Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III (10) finds running room behind the line of scrimmage against Texas in the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011, in Waco, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III (10) finds running room behind the line of scrimmage against Texas in the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011, in Waco, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Texas' Kenny Vaccaro (4) looks on as safety Blake Gideon (21) hits Baylor running back Terrance Ganaway (24) as he Ganaway leaps into the end zone for a touchdown in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011, in Waco, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Baylor cornerback Joe Williams (22) breaks up a pass intended for Texas running back Foswhitt Whittaker (2) in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011, in Waco, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Texas head coach Mack Brown reacts to play in the first half of an NCAA college football game against Baylor, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011, in Waco, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Baylor University president Ken Starr, right, poses with the university mascot before the start of an NCAA college football game against Texas, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011, in Waco, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
WACO, Texas (AP) ? Robert Griffin III ran for two touchdowns and passed for two more to lead No. 19 Baylor to a 48-24 win over Texas, capping the Bear's best regular season in 25 years and perhaps doing enough to persuade Heisman Trophy voters he's the best player in college football.
Baylor's defense, ranked among the worst in nation, gave up a 14-0 lead but forced also forced six turnovers, three of them setting up Baylor touchdowns.
Baylor fans will now wonder if Griffin has played his last home game for the Bears (9-3, 6-3 Big 12). Griffin, a fourth-year junior who has already graduated, must decide if he will leave for the NFL.
Case McCoy passed for 356 yards and three touchdowns for Texas (7-5, 4-5) but had five turnovers.
For Griffin, beating a Texas program that had pounded the Bears for years will go down as one of the greatest achievements of a stellar career.
Baylor reached nine wins for the first time since 1986 and Griffin has led Baylor to consecutive bowl games for the first time since the early 1990s. He is also just the third player in major college history with 10,000 yards passing and 2,000 yards rushing.
But will his last regular-season game, played on national television against the Big 12's best defense, be enough to earn the support from Heisman voters?
Baylor fans seem to think so. With the clock ticking down the final minutes, Baylor fans chanted "R-G-3! and Heisman!" and Griffin waived a green and gold Baylor flag at midfield after the game.
Griffin passed for 320 yards, connecting with Kendall Wright and Terrance Williams on scoring passes of 59 and 39 yards. The scoring pass to Wright came on the second play of the game and the toss to Wright was a perfectly thrown ball to the corner of the endzone for Baylor's final score. Griffin's two touchdown runs covered 2 and 10 yards.
Terrance Ganaway ran for 152 yards and touchdowns of 20 and 1 yard for the Bears and become Baylor's single-season rushing leader.
Baylor ran up 557 yards against a Texas defense that had been the most dominant unit in the Big 12 over the last month and ranked among the top 10 in the nation. Wright had six catches for 166 yards and a touchdown. Williams caught four balls for 88 yards.
Griffin had to have a big game to overcome another shaky effort by a defense that gave up 30 or more points for the ninth time this season. This time the Bears stiffened in the second half, holding the Longhorns to just a single field goal over the final two quarters.
Baylor had the ball for just 1 minute, 25 seconds in the first quarter because it took the Bears just seven plays to score their first two touchdowns. Texas, which struggled to throw the ball all season, ripped the Bears secondary behind McCoy, who had three touchdown passes in the first half.
But McCoy, whose fourth-quarter scramble against Texas A&M set up the game-winning field goal on Thanksgiving night, also had two turnovers in the first half, including an interception by Kyle Morton Jr. that was returned to the Texas 2. The play set up Griffin's go-ahead touchdown just before halftime.
Griffin started picking apart Texas' secondary and led the Bears to Ganaway's second touchdown and a 31-24 lead in third.
McCoy then threw his second interception, this time to Sam Hall, who picked up three key blocks in a 59-yard return inside the Texas 15. Griffin the kept the ball on an option read and scooted straight up the middle for a touchdown.
Texas couldn't muster the same rally it did in the first half because of the turnovers. A fumble by Cody Johnson killed a drive deep into Texas territory and the ensuring Baylor drive ended in Griffin's TD pass to Williams.
The Longhorns will return to a bowl for the first time since playing for the national championship in 2009. Texas went 5-7 last season in its first losing season since 1997
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