WACO, Texas—When the wins come by the dozens, some are going to be easier than others.
For Colt McCoy, count No. 42 among the easy ones.
McCoy passed for two touchdowns to help No. 2 Texas beat Baylor 47-14 Saturday, tying him with Georgia’s David Greene for the most victories by a major college quarterback.
McCoy is 42-7 in his career with two regular-season contests, a likely Big 12 championship game and a bowl still to come.
The senior didn’t even have to put in a full day’s work in this one, leaving midway through the third quarter with a 40-0 lead.
“We’re all proud of Colt,” said wide receiver Jordan Shipley, who caught both TD passes Saturday. “It also says a lot about this program.”
Texas (10-0, 6-0 Big 12) reached 10 wins for the ninth straight season, second only to Florida State’s run of 14 consecutive 10-win seasons from 1987-2000.
“Ten wins feels good. It’s one win more than nine and it’s one win closer to our goals,” defensive end Sergio Kindle said.
Those would be conference and national titles, neither of which are included in McCoy’s resume.
A week after throwing for 470 yards against Central Florida, McCoy passed for 181 while the Texas running game and defense did the heavy lifting against the Bears.
Cody Johnson ran for 109 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries in his first career start. Tre’ Newton dashed 45 yards for a touchdown, Texas’ longest scoring run of the season.
The Longhorns defense swamped Baylor (4-6, 1-5). Texas had three interceptions and forced a safety. The defense held Baylor to minus-20 yards in the second quarter as Texas turned a 14-0 lead into 40-0 by halftime.
Eddie Jones capped Texas’ scoring with a 60-yard interception return in the fourth quarter before Baylor punched in two late scores.
McCoy got the record-tying win in front of a road crowd that had to feel more like home. Floyd Casey Stadium is only a 99-mile drive from Austin. The crowd of about 44,000 was among the largest ever at Baylor for a Big 12 game and about half wore burnt orange.
The Longhorns quickly punched in their first score on the opening drive when McCoy found Shipley slicing underneath the Baylor defense at the goal line.
Baylor, still confident after a rally at Missouri a week ago, responded with a drive to the Texas 4. But freshman quarterback Nick Florence, who set a Baylor record with 427 yards last week, threw an interception to Aaron Williams in the end zone. Williams timed the fade route perfectly, leaping high to make an acrobatic catch.
“The game turned right there,” Texas coach Mack Brown said.
Baylor lost all momentum when Texas stuffed the Bears at midfield on fourth down on the next drive. Given the short field, the Longhorns scored again on Johnson’s 10th touchdown of the season.
Newton soon made it 21-0 with Texas’ longest scoring run of the season.
Texas started three touchdown drives in Baylor territory.
“I didn’t want to go out this way,” said Baylor senior safety Jordan Lake, who was playing in his last home game. “Wherever you are, as a defense you have to step up and hold them out.”
Texas’ only scary moment came when McCoy dumped a short pass to Shipley across the middle in double coverage. Shipley was hit hard and stayed on the ground for a minute. Texas’ best receiver eventually walked off under his own power, shaking McCoy’s hand on the way to the sideline.
Baylor was penalized for a personal foul on the hit, giving Texas a first down. Three plays later, McCoy pump faked before hitting Shipley in the end zone again.
Texas’ top-ranked defense got after Florence all day, sacking him three times, including a hard hit early in the game. Florence finished with 240 yards passing.
“I think Nick got rattled a little bit and rightfully so,” Baylor coach Art Briles said. “That’s the great thing about experience: it teaches.”
Baylor couldn’t do much to help itself.
Even when the Bears were just trying to get to halftime without any more damage, they bumbled away points. After Johnson’s second touchdown run made it 35-0, a fumble bounced backward 20 yards to the end zone and Baylor recovered for a safety.
Texas then tacked on a field goal in the final seconds to make it 40-0.
“I thought it was awesome in the first half,” McCoy said. “We really knocked ‘em out.”
McCoy’s 181 yards was among his lowest totals of the season, but he has four career wins over Baylor. Next week against Kansas will be his final game at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
“I’m proud that Colt got the winningest record for quarterbacks in college football history,” Brown said. “What a great honor for him.”
