Baylor’s Title Hopes Come To An End With Overtime Loss To TCU

Baylor cornerback Xavien Howard, left, intercepts a pass intended for TCU wide receiver Tony James, right, in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Friday, Nov. 27, 2015, in Fort Worth, Texas. In the second overtime, TCU’s offensive line had little trouble holding off Baylor’s three-man rush while Boykin found KaVonte Turpin for an eight-yard touchdown pass in the end zone.

Canzeri ran off left tackle two straight times for two touchdowns, the first one going 29 yards and the second 68 yards for a 28-17 lead. The Frogs would tie it back up in the 2nd quarter when Josh Carraway recovered a Chris Johnson fumble, taking it 55 yards all the way to the end zone for a touchdown.

Instead, the Big 12 champion will be the victor of No. 5 Oklahoma at No. 9 Oklahoma State on Saturday night.

HOUSTON (AP) – Greg Ward, Jr. threw for 308 yards and three touchdowns and Houston beat Navy to reach the first American Athletic Conference championship game.

It was only fitting that on a night when a driving rainstorm hampered the normally prolific Baylor and TCU offenses, a defensive stop decided the game. It would have been close, but there was never a measurement because coach Art Briles was calling for a timeout from the sideline before the snap.

Baylor could still win its third consecutive Big 12 title, and maybe get a playoff spot. Overall, the teams combined for seven turnovers, including five for Baylor.

A host of the nation’s finest athletes were reduced to this sort of indignity: On a play just before the half, Corey Coleman, a Heisman candidate before Baylor’s quarterbacks started dropping like flies, caught a pass from Johnson.

TCU is playing its 19th game and Baylor its 18th since their last meeting in October 2014, when the Bears won 61-58 with a big comeback in the final 11 minutes at home, the Frogs’ only loss last season.

On TCU’s first drive, Boykin threw a flawless strike to Jarrison Stewart for a 25-yard touchdown. He stripped the ball from Johnson with Baylor in the red zone in the fourth quarter. The game was played in a driving rain with a wind chill in the mid-20s, which is just about the most miserable weather imaginable. The TCU band was on the field during the invocation and about to perform the National Anthem when the field was cleared.

“I think our kids found out that… when we’re done and Trevone graduates, we were able to move the football against a really good football team”, coach Gary Patterson said. [But] today was a survival game.