Date: October, 11th, 2014
Location: McLane Stadium. Waco, TX
Background Information:
Two teams that at one point were located in the same city were battling it out for a resume building win and the top of the Big 12 conference. Baylor-TCU is the most played rivalry game in CFB History (114 games, TCU leads the series 55-52-7) and was on a national stage in 2014. After a 11-2 season and Big 12 title a year ago, this was a huge game for Baylor on ESPN against a Top 10 rival. The knack against the Bears was the Strength of Non-Conference opponents as well as a average Baylor defense. QB Bryce Petty was getting some Heisman Talk and “WRU” was in full force with a 3 headed monster.
Senior Antwan Goodley, Sophomore Corey Coleman, and Freshman K.D. Cannon were all serious downfield threats and were putting up monster numbers. For the Horned Frogs, they have been displaying dominance after going 4-8 the year before. Trevone Boykin was revolutionary at QB after converting from WR and gave TCU a huge weapon. TCU was coming off a huge Top 5 upset against Oklahoma and exploded in the rankings due to that as they went from #25 to #9 in just one week.
TCU had a future NFL first rounder on their team as well with WR Josh Doctson. Doctson didn’t put up tremendous numbers prior to this game and even in this game, but the Impact that 6’3 Junior would have after would keep TCU a playoff contender throughout the entire year. TCU’s defense was an above average Big 12 defense, but the question is what were they going to do against Baylor’s electric and high-octane offense? This game would cause a lot of controversy towards the end of the season concerned toward the Big 12 as well as the CFP Committee.
The highest scoring game of 2014:
TCU should start out throwing haymakers after the Bears started out failing to convert on 4th down and a fumble. Boykin found Kolby Listenbee 35 yards for the first touchdown. TCU would then storm down the field behind another deep ball to Listenbee to put the Frogs up 2 scores. Baylor would strike back with a 67 yarder from Petty to Antwan Goodley. After a TCU 3 and out, Baylor would settle for a FG to put them down 4 at the end of the first quarter. BJ Cataloun would be a huge difference maker for TCU in the second quarter and he capped a TD drive. Bryce Petty would then find Corey Coleman from 33 yards out.
After a TCU FG, Bryce Petty would throw a deep ball and find K.D. Cannon 68 yards to tie it up at 24. On the insuing Kickoff, BJ Cataloun would house it as he took the kick 94 yards to give the Horned Frogs the lead once again. Prior to halftime, Jaden Oberkrom’s snap was over his head as DE Shawn Oakman recovered the fumble inside TCU’s 15 yard line. Chris Callahan would make a 29 yard FG and heading into the break, TCU was ahead 31-27. TCU’s defense came up big early with a interception leading to a FG. After anther 3 and out, Trevorris Johnson would find the end zone from 2 yards out after a huge run from Aaron Green on that drive. Down 14, Baylor would stay in it with another deep pass this time to WR Jay Lee from 47 yards out to cut the lead in half.
Heading into the final quarter, the grand finale of the firework show was coming up next. TCU would finish the drve they had going in the 3rd quarter with a 6 yard Aaron Green TD run. On 3rd and 6, Petty would throw a pick to LB Marcus Mallet who would cake it for a touchdown and give TCU a 3 touchdown lead. Baylor would start running it right down the field with RB Shock Linwood and Devin Chafin. Baylor’s defense would buckle down as they forced TCU into back to back 3 and out’s and 2 scores from Petty to Coleman and Goodley. On a 4th and 3 intended for Josh Doctson, there was a bit of controversy on the no-call for pass interference.
Both teams were plagued with penalties as they combined for 227 penalty yards. Baylor would get the ball and move down the field with Linwood all the way down inside the 15. From the 11 yard line, Chris Callahan would make the 28 yarder as time expired and the Baylor Bears won in an instant classic with a ton of offense and a defensive stand that was a huge impact into the win, 61-58.
Key Players from Baylor: QB Bryce Petty (28/55, 510 Yards, 6 Touchdowns, 2 Interceptions), HB Shock Linwood (29 carries, 178 yards), WR Corey Coleman (8 Catches, 144 Yards, 2 Touchdowns), WR K.D. Cannon (6 Catches, 124 Yards, 1 Touchdown), CB Xavien Howard
Key Players from TCU: QB Trevone Boykin (21/47, 287 Yards, 1 Touchdown), HB BJ Catalon (3 Total Touchdowns. 2 Rushing, 1 Kick Return),WR Josh Doctson (5 Catches, 60 Yards), LB Marcus Mallet (Pick 6).
How the rest of the season went for each team:
Baylor:
Baylor would go on to lose the next week on the road against West Virginia 41-27. Baylor would win out the rest of the regular season, including a 34 point road win against #16 Oklahoma. Baylor finished the season ranked #4 and defeating #9 Kansas State to win a share of the Big 12 Championship.
That’s where the controversy started to come into play as Baylor and TCU would be announced Co-Champions due to the fact that they had the same record. In my opinion, I think Baylor should’ve won it outright due to the fact they defeated them head to head in the matchup. It also left the Big 12 out of the CFP as Ohio State would leapfrog (no pun intended) both schools and get into the playoff. Baylor would blow a 21 point lead in the Cotton Bowl and lose to #7 Michigan State, 42-41.
TCU:
To take out their anger out because of the loss, TCU would go on to route both #15 Oklahoma State (42-9) and Texas Tech. TCU would put up 82 points on the Red Raiders and win by 53. TCU would win the rest of the way including some close ones against #20 West Virginia and Kansas. But also took care of business with a 21 point win over Kansas State, 38 point win against Texas and a 52 point win over Iowa State.
TCU was ranked #4 in the 2nd to last CFP rankings. TCU would end up defeating Iowa State, but Ohio State blanked Wisconsin 52-0 in the Big 10 Championship behind 3rd string QB Cardale Jones. TCU would end up falling to #6 due to the impressive win by the Buckeyes as well as behind Baylor because of the head to head matchup. Feeling disrespected, TCU once against came out and played angry in the Peach Bowl against Ole Miss as they would dismantle the team that beat Alabama that year, 42-3.
12 Best games in the past 12 Years:
Image Credit: https://fansided.com/2014/10/11/tcu-vs-baylor-final-score-bears-come-back-stun-horned-frogs-61-58/http://wacotrib.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=53362096&event=1856578&CategoryID=74363 https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/12/04/a-look-at-tcu-baylors-body-of-work/
