Week 7: Baylor beats TCU to stay in playoff race, UGA, Ole Miss, more

Published Oct. 12, 2014 1:20 a.m. ET

Bruce Feldman

Sorry, Art. I should've known better. I should've seen enough of your style and your system and your ox of a QB to have given up on your Baylor Bears. I was a believer enough to pick Baylor in the preseason to get to the College Football Playoff, but then with BU falling into a 58-37 hole with 11 minutes remaining, I practically broke both ankles jumping off the bandwagon, tweeting how TCU had emerged as a legit playoff contender with back-to-back big wins.

Problem was TCU, which beat Oklahoma last week, hadn't defeated the Bears yet.

Briles already had engineered seven double-digit comebacks in his seven seasons at BU, including one over Kansas in 2011 that was from 21 points down. Still, this was against a Gary Patterson D.

But Bryce Petty, a preseason Heisman contender, played like a star, piloting three TD drives --including two of 90-yard plus yards and none took longer than 83 seconds before the Bears won on a 61-58.

Baylor ended up hanging 782 yards on Patterson's defense and overcame three turnovers and 12 penalties. The Bears moved to 7-0 in home games against AP Top 25 opponents since 2011 and have now won 17 straight games played in Texas.

Baylor has to get refocused in a hurry, because next week the Bears travel to West Virginia to face an improved Mountaineer team that is 4-2 with its lone losses to OU and Alabama.

MORE FROM WEEK 7

Breakout Performance: Hutson Mason, QB, Georgia. On the road, without the best player in the SEC, Todd Gurley, Mason was extremely efficient running the Dawgs’ offense, going 22-of-28 with no turnovers against a Mizzou team with the best pass rush in the conference. Mason looked like the quarterback many hopeful UGA fans were touting him to be this summer.

Coach of the Day: Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss. No, Texas A&M doesn't look like a Top 10 team anymore, but give credit to the Rebels' coach for refocusing his young team after the biggest win the program's had in over 60 years, if not maybe ever. The Rebels went to a hostile place in front of 110,000 against an angry team and dominated in all phases.

Stock Up: Charlie Strong, Texas coach. Despite the fact that Texas lost the Red River rivalry game against OU to fall to 2-4, UT's worst start in almost six decades, Horn fans should be encouraged by how tough their team played, holding a team that came in averaging 488 yards a game to just 29 in the first half. Texas also produced a season-high 482 yards of total offense with young Tyrone Swoopes coming through with 384 yards.

Stock Down: Kenny Hill, QB, Texas A&M. After throwing 17 TDs and just two INTs in the first month of the season, Hill has thrown five INTs in the past two games against the two Mississippi schools as the Aggies’ high-powered attack sputtered.

Best Win: Mississippi State. In the Bulldogs’ last three games, they've beaten three Top 10 teams. Just as impressive has been MSU's ability to jump on these SEC West teams early, outscoring them by a combined 49-7 in the first quarter. Saturday's 38-23 win over No. 2 Auburn was the best win the Bulldogs have had so far and also showed they had no issues with any SI jinx. They now have as strong a case as anyone to be No. 1 this week, and the Associated Press agreed Sunday, jumping the Bulldogs ahead of Florida State to the top spot.

Worst Loss: Missouri. Georgia was without its best player, Gurley, but the Tigers got shut out as Maty Mauk threw four INTs and the Missouri offense went 0-for-7 on third down.

One Thing Nobody’s Talking About: Coming into this season there were rumblings that WVU coach Dana Holgorsen was on the hot seat. Halfway through the season, Holgorsen has the Mountaineers 4-2 with their lone defeats against OU and Alabama. On the road at Texas Tech, WVU rallied from 14 points down midway through the fourth quarter. The Mountaineers have scored at least 33 points in the past four games.

Heisman Top 5 after Week 7

1) Dak Prescott, QB, Mississippi State

2) Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon Ducks

3) Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin Badgers

4) Tevin Coleman, RB, Indiana Hoosiers

5) Bryce Petty, QB, Baylor Bears

Bruce Feldman is a senior college football reporter and columnist for FOXSports.com and FOX Sports 1. Follow him on Twitter @BruceFeldmanCFB.