WACO, Texas - Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty called Saturday's thrilling 61-58 win over TCU Saturday a statement win for the Bears.
The statement has to be that there's never too big of a deficit for the fifth-ranked Bears (6-0, 3-0 in Big 12). Not even when they're down 21 points with just over 11 minutes left after a deflating interception return for a touchdown.
All that interception did was add to the drama of a game that ended after more than four hours with redshirt freshman Chris Callahan nailing a 28-yard field goal on the game's final play and sending the home faithful streaming onto the field at McLane Stadium.
The Callahan field goal â his fourth of the game â capped a dizzying contest of top 10 teams that included 1,267 yards of offense, 62 first downs, trick plays, special teams' scores, defensive scores and more momentum-turning plays than any game should have.
"I told our guys we weren't going to lose that game," said Petty, who threw for 501 yards and six touchdowns. "I don't know what it is. I don't know why I felt that. I just knew looking at guys faces we were going to come back in that game. With our offense and the way we played defensively, 21 points isn't that big for us. The belief in each other was outstanding."
TCU (4-1, 1-1) likely shared that belief too especially after Marcus Mallett stepped in front of a Cherry pass and returned it 49 yards for a score to put the Frogs up 58-37 with 11:38 remaining in the game.
But seven minutes later that lead was gone after Baylor scored touchdowns on its next three possessions in trips that totaled 3 minutes, 21 seconds and covered 228 yards. Petty's 25-yard pass to Corey Coleman tied the game at 58 with 4:42 to go but there was still plenty of time for the Frogs to respond.
What they did was drive to the Baylor 45. Facing a 4th and 3 the Frogs brought their punt team on the field. TCU head coach Gary Patterson then called two timeouts and opted to go for it. But quarterback Trevone Boykin's slant to Josh Doctson was broken up by Ryan Reid with 1:11 remaining.
Baylor's drive appeared to stall when Petty's third-down pass to Levi Norwood was incomplete but TCU's Corry O'Meally was called for pass interference. That moved the ball to the TCU 28 with 31 seconds to go and the Bears maneuvered closer to give Callahan, who was 1 for 6 on the season before Saturday, a chance to be the hero.
Neither Baylor head coach Art Briles no Petty watched Callahan kick the game winner but the Bears realize the importance of the make and the win.
"What it does for our football team is puts a tremendous amount of energy and confidence into us," Briles said. "These are wins that you think about and dream about and fight for but very seldom happen. We were due. We deserved it and our guys showed a lot of character and a lot of toughness."
Both teams showed a lot of offense and not much defense. The 119 points scored is the most put up by top 10 teams in a game since the Associated Press poll began in 1936, shattering the old mark of 105 set in 1988.
Baylor tallied 782 yards of offense against a TCU defense that came into the game ranked seventh nationally in total defense, allowing 279.3 yards a contest. Despite those gaudy offensive numbers, it was TCU that didn't trail until the fourth quarter.
It just couldn't put the Bears away.
"They found a way to come back," TCU head coach Gary Patterson said. "We didn't finish in the end. It comes down to five or six plays. It's five verticals and a snap over the head that gave them three points that could have made a difference. But you got to play a lot better defensively and that's what I told them in there. You play somebody at home, you got to drive the spike, and we didn't. We were up 21 points and we didn't get that done."
The Frogs jumped out to a 14-0 lead halfway through the first quarter. Even when Baylor seemed to grab momentum back, the Frogs answered. A gift field goal just before halftime because of an errant snap on a punt cut TCU's lead to 31-27 at halftime.
But the Frogs came right and started stretching the lead. Aaron Green's six-yard run early in the fourth quarter put the Frogs up 14 and then Mallett's score had the Frogs on the verge of consecutive wins over top five teams (they beat Oklahoma 37-33 last Saturday).
The Bears weren't comfortable with that ending though.
"Bryce told us just to keep our heads up and stuff like that and there were four quarters of football and were down but there was still a lot of football left," said Coleman, who caught eight passes for 144 yards and two scores.
