The Texas Longhorns can finally look ahead.
Playing in their final game before the much-anticipated meeting with rival Texas A&M, the ninth-ranked Horns topped Baylor 21-13 Thursday night before a national television audience and in front of 58,497 at Memorial Stadium.
The win gave Texas (9-1-1, 6-0 Southwest Conference) a share of the SWC championship and set up the game that most people have looked forward to all year -- a game that will decide the final SWC title in its final weekend of competition.
It's Texas vs. Texas A&M.
"We're thankful we're in it," Texas coach John Mackovic said Sunday. "We've worked hard to get here. I had said back in August if it could come down to Dec. 2 for the championship in our game, I'd be very excited about that because I had looked ahead at our schedule and knew it would be tough for us. And here it is."
If Texas wins Saturday's game in College Station, it will clinch the 81st SWC title outright and with it it a spot in a Tier I bowl, likely the Sugar Bowl or possibly the Orange Bowl. The loser will play in the Alamo Bowl against Michigan.
No. 16 Texas A&M (8-2, 5-1) heads into the game after cruising past TCU 38-6 Saturday. Aggie coach R.C. Slocum said "it is only fitting" that the last SWC title be decided between the two schools.
"I don't think it could have had a more dramatic finish than what we've got on the schedule now," Slocum said.
Texas remained at No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and moved up from No. 7 to No. 6 in the USA Today/CNN coaches' poll.
The Horns, playing without starting quarterback James Brown, who was out with a sprained left ankle, received a huge game from their defense, an impressive game from their running backs and a solid game from backup QB Richard Walton, a redshirt freshman making his first career start.
For much of the first half, however, things were not going well for the Texas offense, to say the least. Through their first six possessions, the Longhorns totaled only 1 yard. But while the offense was sputtering, the defense was keeping the Bears off the scoreboard and buying time until Texas got the break it needed.
And at the 4:39 mark of the second quarter, Texas finally got it. Walton (5-of-12, 121 yards) connected with tight end Pat Fitzgerald over the middle for a 70-yard touchdown catch-and-run that gave Texas a 7-0 lead.
"Pat's been there for us all year making those big plays, and he did it again," Texas offensive guard Dan Neil said. "I don't think I've ever seen him run so fast."
Texas extended the margin to 14-0 after tailback Shon Mitchell scampered 36 yards for a touchdown with 11:24 to play in the third period. Mitchell finished the night with 106 yards on 20 carries, his fourth consecutive game rushing for over 100 yards. He also became the first Texas running back to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season since Eric Metcalf in 1987.
Texas fullback Ricky Williams also carried 23 times for 86 yards.
"Usually we are able to mix the pass in there real nice," Neil said. "It was kind of funny. The second half, [Baylor] knew we were running, we knew they knew we were running, and they still couldn't stop it. I think that really boosted our confidence."
The Horns' final touchdown came with 9:21 remaining in the fourth quarter when running back Wane McGarity ran in from 1 yard out.
Baylor (7-4, 5-2) made it 21-7 after Anthony Hodge's 25-yard touchdown run with 8:42 left in the fourth quarter. The Bears scored on the final play of the game when Dustin Dennard caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Bears quarterback Jeff Watson (16-of-27, 228 yards).
Wingback Kalief Muhammad led the Bears with 97 yards on six catches, but tailback Jerod Douglas, who left in the third quarter with an injured heel, was held to only 72 yards on 14 carries.
"We knew we had to stop Jerod Douglas and put them in passing situations," Texas linebacker Tyson King said. "We shut him down and they had trouble moving the ball. It feels extra special because we didn't blitz as much as we usually do. Now we know we can go head to head with anyone."
Baylor would have clinched a share of the SWC title had it come away with a win against Texas. Instead, Baylor could be left out of the bowl picture altogether.
"It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth," Muhammad said.
For the second year in a row the Texas Longhorns received a clutch performance and a win from a relatively untested backup quarterback.
Redshirt freshman Richard Walton survived a rocky start and led the No. 9 Horns to a 21-13 victory over Baylor on Thanksgiving night at Memorial Stadium.
Last season, then-backup James Brown started in place of injured Shea Morenz and led the Longhorns to a 17-10 win over Oklahoma. Walton's numbers weren't overly impressive, but he delivered a clutch performance with the Southwest Conference championship on the line.
"What better way to start your career than to play in a championship game like that and to come up with a win?" Walton said.
The victory gives Texas at least a share of the final SWC title with one game to play against archrival Texas A&M.
Walton was told he would start about 10 minutes before kickoff. To say he struggled early would be an understatement.
At the 4:39 mark of the second quarter Texas had one total yard and no first downs when Walton hooked up with tight end Pat Fitzgerald for a 70-yard touchdown pass to give Texas the momentum and a lead it would never relinquish.
"It was amazing," Walton said of Fitzgerald's touchdown. "It was about time we got something going. After he caught it, I've never seen him run like that but I thought I might catch up to him. I'm not that fast, but I was pretty pumped up."
Walton finished 5-of-12 passing for 121 yards and one touchdown and -- most importantly -- no interceptions. Two passes accounted for 110 of Walton's passing yards: Fitzgerald's reception and a 40-yard completion to wideout Mike Adams on a similar post pattern.
Baylor entered the Texas game with the sixth-ranked defense overall and third-ranked against the pass.
"It wasn't easy to pass against this team. We knew that would be the case," Texas coach John Mackovic said. "I think Richard deserves a real pat on the back. It's hard for a young player to come into a game like this. We're talking about a championship game against one of the top defenses in the country and with not even a week's preparation as the starter.
"And for him to come in and make the plays he made and control his own play and just run our football team says a lot for him."
Mackovic said that after the first quarter an already trimmed-down passing attack was cut even further to roughly 50 percent of the usual game plan.
"We went to just writing down a handful of plays at a time," Mackovic said. "We'd draw 'em up and make sure everyone knew what to do. We went through them with Richard again and the receivers so we knew just where we were on everything and it worked out fine."
Mackovic was right in saying things worked out fine offensively if the first quarter and a half is thrown out. Once the offense got going, it created a domino-type effect and the Horns ended the game with 308 total yards.
"[Baylor's defenders] were all over him those first couple of drives, but Richard didn't back off," Texas offensive guard Dan Neil said. "He didn't get scared. He hung right in there and as we got the run game going, it made the pass blocking easier for us and really made everything open up."
Baylor 0 0 0 13 -- 13
Texas 0 7 7 7 -- 21
Tex--Fitzgerald 70 pass from Walton (Dawson kick)
Tex--Mitchell 27 run (Dawson kick)
Tex--McGarity 1 run (Dawson kick)
Bay--Hodge 25 run (Van Dyke kick)
Bay--Dennard 13 pass from Watson (run failed)
A--58,497.
Baylor Texas
First downs 17 11
Rushes-yards 43-154 47-187
Passing 228 121
Return Yards 0 0
Comp-Att-Int 16-27-0 5-12-0
Punts 8-34 8-41
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-1
Penalties-Yards 7-48 2-20
Time of Possession 33:23 26:37
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
Baylor - Douglas 14-72, Hodge 8-34, Washington 6-14, Watson 6-7,
Muhammad 4-12, Rubin 3-10, Ford 2-5.
Texas - Williams 23-86, Mitchell 20-106, McGarity 1-1, Walton 3-(minus 6).
PASSING
Baylor - Watson 16-27-0-228.
Texas - Walton 5-12-0-121.
RECEIVING
Baylor - Muhammad 6-97, Dennard 4-54, Pegross 2-51, Hodge 2-11,
Douglas 1-10, Thompson 1-5.
Texas - McLemore 2-22, Fitzgerald 1-70, Adams 1-40, Mitchell 1-(minus 1).