Big 12 roundup: First-place Baylor tops Texas

No. 25 Baylor 30, Texas 22

Austin, Texas — Time to take all that talk of Baylor’s “Big 12 takeover” seriously. Like they say in the Lone Star State, ‘It ain’t bragging if it’s the truth.’

Robert Griffin III passed for two touchdowns and ran for another in leading Baylor to a victory over reeling Texas on Saturday night, the Bears’ first victory against the Longhorns since 1997.

“The tide has changed. This year, we’re the team to beat,” Griffin said after his teammates could be heard chanting “Our house!” in the visiting locker room.

Stuck at the bottom of the Big 12 for so long, Baylor (7-2, 4-1) came in ranked for the first time since 1993, but still in search of a win that would make them legitimate contenders for the South division title.

A second-half rally in Austin proves the Bears are going to be a factor down the stretch.

“Our players are about as resilient a bunch as I’ve ever been around,” Baylor coach Art Briles said.

Baylor trailed, 19-10, early in the third quarter before Jay Finley ran 69 yards for a touchdown. Griffin then scored on a 1-yard touchdown and hit Kendall Wright with a 30-yard scoring pass in the fourth.

No. 11 Oklahoma 43, Colorado 10

Norman, Okla. — Ryan Broyles broke the school record with 208 yards receiving as part of the biggest passing day in Oklahoma history, and the Sooners bounced back from their first loss of the season to beat Colorado on Saturday night.

Landry Jones threw for a career-high 453 yards and four touchdowns, including three to Broyles. Jones’ total was the second-best in school history, behind only Sam Bradford’s 468 against Kansas in his 2008 Heisman Trophy season. When combined with backup Drew Allen’s 35 yards, the Sooners (7-1, 3-1 Big 12) broke the school record for passing set on Bradford’s biggest day.

Colorado (3-5, 0-4) kept it close for a quarter before losing its 15th straight road game and its 11th conference game in a row.

After the Sooners managed only field goals on their first two trips inside the 20, Broyles started getting loose for big plays to lead the way to Oklahoma’s 35th straight home victory — the longest current run in the nation.

He got wide open with the help of a Jones pump fake to catch a 16-yard touchdown pass, then beat Jonathan Hawkins for an 81-yard score to make it 20-3 in the second quarter.

Broyles got a step behind Hawkins to make an over-the-shoulder catch and then raced the final 50 yards to finish the longest catch of his career. It was Jones’ longest completion, too.

To start the second half, Broyles — who came in leading the nation with 9.9 catches per game — zoomed past Roy Polk on a post pattern for a 64-yard TD. Polk caught up just before the goal line, but Broyles was able to reach the ball into the end zone as he was turned on top of his head.

Cody Hawkins, taking the place of injured starting quarterback Tyler Hansen, threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Scotty McKnight in the third quarter but came nowhere near duplicating the biggest win of his Colorado career that came in a 2007 upset against No. 3 Oklahoma.

Facing a sizable deficit, Cody Hawkins unleashed one pass after another and ended up trying enough that he matched the Buffaloes’ career record for attempts set by Joel Klatt (1,095).

Texas A&M 45, Texas Tech 27

College Station, Texas — Ryan Tannehill, getting his first career start at quarterback, had a school-record 449 yards passing.