Bryce Petty willed the Bears to a big win over TCU. (Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports)
Bryce Petty was irritated enough with himself to show his determination in full.
The Baylor Bears quarterback not only was intercepted in the fourth quarter Saturday, but TCU’s Marcus Mallet returned the pick 49 yards for a touchdown to give the Horned Frogs a seemingly comfortable 21-point lead.
“I told our guys we’re not going to lose the game,” said Petty, the fifth-rated quarterback for the 2015 NFL Draft by NFLDraftScout.com. “I knew looking at their faces that we were going to come back. With our offense and the way we play defense, being down 21 points is not a big deal for us. We believe in each other and what we’re doing.”
So, the fifth-ranked Bears went to work and used every second that remained in pulling out a 61-58 victory. Chris Callahan booted a 28-yard field goal as time expired to complete the biggest comeback in school history in the first battle of top 10 teams in Waco, Texas since 1956.
A 7-yard touchdown burst by Devin Chaffin with 10:39 remaining, a 28-yard touchdown pass from Petty to Antwan Goodley at the 6:39 mark and a 25-yard strike from Petty to Corey Coleman with 4:42 left enabled Baylor to forge a tie in fewer than seven minutes.
The Bears got the ball back when TCU elected to go for a first down near midfield rather than give the ball back on a punt. Petty then drove the Bears into field goal position and Callahan connected to keep Baylor undefeated at 6-0 overall. At 3-0 in the Big 12, the Bears are tied with Oklahoma State.
“They put 60 minutes on the clock for a reason, and you play every one of them,” Baylor coach Art Briles said. “TCU was a hot team. They were extremely hot. We had to step up a little bit, and our guys did. We had stops on defense when we needed them and made plays on offense.”
Enough plays, in fact, to account for 782 total yards as Petty passed for 510 and six touchdowns, while Shock Linwood added 178 yards rushing. In addition to the interception return, No. 9 TCU also had a kickoff return for a touchdown by B.J. Catalon, yet the Frogs’ defense withered while having to defend 109 snaps.
In other Big 12 games, No. 16 Oklahoma State also remained unbeaten in conference play, using a 99-yard kickoff return in the fourth quarter by Tyreek Hill to outlast Kansas, 27-20. No. 11 Oklahoma was outgained by Texas, but used touchdown returns off a kickoff and interception to prevail, 31-26. West Virginia got a 55-yard field goal from Josh Lambert at the final horn to rally past Texas Tech, 37-34.
