WACO, TX (AP) — Texas (6-4, 4-3 Big 12) at No. 13 Baylor (9-1, 6-1, No. 13 CFP), Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EST (FS1).
Line: Baylor by 6 1/2.
Series record: Texas leads 78-26-4.
WHAT’S AT STAKE
Baylor gets another chance at home to clinch a spot in the Big 12 championship game, a week after blowing an early 25-point lead in a loss to four-time defending conference champion Oklahoma on the banks of the Brazos River. The Longhorns have to win their last two games, and get some help, to get back in the title game for the second year in a row.
KEY MATCHUP
Baylor spy vs. Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger. The Longhorns QB is a tough, strong runner but hasn’t been used much in that role lately. Texas will have seen how Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts punished the Baylor defense with his legs. Knowing that Ehlinger could try to do the same, Baylor may assign a defensive “spy” to contain him as a running threat.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Texas: Slot receiver Devin Duvernay could be playing with a huge chip on his shoulder this week. He was snubbed for the Biletnikoff award semifinalists despite having 87 catches for 1,017 yards and seven touchdowns. Duvernay was originally a Baylor signee but never enrolled after the school was ensnared in a sexual assault scandal.
Baylor: Junior quarterback Charlie Brewer is an Austin native whose father, Robert, is a former Texas quarterback and MVP of the 1982 Cotton Bowl. The Bears have lost four in a row in the series, but last year Charlie Brewer drove them 80 yards from their own 3 in the final 1:43 before an incomplete pass into the end zone on the game’s final play.
FACTS & FIGURES
The Longhorns seemed to have found their running game until only 54 yards last week against Iowa State. That proved critical when Texas gained no yards on two plays late and the resulting punt set up the drive to the Cyclones’ game-winning field goal on the last play. ... Terrell Bernard has averaged 13.3 tackles in four games as Baylor’s starting middle linebacker since Clay Johnston’s season-ending knee injury. ... Baylor WR Denzel Mims is the only FBS player with at least eight receiving touchdowns in each of the last three seasons.
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