WACO, Texas — The Texas Longhorns lost its second straight game in a row after letting up a fourth quarter lead on the road against the Baylor Bears.
UT led 21-17 going into the fourth quarter, but were outscored 14-3 by the Bears in the final frame of the game. Over the last three games, the Longhorns have been outscored by a combined 45 points in the fourth quarter.
“That was a tough one to swallow … I feel for our guys, but the one thing I know, we’ll continue to fight," Texas Head Coach Steve Sarkisian said. "One of these weeks, we will get over this hump and become a very dangerous football team.”
Texas (4-4, 2-3) was coming off its open date, which followed consecutive losses to No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 15 Oklahoma State in which the Longhorns led by at least two touchdowns before halftime both times.
The Bears defense was able to bottle up Texas' star running back Bijan Robinson to only 43 yards on 17 carries and one rushing touchdown. Robinson had garnered 137 yards and 143 yards in his previous two games, respectively.
“Our group is plenty talented enough with talented coaches to not get frazzled when things don’t go our way,” Sarkisian said.
PHOTOS: No. 16 Baylor wins 31-24 as Texas again blows big lead
Longhorns quarterback Casey Thompson threw two touchdown passes in the first quarter, a 10-yarder to Joshua Moore and a 63-yarder when he hit Xavier Worthy in stride after the true freshman raced past sixth-year safety Jarion McVea for a 14-10 lead.
Baylor running back Abram Smith finished with 113 yards on 20 carries. Baylor quarterback Gerry Bohanon threw for 222 yards with two interceptions, after only one pick the first six games, and had a 6-yard TD run in the third quarter.
THE TAKEAWAY
Texas: The Longhorns have been outscored 69-23 in the fourth quarter over their past six games — at least they won the first three games in that stretch. This loss pretty much eliminates any chance for them to make the Big 12 championship game in coach Steve Sarkisian's first season. Texas could end up just fighting to break even during the regular season.
Baylor: This was an important home win for the Bears in coach Dave Aranda’s second season. They were already bowl-eligible, but wrapped up October with three straight wins at home since a 24-14 loss at Oklahoma State to start the month.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
The Bears will likely move up a couple of spots after another proving win. They had beat future Big 12 foe BYU before their open date.
UP NEXT
Texas: The Longhorns play on the road for the second week in a row at No. 22 Iowa State.
Baylor: The Bears have their first road game in five weeks, going about 90 miles north on Interstate 35 to play at TCU for the 117th time. That is the only team Baylor has played more than Texas.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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