Baylor shows it's never out of a game, definitely in playoff conversation

WACO, Texas — Someone asked Bryce Petty, not too long after the wild, wacky shootout had finished, to imagine it had gone another way. That Baylor had not rallied from a three-touchdown deficit in the fourth quarter. That the final score had not been Baylor 61, TCU 58, after a field goal as time expired, and the field had not become a mosh pit of celebrating students.

He laughed. And declined.

"Well, I don't have to," the Bears quarterback said. "That's the greatest part about it. We don't have to imagine. We're living it. It's reality."

And Petty wants you to know something about that reality:

"For us, it's just another statement game. It's just another chance to prove we're here to stay. It doesn't matter who you put on the other side of the field, it's a huge opportunity for us on the national scale — and we did it again."

That's still part of this, even now, when it comes to Baylor. With the win against No. 12 TCU, the Bears moved to 6-0. They're ranked No. 4 in the Amway Coaches Poll, positioned well in the race for the Big 12 Conference title and a berth in the College Football Playoff. But they feel the skepticism.

"I'm sure we'll have something on Monday, that TCU wasn't playing well … or something," Petty said.

Baylor coach Art Briles called it "a fabulous, fabulous win," but downplayed any extra significance. Statements?

"Don't care," he said. "Really don't. hadn't even thought about it."

But clearly, this Baylor bunch still believes it has a lot to prove. They're right, too. Despite winning the Big 12 championship last season, the Bears were defined in the national conversation by losses to Oklahoma State and then, in the Fiesta Bowl, to Central Florida. It's probably unfair. But when a program has been built so quickly — the idea of Baylor winning big and challenging for a place on college football's elite tier feels only slightly less recent than the month-old stadium they're playing in — that's how it goes.

What to make of victory in a game that was the Big 12 stereotype on steroids? Maybe only this:

"If you're looking to get into that conversation, you have to win 'em all," Briles said. "And it just happened to be where there's a little more spotlight on this game than some others."

Going back to November 2012, Baylor has won 22 of its last 25 games.

"That in itself answers the question," Briles said. "It's a fact business. And that's a fact."

Here are a couple more. The Bears trailed almost the entire way against TCU. Behind quarterback Trevone Boykin, the Horned Frogs grabbed a quick 14-0 lead. The teams traded touchdowns. TCU never trailed until Chris Callahan's field goal as time expired.

Although no one would call it much of a defensive night, when middle linebacker Marcus Mallet picked off Petty and rumbled 49 yards for a touchdown, pushing TCU ahead 58-37 with 11:38 left, TCU seemed primed to pull off its second consecutive upset of a higher-ranked opponent.

"We just know we're never really out of it," Petty said. "We never really are. It's just playing Baylor football."

Which means, of course, Briles' fantastical offense, and if the other team can score, too, then the defenses just hang on and try to occasionally slow the ride. That's Baylor football. Whatever else it is, it's crazy fun.

At some point, you get numb to the numbers. But the Bears finished with 782 yards. Petty threw for 510 yards and six touchdowns. If anyone wants to restart his Heisman campaign, this would be a good point to start. Baylor running back Shock Linwood finished with 178 yards rushing, and it almost went completely unnoticed.

Afterward, he said he ran "with anger," after a first half he thought wasn't productive enough, and that included a fumble that ended a drive deep in TCU territory. The Bears also turned the ball over on downs twice inside the 35 and gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown.

"We spotted 'em 17 points," Petty said. "It made it a pretty exciting game." And he added: "With our offense, 21 points isn't a big deal for us (to overcome)."

After Mallet's pick-six, Baylor's possessions went like this:

Four plays, 45 yards, touchdown — 59 seconds.

Five plays, 92 yards, touchdown — 83 seconds.

Five plays, 91 yards, touchdown — 59 seconds.

Petty threw TD passes of 25 and 28 yards. The second, to Corey Coleman, tied it at 58 with 4:42 remaining.

"Welcome to the Big Eight, Big 12, Pac-12," TCU coach Gary Patterson. "Bottom line is, you've got to stop people."

His defenses have been pretty good at doing it; just last week, the Frogs frustrated Oklahoma's offense in an upset win. But when Baylor's comeback began, there was no stopping it. The surge affected TCU's offensive strategy in the final moments, too.

Boykin had been just short of spectacular, using his legs — "Man, he's fast," Baylor defensive tackle Andrew Billings said, shaking his head — but mostly his arm (he threw for 287 yards and a touchdown) to match Petty big play for big play. But once Baylor tied it, TCU played it conservative, milking the clock while trying to move downfield. And then, facing fourth-and-3 near midfield, the Frogs considered punting, then tried a deep fade.

"Even if we'd kicked it to the 5-yard line, I don't know if we could have stopped them," Patterson said. "… So you roll the dice and see what happens."

When it fell incomplete — Baylor ball at its 45 with 71 seconds left — everyone knew what they were about to see. Nine plays later, the field goal was good, the Baylor students stormed the field, and took a while for some of the players to escape the mosh pit and into the locker room — not that they really minded. Billings got stuck at the 20.

"It was crazy," he said. "Everybody wanted to take my picture. It felt good."

Reality felt crazy good.

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