The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
No. 4 Texas 41, Baylor 0
11.09.2002 | Football
AUSTIN, Texas -- Senior QB Chris Simms threw for 254 yards and three touchdowns, including a 73-yarder to junior WR Roy Williams on the second play of the game, as the fourth-ranked Longhorns cruised to a 41-0 victory against Baylor.
Texas piled up 450 yards of offense en route to its 18th consecutive home victory, the second-longest active streak in the nation behind Miami (Fla.).
The Longhorns defense was just as impressive, yielding only 127 yards (second-best performance since 1990) and posting its national-leading third shutout of the season.
The win gave UT a school-record fifth season in a row with at least nine victories.
In three quarters of work, Simms completed 18-of-23 passes for 254 yards and three scores. Nearly half of Simms' completions went to Williams, who had eight receptions for 172 yards. In his last two games, the Biletnikoff Award semifinalist, has 21 catches for 333 yards and three touchdowns. Simms has turned in an impressive two-game stretch as well, completing 47-of-70 passes for 673 yards and five TDs.
On UT's opening possession, Williams beat the defense in man coverage and hauled in a perfect pass from Simms. With 10 yards on the nearest defender, Williams coasted 73 yards into the end zone untouched for a 7-0 lead 24 seconds into the game.
Texas' stingy defense consistently put the Longhorns in excellent field position. Each of UT's next four scoring drives began in Baylor territory and six of the Longhorns' 12 possessions in the game began on the Bears' half of the field.
Leading 7-0, Texas began its third possession on the Baylor 27-yard line after a 38-yard punt return by junior CB Nathan Vasher and a 15-yard personal foul on the Bears. Sophomore RB Cedric Benson carried the ball five times down to the Baylor 5, and on second-and-goal, Simms connected with junior WR B.J. Johnson to give Texas a 14-0 lead.
The Longhorns went up 24-0 when Simms found sophomore WR Tony Jeffery for a 15-yard score midway through the second quarter and Benson's 10-yard TD dash three minutes later gave Texas a 31-0 halftime lead.
Sophomore PK Dusty Mangum kicked field goals of 25 and 42 yards and freshman RB Selvin Young finished the scoring with a 13-yard touchdown run with 8:20 left to play. Young carried eight times for 65 yards on the final scoring drive and finished the game with career bests in yards (98) and carries (14). Benson finished with 64 yards on 22 carries as the Longhorns held a 180-41 advantage in the rushing column.
The UT defense constantly harassed Bears QB Aaron Karas, who completed 11-of-22 passes for 86 yards and was picked off twice by redshirt freshman FS Kendal Briles. The Longhorns sacked Karas six times, once by senior DE Cory Redding, who registered a sack for the fifth consecutive contest.
The last time Texas recorded three shutouts in a season was 1982 when the defense included the likes of All-Americans Jerry Gray, Tony Degrate, Mossy Cade and Jeff Leiding.
