Now do you believe in the Baylor Bears?

Let's see now, the Baylor Bears drove to Austin and defeated the Texas Longhorns, 30-22, on Saturday night in a Big 12 Conference grudge match.

And the Bears won despite a sub-par game from their most dynamic player, quarterback Robert Griffin.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Or, are the Bears the "mighty'' right now?

In a season where Baylor is turning plenty of heads for its sufficient play on the football field, the Bears turned many more heads Saturday when they won in Austin for the first since 1991. That last victory in Austin was back when George H. Bush was the President.

Afterwards, Baylor coach Art Briles -- who could probably run for mayor or any political office he wants to in Waco -- took pride in the toughness his team displayed in front of a massive crowd of 100,452.

"I am really proud of our football team, our players, our staff and our fans, because it has been a while since we have given any proof to believe, and people have really taken to it and supported it in a tremendous fashion,'' Briles said. "As a part of the football team, hats off to the people who are supporting us.

"And to our players, I think they are a resilient bunch and have great leadership in general and great senior leadership. And the guys always believe something good is going to happen."

The Bears are now 7-2 overall and are guaranteed of having their first winning season since they finished 7-4 in 1995. Baylor also continues to be in sole possession of first place in the Big 12 South with an impressive 4-1 record, and are ranked No. 22 in the latest Associated Press poll.

Maybe none of this should be surprising after all. Maybe a whole lot of folks are simply missing one of the greatest stories in college football this season.

Briles, who doesn't toot his team's horn, tried to put the win over Texas in perspective. He more or less said the Bears arrived a long time ago.

It just took some people a long time to recognize it.

"I think the thing that I am excited about is that we have seven wins on the board and we are in the middle of the Big 12 South (race),'' Briles said. "I am not looking at the (last win for Baylor in Austin) from 15 years ago because that does not affect our players.

"Our players came in here with the notion that we were going to play hard for 60 minutes and get out of here with a win, and that is all that we were concerned with.''

For those who are keeping score -- and there are many -- in less than a year Baylor has come out on the winning end of the stick against Texas in both of the major sports. The Bears swept Texas in men's basketball last season, three games to none, en route to advancing to the NCAA Elite 8.

Wasn't that -- the Elite 8 appearance, not the three wins over Texas -- arguably the greatest story in college basketball last season?

And now this head-scratcher in football.

Could what has transpired between Baylor and Texas over the past year in football and men's basketball alter things in the minds of recruits in both of those sports? Only the mommies and daddies _ and the recruits _ know for sure.

Griffin, who was just 16-of-24 for 219 yards, an interception and two touchdowns, said Baylor's years of struggles against Texas never came up during the week of preparation for the game. In their minds, Griffin and his teammates already knew they were on par with -- or better than -- the Longhorns.

Saturday, they went out and proved it.

"For us, it was another win,'' Griffin said. "The tide has changed this year.

"We are the team to beat and we are just going to keep rolling with that.''

The recruits are certainly paying close attention.

-- Dwain Price

 

 

Comments

[Waicoco]

I'm more suprised to hear that the elder Bush apparently served two terms.

[Rotten Arsenal]

As much as I'd love to say that Baylor is truly a power this year (particularly since their worst loss was a total beat down a the hands of my Horned Frogs), they still haven't really beaten anybody that can truly be considered a "great" team... if they beat OU, I'll drink the Kool-Aid... until then, they are an above average Baylor team in a sup-par Big12 year.

[taco jordan]

fair enough .... but i've been waiting five years for a "power" like TCU to beat a "great" team. Life is great in the MWC.

[Rotten Arsenal]

Oh Taco... you and your conference trash talk...

[ebear]

Sic'em Bears! Great article DP.

[Ricardo]

What about OU, Tech, Utah, and BYU all in the past couple years? Gaylor is a joke. So is their conference.

[Doc]

Watch out, Bears. If you keep winning, Texas will drop you out of the Big 10 out of 12. They only want to SAY that they have a power conference. They only want to play one real team (OK) while scheduling cupcakes like LA-Monroe, UTEP, and Wyoming every year.

[GolfDog]

Frogs love the bears! Keep winning.
Waicoco is an idiot. This is a sports column, keep your politics to yourself.

[Fort Worther]

Baylor's winning is good for TCU...that, and the Frogs being in a conference that is slightly better than Southlake Carroll and Coppell...frogs will not be taken seriously until they play someone other than the UNLV's, Wyoming's and Colorado State's of the world....TCU would be better as an independent instead of mired in the lowly, soon-to-be-BYU-and-Utah-less MWC

[Doc]

Fort Worther, you must be a UTer in true panic mode. TCU will be playing the #5 team in the country next week. Boise State joined the MWC. We handily beat Baylor who could easily win the Big 12. We would have no more chance of scheduling Texas as an independent than we do now--they won't play anyone that might beat them unless they have to. Have you looked at the ACC and the Big East lately? Air Force would win either conference.

[Taco Jordan]

What do TCU and Utah have in common? Neither team has played anybody this season. Woo-hoo!
Utah's signature win is a squeaker over a 5-3 Pitt team. And TCU looked just OK in beating a 4-3 Oregon State team. Talk about some powerhouses matching up!

[AggieFan]

You said it Taco! These frogs in the metroplex need to get out more...yes, they beat Baylor (but probably wouldn't if they played again today) but TCU is way over-rated and are only undefeated because (like last year)they play NO ONE! Please stop spouting about Boise State...Utah, BSU, and TCU have all played only one quality team each...none of these would be in the top ten if they had to play week-in-week-out tough opponents like in the SEC, Big 12, Big 10, etc.

[Rotten Arsenal]

Hey Aggie, put us on your schedule or shut the hell up.

[Doc]

Nah, UT and A&M are far too busy dueling to see who gets to play LA-Monroe Stenographer's college. What do TCU and BYU have in common? They both beat OK during years that Texas couldn't.

[Taco jordan]

New Mexico, Colorado State, Wyoming, UNLV are four of of the worst teams in America. I don't want to hear about the MWC.

[AggieFan]

Allen and Plano would go 8-3 with TCU's schedule.

[AggieFan]

I love that TCU fans talk smack about the time they beat OU...what they seem to not understand is that the Big 12 teams play against OU-type teams almost every week, so they can schedule some soft OOC games. However TCU plays cupcakes every week EXCEPT OOC games...and instead of scheduling tough teams...they pick Tennessee Tech...hey frogs stop touting your record against MWcupcakes...

[GolfDog]

Taco and aggiefan are too stupid to realize they aren't in Kansas anymore. This is the Ft Worth paper, proud of our Frogs, and content in our success. Even though our campus and sports facilities are worldclass, there still seems to be local trash that is still stuck in the 1980's. Put us in the Big12-2 and we'd win it easily. I'd love to play the Baylors, ags, techs etc every year, what a cakewalk.

[Taco Jordan]

i also would like to see how TCU fares in a season where it has to play OU, Mizzou, OSU, UT, etc., year in and year out. Especially next season with a brand-new Frogs O-line and a new starting QB. that would be fun. I would laugh. A lot tougher than the bunch of New Mexicos they play now.

[AggieFan]

World class facilities? Did you build a new stadium and arena lately? I was at DMC this summer and it is still a dump (and still empty.)

It is easy to predict your outcome against Big 12 teams...especially when you playing New Mexico and Las Vegas High Schools. Be proud of your frogs, but be realistic too!