 6 NFL quarterback prospect in the 2014 draft and a possible first-round pick, the fourth-year junior quarterback opted to return for the 2014 season to make another run and put "Baylor on the map forever."
Even with some key losses like Seastrunk, Richardson and Dixon, the 2014 Bears put together another memorable season that certainly kept Baylor football on the map.
With Petty once again leading the way, Baylor was a preseason top-10 pick and moved up to No. 5 in the AP poll with a 5-0 start that included a 28-7 road win at Texas.
That set up a top-10 matchup against an undefeated, ninth-ranked TCU team on Oct. 11 at McLane Stadium. Even 10 years later, it's still one of the most memorable games in the history of Baylor football.
TCU took a commanding 58-37 lead with 11:38 left in the game when Petty threw a pick-six that linebacker Marcus Mallet returned 49 yards for a touchdown. But it took the explosive Baylor offense less than seven minutes to erase that 21-point deficit.
Petty threw touchdown passes of 28 yards to Goodley and 25 to Corey Coleman to tie it up, and then Chris Callahan connected on a 28-yard field goal as time expired to give the Bears an unbelievable 61-58 victory.
"I told our guys we weren't going to lose that game," said Petty, who threw for 510 yards and six touchdowns with two interceptions. "I just knew, looking at guys' faces, we were going to come back. With our offense and the way that we play defensively, 21 points isn't a big deal for us."
The Bears lost the next week at West Virginia, 41-27, but they bounced back to win five in a row and clinched a share of their second-consecutive Big 12 title with a 38-27 win over Kansas State on Dec. 6. That celebration was tempered when Baylor was left out of the four-team College Football Playoffs, finishing fifth in the rankings behind eventual national champion Ohio State.
The consolation prize was a date with Michigan State in a Cotton Bowl that proved to be as devastating as that TCU game was euphoric.
Baylor seemed to be coasting to the New Year's Day victory when Petty hit 6-7, 400-pound offensive guard LaQuan McGowan for an 18-yard touchdown pass that gave the Bears a 41-21 lead with 4:03 left in the third quarter. McGowan had swapped out his jersey No. 60 for No. 80 and lined up at tight end to catch his first pass at any level.
But in a mind-boggling fourth quarter, Callahan had a 46-yard field goal clang off the right upright and had another one blocked; linebacker Taylor Young had a 90-yard interception return for a touchdown brought back by an illegal block in the back; and Coleman was called for a questionable facemask penalty when he tries to stiff-arm cornerback Tony Lippett and gets his fingers caught in the Michigan State defender's helmet.
Out of timeouts, the Spartans finished off an incredible comeback when Chris Cook converted on a fourth-and-10 play and then threw a 10-yard TD pass to Keith Mumphrey to cap off the Bears' stunning 42-41 defeat.
"Personally, it's the lowest of lows," senior receiver Clay Fuller said. "Last year's bowl loss was tough, but UCF dominated us in that game. This game . . . it's like it got stolen from us."
The outcome was so improbable that the media voted for Petty and Young as the Offensive and Defensive Player of the Game, respectively.
Despite missing 2 ½ games with injuries, Petty threw for 3,305 yards and 26 touchdowns and finished 10th in balloting for the Heisman. Drango was a consensus first-team All-American and Co-Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year and was joined on the all-conference first team by Coleman, defensive lineman Andrew Billings, running back Shock Linwood, defensive end Shawn Oakman and safety Orion Stewart.
Including Coleman as a first-round pick in 2016 after winning the Biletnikoff Award, the 2013 and '14 Big 12 champions had an even dozen players drafted.
"We can't let this (loss) determine what's going to happen next," said Drango, a fifth-round draft pick by the Cleveland Browns in 2016. "We have to use it as fuel and motivation. It's going to take a while to clear; but when we come back and start off-season (workouts), it's all about next season."
Baylor Bear Insider
In what is indisputably the best two-year stretch in Baylor football program history, the Bears won back-to-back Big 12 Conference championships, went a combined 22-4 and had a perfect 13-0 home record in closing Floyd Casey in 2013 and opening McLane Stadium the next year.
Baylor's 2013 and 2014 Big 12 championship squads are being recognized as this year's honor teams for Friday night's Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet.
Picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 in the 2013 preseason media poll, Baylor used a high-powered offense to win its first nine games and jump up to No. 3 in the AP poll going into the last three weeks of the regular season.
Led by quarterback Bryce Petty, the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, the Bears scored 70 or more points in four of their first six games and routed then-No. 12 Oklahoma, 41-12. They blew out Texas Tech, 63-34, at AT&T Stadium before the first slip-up in a 49-17 loss on the road at No. 11 Oklahoma State.
"Closing out the Case" in the best possible way, Baylor blew open a tight game with a 27-point second half and defeated 25th-ranked Texas, 30-10, on Dec. 7 in the final game at the 64-year-old Floyd Casey Stadium. With Oklahoma upsetting Oklahoma State, 33-24, earlier in the day, the Bears captured their first Big 12 championship and first outright conference title in 33 years.
"I just started crying uncontrollably, and I don't really do that that much," said Petty, who completed 21-of-37 for 287 yards and two touchdowns despite the freezing conditions with a wind-chill factor of 12 degrees. "But it's just been a process, and it's the fact that when you put your trust in God, and He is faithful – when things work out and it happens – it's just a great feeling, it really is."
The 2013 team featured a pair of first-team All-Americans in Cyril Richardson, who was also the two-time Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year; and safety Ahmad Dixon, who totaled 81 tackles, six pass breakups, one interception, one fumble recovery and a blocked kick.
Baylor also set a program record with 10 All-Big 12 selections, highlighted by Petty as the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. Finishing seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting, he threw for 4,200 yards and 32 touchdowns.
The other All-Big 12 honorees included offensive lineman Spencer Drango, wide receivers Antwan Goodley and Tevin Reese and running back Lache Seastrunk, who became the first player in school history to rush for over 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons. Besides Dixon, the other defensive players honored were lineman Chris McAllister, linebacker Eddie Lackey and punter Spencer Roth.
Baylor's first 11-win season (11-2) ended with a 52-42 loss to 15th-ranked UCF in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., the Bears' first BCS bowl game.
Dixon said it was "very frustrating to have as many penalties as we had."
"I don't know very many ball clubs that can win with 17 penalties in one game," he said. "What happened tonight is going to happen to you if you have 17 penalties against a team like that."
While ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. had Petty as the No. 6 NFL quarterback prospect in the 2014 draft and a possible first-round pick, the fourth-year junior quarterback opted to return for the 2014 season to make another run and put "Baylor on the map forever."
Even with some key losses like Seastrunk, Richardson and Dixon, the 2014 Bears put together another memorable season that certainly kept Baylor football on the map.
With Petty once again leading the way, Baylor was a preseason top-10 pick and moved up to No. 5 in the AP poll with a 5-0 start that included a 28-7 road win at Texas.
That set up a top-10 matchup against an undefeated, ninth-ranked TCU team on Oct. 11 at McLane Stadium. Even 10 years later, it's still one of the most memorable games in the history of Baylor football.
TCU took a commanding 58-37 lead with 11:38 left in the game when Petty threw a pick-six that linebacker Marcus Mallet returned 49 yards for a touchdown. But it took the explosive Baylor offense less than seven minutes to erase that 21-point deficit.
Petty threw touchdown passes of 28 yards to Goodley and 25 to Corey Coleman to tie it up, and then Chris Callahan connected on a 28-yard field goal as time expired to give the Bears an unbelievable 61-58 victory.
"I told our guys we weren't going to lose that game," said Petty, who threw for 510 yards and six touchdowns with two interceptions. "I just knew, looking at guys' faces, we were going to come back. With our offense and the way that we play defensively, 21 points isn't a big deal for us."
The Bears lost the next week at West Virginia, 41-27, but they bounced back to win five in a row and clinched a share of their second-consecutive Big 12 title with a 38-27 win over Kansas State on Dec. 6. That celebration was tempered when Baylor was left out of the four-team College Football Playoffs, finishing fifth in the rankings behind eventual national champion Ohio State.
The consolation prize was a date with Michigan State in a Cotton Bowl that proved to be as devastating as that TCU game was euphoric.
Baylor seemed to be coasting to the New Year's Day victory when Petty hit 6-7, 400-pound offensive guard LaQuan McGowan for an 18-yard touchdown pass that gave the Bears a 41-21 lead with 4:03 left in the third quarter. McGowan had swapped out his jersey No. 60 for No. 80 and lined up at tight end to catch his first pass at any level.
But in a mind-boggling fourth quarter, Callahan had a 46-yard field goal clang off the right upright and had another one blocked; linebacker Taylor Young had a 90-yard interception return for a touchdown brought back by an illegal block in the back; and Coleman was called for a questionable facemask penalty when he tries to stiff-arm cornerback Tony Lippett and gets his fingers caught in the Michigan State defender's helmet.
Out of timeouts, the Spartans finished off an incredible comeback when Chris Cook converted on a fourth-and-10 play and then threw a 10-yard TD pass to Keith Mumphrey to cap off the Bears' stunning 42-41 defeat.
"Personally, it's the lowest of lows," senior receiver Clay Fuller said. "Last year's bowl loss was tough, but UCF dominated us in that game. This game . . . it's like it got stolen from us."
The outcome was so improbable that the media voted for Petty and Young as the Offensive and Defensive Player of the Game, respectively.
Despite missing 2 ½ games with injuries, Petty threw for 3,305 yards and 26 touchdowns and finished 10th in balloting for the Heisman. Drango was a consensus first-team All-American and Co-Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year and was joined on the all-conference first team by Coleman, defensive lineman Andrew Billings, running back Shock Linwood, defensive end Shawn Oakman and safety Orion Stewart.
Including Coleman as a first-round pick in 2016 after winning the Biletnikoff Award, the 2013 and '14 Big 12 champions had an even dozen players drafted.
"We can't let this (loss) determine what's going to happen next," said Drango, a fifth-round draft pick by the Cleveland Browns in 2016. "We have to use it as fuel and motivation. It's going to take a while to clear; but when we come back and start off-season (workouts), it's all about next season."
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