'GOING FOR IT'
11/3/2024 3:01:00 PM | Football
Gusty fourth-down call sets up Bears’ game-winning kick, 37-34
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – Maybe more than anything he did Saturday night, Baylor coach Dave Aranda showed his unwavering belief in the Bears when he opted to go for it on 4th-and-9 from near midfield in a tie ballgame with 16 seconds left in regulation.
The safe play was to punt the ball away and take a 34-34 game with rival TCU into overtime, not risking the chance of giving the Frogs a chance to potentially win it right there. That's what most of the remaining McLane Stadium crowd of 44,171 expected.
No, Aranda said, "we were going for it."
Cool-as-a-cucumber quarterback Sawyer Robertson completed a 15-yard pass to tight end Michael Trigg, then redshirt freshman running back Bryson Washington capped his phenomenal day with a 13-yard run up the middle to set up Isaiah Hankins' game-winning 33-yard field goal as time expired in the Bears' thrilling 37-34 win.
"As soon as we got that first down, I knew the game was over," said linebacker Keaton Thomas, who had his second double-digit tackle game of the season with 11. "I've got 100% confidence in my guy (Hankins), and I knew he was going to make the kick, so I was already excited, jumping around."
It was fitting that this one ended like it did, on a night when Baylor was honoring the 2013 and '14 Big 12 championship teams, bringing up memories of Chris Callahan's game-winner to beat the Frogs, 61-58, 10 years ago.
"This is surreal," said Hankins, who missed an extra point earlier in the game. "My team got me in the right position to make the field goal, and we did. . . . This is so important. This is my fourth year here, and this is my first time beating them. That means a lot. This is a really big one."
The Bears (5-4, 3-3), who won their third game in a row but first against TCU (5-4, 3-3) in five years, got Hankins "in the right position" with a call and play that could define Aranda's coaching career.
"Those things are always hard," Aranda said, "because I could be here – I think I've been here before and they didn't go well, and there's a whole bunch coming the other way with that. I think when you attack, then the guys feel like they're attacking, and they feel a responsibility and an onus to keep on the attack. I thought you saw that tonight."
A team that seemed to be dead in the water just a few weeks when it fell to 2-4 with a 43-21 loss at Iowa State, Baylor is now one win away from becoming bowl eligible. The Bears go into a bye week with a three-game winning streak before playing West Virginia (4-4, 3-2) on Nov. 16 in Morgantown.
"I think the team continued to fight," said Aranda, whose team had lost three in a row going into its first bye week. "I think people cold look at this team and see that there's talent and see that there's an ability, and maybe we're this close or that close or whatever. People could see that. I think the team could feel that, too, could sense that.
"But it's a whole other thing to continue to stay on the path of getting better and continuing to put the work in. When you're 2-4, it gets to be hard, especially when you're (3-9) the year before. So, when you start having success and there starts to be belief, and then it aids with what they thought earlier in the season, it can blow up pretty quick. I think you're seeing that right now."
Thomas said the team never stopped believing, not after giving up the Hail Mary pass against Colorado, not after coming up short against BYU and not even after giving up 24 unanswered points in that loss to Iowa State.
"We always believed. We just had to put it together," Thomas said. "After that (loss to Iowa State), we really just paid attention to the small things and making sure we were working together as a group, instead of just being about the men. And I think that's just helped us tremendously."
In the Bears' three-game winning streak, Washington has rushed for 390 yards and five touchdowns on 53 carries (7.4-yard average). But he had a career night on Saturday, rushing for 196 yards and four touchdowns (one off the school record) on 26 attempts.
"I really think it was the O-line. They were working hard today, and everything was just opening up," he said. "I saw the end zone, and I was like, 'I've to get to it . . . every time."
Washington had touchdown runs of 8, 40 and 35 and then gave the Bears a 34-27 lead on his one-yard TD, capping off an impressive 13-play, 81-yard drive. In the fourth quarter alone, he rushed for 96 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries.
"Right away, we could see the difference with him (this year)," Aranda said of Washington, who saw limited action in three games last season. "There's just a violence with him. '21 seems like such a long time ago, but we had a running back then, Abram Smith, who was very physical and downhill and would finish through people and knock piles back and look for contact, with the speed to be able to pull away if need be. And right away with Bryson, you could see that with him."
When TCU tied it back up at 34-34 on Josh Hoover's 24-yard TD pass to Jack Bech, the Bears had 1:55 left and still holding three timeouts. There was little to no sense of urgency until there absolutely had to be.
Robertson connected with Josh Cameron for 14 yards to the Frogs' 45, with 30 ticks left on the clock. After an incomplete pass and a one-yard pickup by Washington, Baylor called its first timeout of the second half with 21 seconds left.
And then, after another pass to Hal Presley that was initially called defensive pass interference, Baylor's offense stayed on the field for that 4th-and-9 play from the Frogs' 44.
TCU head coach Sonny Dykes called a timeout, because "we weren't quite sure what they were going to do."
"I thought they might try to draw us offsides to try to get a shorter field goal for the kicker," Dykes said. "You've got to give them credit. They made a nice play."
Yes, they did.
Calling their second timeout with 12 seconds left, the Bears opted to run one more play to get it a little closer for Hankins. Washington made it a lot closer with his 13-yard run to TCU's 16.
"All I could think about, honestly, when I was running the ball, when an O-lineman got behind me and started pushing me is, let me fall to the ground. Let me fall to the ground so the clock wouldn't expire. I wasn't really worried about getting too many yards," he said.
It was more than enough for Hankins, who split the uprights on the 33-yard kick, setting off a celebration that saw the Baylor students storm the field.
"That was really cool to see," Aranda said. "I think Isaiah in the past has made kicks when the sun is shining and it's 70 degrees and everyone's happy and smiling and joking. But when it's stormy and it's windy and it's all this other thing, I think he struggled to make kicks.
"So, to make a kick in the storm like tonight, just way cool, because that's him. I'm so happy and proud of him."
Robertson threw for 242 yards but had a streak of games with three-plus touchdowns snapped at four. Baylor finished with 499 yards total offense, including its third-straight game with more than 250 yards rushing – 257 yards on 44 attempts.
After a bye next week, Baylor will be on the road for its next two games, playing West Virginia (4-4, 3-2) on Nov. 16 in Morgantown and then Houston (4-5, 3-3) on Nov. 23. The Mountaineers were off on Saturday, while the Cougars stunned 17th-ranked Kansas State, 24-19.
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – Maybe more than anything he did Saturday night, Baylor coach Dave Aranda showed his unwavering belief in the Bears when he opted to go for it on 4th-and-9 from near midfield in a tie ballgame with 16 seconds left in regulation.
The safe play was to punt the ball away and take a 34-34 game with rival TCU into overtime, not risking the chance of giving the Frogs a chance to potentially win it right there. That's what most of the remaining McLane Stadium crowd of 44,171 expected.
No, Aranda said, "we were going for it."
Cool-as-a-cucumber quarterback Sawyer Robertson completed a 15-yard pass to tight end Michael Trigg, then redshirt freshman running back Bryson Washington capped his phenomenal day with a 13-yard run up the middle to set up Isaiah Hankins' game-winning 33-yard field goal as time expired in the Bears' thrilling 37-34 win.
"As soon as we got that first down, I knew the game was over," said linebacker Keaton Thomas, who had his second double-digit tackle game of the season with 11. "I've got 100% confidence in my guy (Hankins), and I knew he was going to make the kick, so I was already excited, jumping around."
It was fitting that this one ended like it did, on a night when Baylor was honoring the 2013 and '14 Big 12 championship teams, bringing up memories of Chris Callahan's game-winner to beat the Frogs, 61-58, 10 years ago.
"This is surreal," said Hankins, who missed an extra point earlier in the game. "My team got me in the right position to make the field goal, and we did. . . . This is so important. This is my fourth year here, and this is my first time beating them. That means a lot. This is a really big one."
The Bears (5-4, 3-3), who won their third game in a row but first against TCU (5-4, 3-3) in five years, got Hankins "in the right position" with a call and play that could define Aranda's coaching career.
"Those things are always hard," Aranda said, "because I could be here – I think I've been here before and they didn't go well, and there's a whole bunch coming the other way with that. I think when you attack, then the guys feel like they're attacking, and they feel a responsibility and an onus to keep on the attack. I thought you saw that tonight."
A team that seemed to be dead in the water just a few weeks when it fell to 2-4 with a 43-21 loss at Iowa State, Baylor is now one win away from becoming bowl eligible. The Bears go into a bye week with a three-game winning streak before playing West Virginia (4-4, 3-2) on Nov. 16 in Morgantown.
"I think the team continued to fight," said Aranda, whose team had lost three in a row going into its first bye week. "I think people cold look at this team and see that there's talent and see that there's an ability, and maybe we're this close or that close or whatever. People could see that. I think the team could feel that, too, could sense that.
"But it's a whole other thing to continue to stay on the path of getting better and continuing to put the work in. When you're 2-4, it gets to be hard, especially when you're (3-9) the year before. So, when you start having success and there starts to be belief, and then it aids with what they thought earlier in the season, it can blow up pretty quick. I think you're seeing that right now."
Thomas said the team never stopped believing, not after giving up the Hail Mary pass against Colorado, not after coming up short against BYU and not even after giving up 24 unanswered points in that loss to Iowa State.
"We always believed. We just had to put it together," Thomas said. "After that (loss to Iowa State), we really just paid attention to the small things and making sure we were working together as a group, instead of just being about the men. And I think that's just helped us tremendously."
In the Bears' three-game winning streak, Washington has rushed for 390 yards and five touchdowns on 53 carries (7.4-yard average). But he had a career night on Saturday, rushing for 196 yards and four touchdowns (one off the school record) on 26 attempts.
"I really think it was the O-line. They were working hard today, and everything was just opening up," he said. "I saw the end zone, and I was like, 'I've to get to it . . . every time."
Washington had touchdown runs of 8, 40 and 35 and then gave the Bears a 34-27 lead on his one-yard TD, capping off an impressive 13-play, 81-yard drive. In the fourth quarter alone, he rushed for 96 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries.
"Right away, we could see the difference with him (this year)," Aranda said of Washington, who saw limited action in three games last season. "There's just a violence with him. '21 seems like such a long time ago, but we had a running back then, Abram Smith, who was very physical and downhill and would finish through people and knock piles back and look for contact, with the speed to be able to pull away if need be. And right away with Bryson, you could see that with him."
When TCU tied it back up at 34-34 on Josh Hoover's 24-yard TD pass to Jack Bech, the Bears had 1:55 left and still holding three timeouts. There was little to no sense of urgency until there absolutely had to be.
Robertson connected with Josh Cameron for 14 yards to the Frogs' 45, with 30 ticks left on the clock. After an incomplete pass and a one-yard pickup by Washington, Baylor called its first timeout of the second half with 21 seconds left.
And then, after another pass to Hal Presley that was initially called defensive pass interference, Baylor's offense stayed on the field for that 4th-and-9 play from the Frogs' 44.
TCU head coach Sonny Dykes called a timeout, because "we weren't quite sure what they were going to do."
"I thought they might try to draw us offsides to try to get a shorter field goal for the kicker," Dykes said. "You've got to give them credit. They made a nice play."
Yes, they did.
Calling their second timeout with 12 seconds left, the Bears opted to run one more play to get it a little closer for Hankins. Washington made it a lot closer with his 13-yard run to TCU's 16.
"All I could think about, honestly, when I was running the ball, when an O-lineman got behind me and started pushing me is, let me fall to the ground. Let me fall to the ground so the clock wouldn't expire. I wasn't really worried about getting too many yards," he said.
It was more than enough for Hankins, who split the uprights on the 33-yard kick, setting off a celebration that saw the Baylor students storm the field.
"That was really cool to see," Aranda said. "I think Isaiah in the past has made kicks when the sun is shining and it's 70 degrees and everyone's happy and smiling and joking. But when it's stormy and it's windy and it's all this other thing, I think he struggled to make kicks.
"So, to make a kick in the storm like tonight, just way cool, because that's him. I'm so happy and proud of him."
Robertson threw for 242 yards but had a streak of games with three-plus touchdowns snapped at four. Baylor finished with 499 yards total offense, including its third-straight game with more than 250 yards rushing – 257 yards on 44 attempts.
After a bye next week, Baylor will be on the road for its next two games, playing West Virginia (4-4, 3-2) on Nov. 16 in Morgantown and then Houston (4-5, 3-3) on Nov. 23. The Mountaineers were off on Saturday, while the Cougars stunned 17th-ranked Kansas State, 24-19.
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