The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Baylor
Longhorns take on Bears to close season
11.30.2015 | Football
Game to be televised on ESPN
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AUSTIN, Texas - Texas is set to close the 2015 season when the Longhorns travel to Waco to take on the No. 12/12 Baylor Bears at 11 a.m. Saturday. The game is set to be broadcast on ESPN. The Longhorns look to rebound from a 48-45 home loss to Texas Tech on Thanksgiving. The Longhorn IMG Radio Network broadcast, including flagship 104.9 FM in Austin, begins at 10 a.m. Listen on participating Longhorn Radio Network affiliates, including the Austin Radio Network. The game can also be heard online at TexasSports.com.
Quick Hits
• Saturday's game will be the 105th meeting between the Texas Longhorns and Baylor Bears.
• Both teams are coming off losses. In its last game, Texas fell 48-45 at home on Thanksgiving to Texas Tech, and Baylor lost 28-21 in a rain-soaked double overtime game at TCU.
• RB Chris Warren, III had his first career start against Texas Tech and broke three freshman records with 276 yards and four TDs, including a 91-yarder. His 276 yards rushing also rank sixth in school history.
• RB Johnathan Gray is fast-approaching elite company. He needs just 58 yards to surpass Hodges Mitchell for the 10th most rushing yards in Texas history.
Scouting the Bears
• Baylor brings the most potent offense in the nation to the field as the Bears rank No. 1 in total offense and scoring offense. Baylor averages 616.0 yards per game and scores 50.8 points.
• The Bears have scored 50+ points this season six times.
• In Baylor's two losses, the Bears were limited to 34 points (Oklahoma) and 21 points (at TCU). The game at TCU was a double overtime thriller in a torrential downpour of rain that limited the prolific offenses for both teams.
• Baylor coach Art Briles is from the Mike Leach coaching tree. The Bears rank No. 4 in the nation in rushing offense with 291.5 yards per game. Baylor's passing game is No. 13 at 324.5 yards. Baylor is the most efficient passing team in the FBS with a QB rating of 183.96.
• WR Corey Coleman is one of the best in the nation. He has pulled in 20 touchdowns this season to lead the country by five TDs. His 119.5 receiving yards per game rank No. 3 in the FBS.
• RB Shock Linwood averages 118.0 yards per game on the ground and ranks No. 16 in the nation. His 10 TDs are sixth in the Big 12 Conference this year.
• Defensively, Baylor allows 396.5 yards a game but has the ability to make big plays. The Bears average more than 8.0 tackles for loss this season to lead the Big 12 and rank sixth in the nation.
• Baylor will be starting its third string QB against Texas as the Bears have had an unfortunate string of injuries this season. QB's Seth Russell and Jarrett Stidham have both suffered season-ending injuries recently.
Series History
• Texas leads the all-time series against Baylor, 74-26-4.
• The Longhorns are 29-16-2 on the road against the Bears.
• Baylor has won four of the last five contests in the series.
• The last time Texas won on Baylor's home field was 2009 by the score of 47-14.
Last Meeting
• Last year, Baylor bested the Longhorns, 28-7, in Austin.
• The Longhorns held the Bears to only seven points in the first half and to 389 yards for the game.
• Texas tallied 334 yards offensively and controlled the clock with nearly seven minutes more time of possession but three turnovers helped prevent the upset.
Senior Grads
• Of Texas' 22 seniors, all are on schedule to graduate by August 2016, and 10 will graduate this fall.
• Four (Alex De La Torre, Taylor Doyle, Sedrick Flowers and Marcus Hutchins) have already earned their degree and six more (Dominic Cruciani, Trey Gonzales, Johnathan Gray, Desmond Jackson, Logan Mills and Duke Thomas) will receive their diplomas in December.
• Eight members of this senior class have earned first or second-team Academic All-Big 12 honors during their careers.
Youth Movement
• Freshmen have played a key role this season with 17 members of the 23-man recruiting class of 2015 seeing regular action, evidenced by eight true freshman combining for 55 starts.
• Two redshirt freshmen have started a total of 16 games and all totaled 10 freshmen have started 71 games.
• Sophomores are also making a big impact as seven of them have combined to start 47 games.
• Combined, 17 underclassmen have started 118 games.
• With true freshman OG Patrick Vahe and LT Connor Williams earning starting nods beginning with the season opener at Notre Dame, Texas is the only school in the country that has started two true freshman offensive linemen.
• Of Charlie Strong's two signing classes at Texas, 32 of the 43 freshmen and sophomores are seeing significant snaps.
Warren Running Wild
• Freshman RB Chris Warren, III made his first career start against Texas Tech and put together the most impressive performance by a freshman RB in school history.
• Warren set three freshman records with 276 yards rushing, four rushing TDs and a 91-yard rush.
• Warren's 276 yards also rank sixth all-time in Texas football history.
• The previous freshman rushing record was 213 yards by Cedric Benson on 28 carries on Nov. 10, 2001 against Kansas.
• Warren's 91-yard rush to the end zone against Tech marked the longest run by a freshman in school history, surpassing Raymond Clayborn's run of 85 yards in 1973. Warren broke multiple tackles on his way to scoring and tying the game, 10-10, with 5:59 left in the first half.
Highlight Reel Offense
• Texas is one of only seven schools (Boise State, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, TCU, Toledo and Tulane) nationally with both a rushing and passing play of at least 84 yards this season. The Horns and TCU are the only Power Five Conference programs that can make that claim.
• Texas is the only Power Five Conference team with at least three plays of 84 or more yards in 2015. Only two other Power Five teams (Notre Dame and TCU) can even say they have had at least two. The Longhorns join Toledo as the only FBS programs with at least three plays of at least 84 yards on the year.
• The Longhorns are one of only two schools nationally (Notre Dame) with two rushes of 90 or more yards.
• Texas has registered at least one rush and pass play of at least 84 yards this season. That has never happened before in Longhorn history. As a matter of fact, only three other times on UT record have the Horns posted a rush and pass play of at least 80 yards. Before this year, that came in 1982, 1984 and 1999.
• The Longhorns have posted four plays (three rush, one pass) of at least 80 yards this season, a UT first. Prior to Texas getting its fourth play of 80+ yards versus Texas Tech, the Horns had recorded three plays of 80 or more yards just once in school history. That came in 1982 when Texas had two pass plays and one rush of 80 or more yards.
• Texas has recorded three running plays of 80 or more yards in 2015. That's the most rushes of that distance the Horns have ever posted in a season. UT has only twice had at least two runs of 80 or more yards in a year. That came in 2005 when Vince Young and Jamaal Charles both did it, and in 1997 when Ricky Williams posted rushes of 87 and 80 yards. Two of the three 80+ yard runs this season have actually gone for more than 90 yards.
Roll on 18 Wheeler
• Junior QB Tyrone Swoopes may no longer be the starter but he is still contributing to the team in a significant way thanks to the "18 Wheeler" package installed by the coaching staff.
• Swoopes has come in to spell Jerrod Heard in short-yardage situations and the team has seen great success in both the running and passing game.
• Against Kansas State, Swoopes scored three rushing TDs to help carry the team to a 23-9 victory. He represented all 52 yards in the game-clinching drive with carries of 13, 29 and 10 yards on consecutive plays to punch it in.
• Swoopes had an impressive showing against Kansas with four touchdowns on four carries. One of his scores came on a broken play. After a high snap did not allow him to hand the ball off to the running back, Swoopes scampered 44 yards into the end zone.
• With the four TDs against Kansas, Swoopes became just the third UT quarterback to rush for four TDs in a single game and the first since Vince Young against Michigan in the 2005 Rose Bowl following the 2004 season. That same year Young also accomplished the feat at Texas Tech. Prior to that, it had been since 1946 when Bobby Layne first did it against Oklahoma.
• Since installing the package for the Oklahoma State game (Sept. 26) and not counting the TCU game (Oct. 3), Swoopes has amassed 349 yards on 48 carries for an average of 4.2 per rush. He has scored 11 TDs in the package running and thrown one TD pass during the Oklahoma game (Oct. 10) and against Kansas (Nov. 7) to help seal those victories. He also threw a TD pass at TCU but not as part of the "18 Wheeler" package.
Fuel Efficiency
• The efficiency of the "18 Wheeler" can be seen in Swoopes' ability to move the chains or score.
^ Against Oklahoma State, all three of his carries resulted in a first down or a touchdown.
^ Two of his four carries against Oklahoma resulted in a first down or touchdown, plus the TD pass.
^ Against K-State, in addition to his three TDs, three more of Swoopes' seven total carries moved the chains with first downs. Two of those first-down gains were of 13 and 29 yards.
^ At Iowa State, five of Swoopes' 10 carries resulted in first downs. He averaged 5.8 yards per carry in the loss.
^ Against KU, all four of Swoopes' carries were touchdowns. He gained 59 yards on those plays.
^ Against OSU, OU, K-State, Iowa State and KU combined, 20 of his 28 carries (71%) went for first downs or touchdowns. (The 18 Wheeler package was not used at TCU on Oct. 3.)
^ In those same five games in the 18 Wheeler package, the nine touchdowns represent 27% of his carries.
^ Against Texas Tech, Swoopes registered 98 yards on the ground on 15 carries for an average of 6.5. He scored two TDs on the ground, including a 46-yard run to give Texas a 38-34 lead with 7:54 to play in the fourth quarter.
^ Swoopes has accounted for 12 TDs (10 rush/2 pass) over the last seven games.
Valuable Experience
• A total of 36 players for Texas have seen the first action of their careers this season. Only three other teams have had more first-time players see the field in 2015: Kansas (39), Florida State (39) and TCU (37).
• A total of 17 players for Texas have made the first start of their careers this season as well.
