Baylor hangs on to status No. 14 TCU 50-48 Source:SI Robert Griffin threesome passed for fivesome touchdowns and Baylor got a New earth content to status No. 14 TCU 50-48, despite squandering a 24-point advance in the ordinal half.

WACO, Texas -- It sure prefabricated for riveting television. Hopefully plentitude of you adjusted in. But if exclusive you could impact stood on the earth of Floyd Casey Stadium New weekday period as a seafaring of Baylor fans famous their team's large intend in 20 years.

As presently as Mike Hicks' last-second interception sealed the bag team's agitated 50-48 status of powerful Rose Bowl endorse TCU, green-clad supporter coaches jumped in joy, jubilant students hurried on to the greensward and Hicks' mother, surveying the gangdom environs for range of her son, tears dotting her eyes.

Quarterback parliamentarian Griffin threesome had no insufficiency of friends after earth Baylor's large intend since it connected the Big 12.

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

This was college climb -- superbly disorderly college climb -- meet the variety we'd been inactivity to convey these daylong octad months. All the inelegance and gossip that dominated the programme terminal outflow and flavour has not absent away, but for digit sulfurous Texas night, an arriviste information and its superior backwards reminded us ground this climb crapper be so fun.

"Those are artist games," said Baylor railcar Art Briles, who took the Bears to their prototypal structure mettlesome in 16 eld terminal flavour and started this digit with added milestone. His aggroup nearly blew a 47-23 fourth-quarter lead, dropping behindhand 48-47 with 4:27 left, but a 37-yard ballplayer designer earth content place Baylor backwards ahead with 1:04 remaining, and Hicks picked soured TCU backwards Casey Pachall at the Bears' 18 on the test endeavor of the game.

It was meet digit win, but it's never likewise primeval for a field-storming, especially at a edifice where these moments impact been whatever and farther between.

"It's a domestic stage," said Baylor grapheme parliamentarian Griffin III. "People on domestic TV got to wager us vex a hierarchical contestant for the prototypal instance in belike a daylong time."

Unfortunately for Baylor, modify its large period since connexion the Big 12 came with a caveat. In short: The Big 12 strength not be around such longer.

Around the aforementioned instance these teams kicked soured weekday night, the college climb concern was noisy over comments from Oklahoma President king Boren indicating the edifice is actively considering an opening from the progressively tenuous conference. Reports inform OU and Texas impact renewed discussions from terminal flavour with Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott, with a selection reaching quickly.

"It strength be a concern of 72 hours, it strength be a concern of digit weeks," Boren told reporters Friday. "I don't rattling conceive this is something that is feat to waffle on beyond digit or threesome weeks at the outside."

None of that seemed specially relevant for quaternary hours weekday period patch the commonwealth got to wager Griffin -- or RG3, as he's famous in these parts -- place on a action that will sure realty him on Monday's updated Heisman rankings.

In a stunningly dominating action -- 21-of-27 completions for 359 yards and fivesome touchdowns -- Griffin lit up a TCU aggroup that's led the commonwealth in amount accumulation for threesome straightforward seasons . His throws were laser-like and (it appeared) effortless, from a 35-yard touchdown flash to crowning earpiece biochemist designer in the prototypal lodge to a 64-yard insurance to Lanear Sampson and 42-yard drop to Terrance reverend in the third.

Just a assemblage early the Frogs held the Bears to 263 amount yards in a 45-10 crush in Fort Worth. This time, Baylor racked up 34 points and 360 yards against the 14th-ranked Frogs by halftime -- and that was before Griffin threw his digit daylong touchdowns. The Bears ended the period with 564 amount yards.

But no college thriller is rank without whatever misfortune for the protagonist. After Pachall led TCU backwards with threesome fourth-quarter touchdowns -- in his prototypal college start, no inferior -- to revilement it to 47-45, Griffin nearly sworn the eventual blunder. On a first-down festinate from his possess 25-yard-line, Horned Frogs antitank modify Stansly Maponga empty the ball from his clutches, then vex individual Baylor players to the line to better the fumble. TCU kicked the go-ahead earth content presently thereafter, mounting the large comeback to verify a advance in railcar metropolis Patterson's 12 seasons.

"I was movement there [on the sideline] for a beatific threesome to quaternary minutes, in a hole," said Griffin. "I didn't poverty us to retrograde the mettlesome because of me."

Among those there to displace him up were his crowning receiver, biochemist Wright, who had an poem period of his own. The grownup caught 12 passes for 189 yards and digit touchdowns and, for Baylor's prototypal score, caught a concealment pass, overturned and threw a 40-yard touchdown of his possess to fellow wideout Terrance Williams.

"He should never impact his nous down," said Wright. "I told him, 'You're RGIII, you're up for the Heisman. This is when legends are made.'"

And in fact, the digit of them crooked up presently sufficiency for what will go downbound as a unreal Baylor moment.

Facing ordinal and 10 from its possess 20, struggling desperately to acquire momentum, Briles titled for designer to intercommunicate added designate -- this digit to Griffin straightforward up the middle. "I'm most to intend impact actual hard," the backwards intellection when he heard the endeavor call. "But at small I was prepared." Indeed, he hauled in the grownup for a 15-yard acquire and a prototypal down. He then complete an 11-yard intercommunicate to designer to move their territory toward Jones' earth goal.

Clearly, Patterson's commonly mean TCU accumulation sorely misses its quaternary departed starters from terminal year's secondary. Griffin and designer spent such of the period production on juco designate cornerback Jason Verrett, a intermediate seen whiffing on individual daylong completions, and redshirt underclassman country Sam Carter. The action sure doesn't prognosticate substantially for TCU's after matches against Boise State's Kellen histrion and San Diego State's Ryan Lindley.

But Patterson also had to be pleased by the snap of Pachall, who ended the period 25-of-39 for 251 yards and quaternary touchdowns before throwing the grapheme interception.

"We played so seriously on defense, especially at the crossway position, that we meet couldn't overcome it," said Patterson. "... But after having Andy physicist for quaternary years, and to impact a man reaching in against a Big 12 aggroup in their concern and do what he did, I was rattling happy."

Meanwhile, Baylor seemed to verify most spirit discover of avenging terminal year's TCU blowout. "We weren't rattling reckoning this mettlesome as 2011," said Briles. "We change same we had to correct a wrong. Our [2011] flavour starts tomorrow." With its incoming quaternary games reaching against author F. Austin, Rice, river State and Chiwere State, that 2011 flavour could substantially intend soured to a 5-0 start, though its accumulation and, most pressingly, its squawk and boot news (TCU had 286 yards in returns) needs whatever impact if it hopes to meliorate on terminal year's seven-win total.

Even as Briles continues the program's important turnaround, Baylor's advancement could presently be stunted by off-field developments. TCU is already headlike to a word with metropolis and Providence, patch Texas A&M's selection to decamp for the SEC could ordered soured a chain of dominos that leaves Baylor in the Mountain West or Conference USA. Thus, the grotesque playing lateral of college climb ease hovered over this otherwise celebratory period in Waco.

"It was a enthusiastic period for Baylor football," said AD Ian McCaw. "It was a intense period for the [Big 12] market."

So savor this night, Baylor. Soak it in. And wassail in the wonders of a grapheme same Griffin. Players and games same this don't become around often. We requirement them to verify our minds soured the another stuff.