By John Werner

Tribune-Herald staff writer

AUSTIN — Battered emotionally and physically, No. 5 Texas turned to Colt McCoy for the kind of leadership it expects from the Heisman Trophy candidate.

McCoy threw for 300 yards and five touchdowns as the Longhorns blew past Baylor, 45-21, before 97,715 fans Saturday afternoon at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium.

The Longhorns (9-1, 5-1) were devastated after they fell from No. 1 following a last-second 39-33 loss to Texas Tech last weekend in Lubbock.

But they bounced back nicely against a Baylor team that’s reeling with four straight losses. Though their bowl chances were slim, the Bears (3-7, 1-5) are now officially out of contention with two games remaining.

> Click here to comment on the game — what did you think?

---

The day after

• »  Baylor's bowl hopes gone after 45-21 loss to Texas

---

Baylor vs. Texas

---

• »   Big play or bust for Baylor offense against Texas 
• »   Notebook: Officials keep Bears waiting for halftime 
  
  
• Updated team stats
• Full game summary

SIC 'EM! Bears fight vs. Horns

FANS IN AUSTIN Bear backers made the trip

“I don’t like to use the word failure, but we didn’t step up and help those guys that have been here a long time,” Baylor freshman quarterback Robert Griffin said. “It hurts. It (a bowl game) was our team goal. But we just didn’t execute well enough consistently to win.”

With McCoy hitting 26 of 37 passes, the Longhorns rolled up 494 total yards and controlled the clock for more than 38 minutes. Texas’ junior quarterback threw two first-half interceptions, but got on a roll as the game progressed.

Former Mart star Quan Cosby was questionable coming into the game with a back injury, but enjoyed a big day with eight catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns.

“Colt is certainly the guy who makes them click from an offensive standpoint,” Baylor coach Art Briles said. “We got to him a couple of times, but he bounced back and played with toughness and grit. He’s taken a lot of snaps for them and has won a lot of games.”

While the Bears popped off a few big plays, they could never put together a consistent offensive attack. Griffin led the Bears with 101 yards rushing and a touchdown on 13 carries, including a 63-yard burst late in the third quarter.

“We ran for 201 yards, but it was kind of misleading,” Griffin said. “We got it in big chunks. We weren’t able to do it all the time.”

Griffin struggled through one of his toughest days as a passer, hitting just six of 19 attempts for 71 yards while throwing a critical interception. Most of his passing yards came on a 55-yard touchdown to Kendall Wright that tied the game at 14 with 9:01 left in the second quarter.

Game-changing pick

But after Wright’s touchdown, Texas cornerback Ryan Palmer made the biggest play of the game when he returned an interception for a touchdown.

Griffin threw a short pass to Wright, but the ball bounced off his hands high into the air. Palmer grabbed the ball and rumbled into the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown to give the Longhorns a 21-14 lead with 6:13 left in the second quarter.

It was only Griffin’s second interception of the season after he threw his first last week against Missouri.

“That was a tough deal because we needed to play error-free,” Briles said. “We’ve made a bunch of plays doing that, but then we had a play made on us. But it’s not like we’re going to put that play in the freezer.”

“We had the momentum and quieted the crowd,” Wright said. “But then we gave it up.”

After Baylor failed to move the ball, the Longhorns came back with a 73-yard touchdown drive to open up a 28-14 lead.

McCoy hit Jordan Shipley for 17 yards before Fozzy Whittaker ripped off runs of 11 and 19 yards. McCoy then went to the air again, finding Cosby in a seam between Jordan Lake and Trentson Hill for a 26-yard touchdown with 1:58 left in the first half.

The Bears had a last chance to score before the half after Joe Pawelek’s interception. Wright tried an option pass from Texas’ 38, but David Gettis caught the ball out of bounds behind the end zone after he wrestled the ball away from teammate Thomas White.

“Robert (Griffin) went out on a pass route on that play, and I was looking for him,” said Wright, who played quarterback last year at Pittsburg (Texas) High School. “But then I saw Gettis downfield and I tried to make a play.”

Decisive third quarter

It quickly got worse for the Bears in the second half as McCoy found Brandon Collins alone behind the secondary for a 40-yard touchdown pass to push Texas’ lead to 35-14 with 9:45 left in the third quarter.

After Baylor went three-and-out, the Longhorns pushed their lead to 42-14 when McCoy hit Shipley for a 15-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.

“I wouldn’t say he (McCoy) got on a roll, but he made some plays,” Baylor cornerback Krys Buerck said. “It makes it hard when they keep driving down the field. They kept pushing and eventually scored. We just can’t let that happen.”

The Longhorns built their lead to 45-14 on Ryan Bailey’s 30-yard field goal in the fourth quarter before Jay Finley broke off a 40-yard touchdown for the Bears with 4:58 remaining.

Coming out strong in the first quarter, the Longhorns took command as they moved 65 and 70 yards for touchdowns on their first two possessions.

McCoy rolled to his right and found a wide-open Cosby behind Baylor’s defense for a 35-yard touchdown on the first drive. McCoy finished off the second drive with a one-yard touchdown pass to Greg Smith to give the Longhorns a 14-0 lead with 4:35 left in the first quarter.

But the Bears got a break on the last play of the first quarter when Buerck returned an interception for 46 yards to Texas’ 6 after a poor McCoy throw. McCoy was nailed hard by blitzing Baylor safety Jake La Mar.

“I heard Colt get hit, and he overthrew his receiver,” Buerck said. “I tried to score on the play. I kind of felt like a receiver again.”

It took Baylor five plays to punch it in from the 6 as Griffin ran for a one-yard touchdown on a fourth-down play with 12:59 left in the second quarter.

On their next possession, the Bears moved 96 yards on just five plays to tie the game at 14.

Though the Bears are out of bowl contention, they still hope to finish strong against Texas A&M and Texas Tech.

“We came into the season hoping to go to a bowl, and it’s tough now that it’s out of reach,” Pawelek said. “But by no means will we say the season is done with.”

jwerner@wacotrib.com

757-5716