Baylor and Texas wasted little time getting its offenses going in the first half.
After winning the toss, Baylor used just 66 seconds to score its first touchdown. Senior quarterback Seth Russell orchestrated the six play, 75-yard drive and capped it off with a 50-yard touchdown run, giving the Bears an early 7-0 lead.
However, the Longhorns answered immediately as freshman quarterback Shane Buechele found junior wide receiver Armanti Foreman for a 40-yard scoring strike, evening the score at seven.
Texas, after intercepting Russell’s first pass of the Bears’ second possession, took the lead on a 37-yard touchdown run by junior running back D’Onta Foreman, putting the Longhorns up, 14-7 early in the first quarter.
Russell and the Bear’s offense quickly put the turnover behind them and marched right down the field against Texas. Russell connected with sophomore wide receiver Pooh Stricklin for a 45-yard pass to move the ball into Longhorn territory. Russell then found sophomore wide receiver Ishmael Zamora for a 20-yard touchdown, tying it once again at 14.
Despite the offensive outburst to begin the game, both defenses began to settle in. Senior cornerback Ryan Reid recorded his third interception of the year and after a long pass that would have put Texas at the two yard line, redshirt freshman cornerback Jameson Houston stripped the ball, giving it back to Baylor.
Immediately following the fumble at the two-yard line, Texas regained the lead after a holding penalty in the end zone resulted in a safety for the Longhorns, putting them up 16-14 halfway through the second quarter.
On the ensuing possession, Foreman found the end zone for a second time in the half, this one from nine yards out, giving Texas a 23-14 lead.
Baylor was able to answer with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Russell to junior wide receiver KD Cannon, cutting the Longhorns lead to 23-21 at the half.
Russell is 9 for 19 with a 152 yards and two touchdowns at the half for the Bears. Foreman leads the Longhorns offense with 128 yards on the ground and two touchdowns.
