Baylor vs. Texas 2012: Longhorns' close win brings relief

Perhaps the best takeaway for the Texas Longhorns and their fans from the team's win over 56-50 win over Baylor on Saturday is relief, according to Wescott Eberts of Burnt Orange Nation.

...the predominant feeling in the stadium when the final horn sounded seemed to be relief.

Relief from having to deal with another loss, another week dissecting all the negatives. Relief from finding out how much a third straight loss to Baylor would ratchet up the heat on Brown.

The Longhorns' next opponent should provide some relief, as well, after drawing high-powered offenses each week for the past month. Texas will pay a visit to the Kansas Jayhawks, who have yet to win a game against an FBS team, on Oct. 27.

Texas' defense remains an issue, but at least it was able to keep Baylor to three points on multiple occasions at key points in the game. That may have been the difference, notes Eberts.

Holding the Bears to field goals before the half in a classic bend-but-don't-totally-break situation when Baylor moved the ball down the field about 70 yards with ease without even having to use their final timeout was a huge, but the two stops in the second half were even bigger and Art Briles did Texas a favor settling for a field goal on a 4th and 4 from the Texas 27 in a game that was always going to be decided by touchdowns.

Quarterback David Ash had a nice outing for the Longhorns, just one week after the team thought he had broken his wrist in the blowout loss to Oklahoma. Ash completed 19 of 31 passes for 274 yards and a score, and came up big in a crucial situation when the Longhorns really needed six points.

No throw was more important than his 67-yard bomb to junior wide receiver Mike Davis in the third quarter after Baylor had narrowed the Texas lead to 42-40 on a field goal. Bergeron scored a touchdown on the next play and the Longhorns were able to hold the lead, eventually for good.