Baylor’s Corey Coleman declares for National Football League draft

He’d made the decision before the game.

Third-string quarterback Chris Johnson started the game for Baylor but left in the first quarter after a big hit left him suffering concussion-like symptoms.

That’s something Strong and Texas can hang their hat on.

“[The win is] a springboard for the spring”, Strong said. “We took it upon ourselves…” Houston is guaranteed a spot in a New Year’s Six bowl game – either the Fiesta or Peach – when bowl destinations are announced Sunday.

Sure Baylor fought, but they appeared more interested in letting their fists fly early rather than show up to win a game.

Baylor quarterback Chris Johnson (13) watches from the sidelines after leaving play with an injury during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Texas Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015, in Waco, Texas.

Coleman, a redshirt junior, still had a season of eligibility remaining.

That was Baylor’s fourth turnover, and the Bears didn’t manage any takeaways. But Jefferson’s Hail Mary pass from the Texas 47 fell incomplete.

“We got some good looks”, Stoehr said.

Nick Rose’s 37-yard field goal made it 23-17 Texas with 3:59 left.

Texas’ P.J. Locke shoved Hawthorne and fellow Longhorn Kevin Vaccaro tripped over the quarterback soon after.

The Horns lined up to go for it on fourth down and set up in a formation that screamed “Swoopes power run”. Apparently the only person who didn’t realize what Baylor was doing was Texas defensive coordinator Vance Bedford, who continued to put Texas in a three man front with his defensive backs playing far off. Baylore responded by running for 395 yards on the day at a 6 yards per carry clip.

Baylor wide receiver Corey Coleman revealed after his team’s regular season-ending loss to Texas that he would be heading to the NFL.

Going into the game, Coleman was third among FBS receivers with 119.5 yards receiving per game. He threw a pair of interceptions on his first four throws, one of which led to a bench-clearing brouhaha.

Late in the first quarter Duke Thompson intercepted Hawthorne and was tackled by Hawthorne near the Texas bench.

“It started in the pregame”, Strong said. We knew we were going to have to be more physical than them. “So I’m going to pursue it and give it my all”. I don’t like saying it but we had a young team and now they got the confidence. I didn’t want that. You look at it, you go beat Oklahoma, you bounce back and go on the road and go beat Baylor.

Penalties and lackadaisical play on defense allowed the Longhorns to mount a drive that culminated in a 23-yard field goal.

Oh yeah, and the Bears trail Texas 20-0 at halftime.

Texas faced _ and failed _ its gut-check moment early in the fourth quarter when, leading 20-10, went for it on fourth-and-1 at Baylor’s 39. The Bears had won four of five in the series before Saturday…. It was the first time that Baylor had been held without a touchdown on their first possession this season.