It's not just me, we really *are* getting better!

Some tidbits from here and there about last Saturday's Baylor - A&M game:

From mysanantonio.com:
A&M is more than a three-touchdown favorite to avenge last year's defeat. Two years ago, the Aggies thumped Baylor 73-10 at Kyle Field, and were still throwing the ball late in the game.

Not this year. :)

From the Hillsboro Free Press:
Baylor lost despite outgaining the Aggies 347-287 in total yards, as the Bears scored just three times on seven trips to the red zone.

From aggiesports.com:
Baylor, which entered the game 3-0 but a 24-point underdog, came within a whisker of one of its biggest victories in school history.

A&M's high-flying offense, the 10th best in the country, could muster only 134 yards through three quarters. The Bears were doing most of the talking and playing. Baylor's hard-hitting defense was hit with a taunting penalty in the first quarter after it tackled McNeal.

But they kept on harassing McNeal - within the rules.

Baylor held McNeal to 6-of-16 passing through three quarters for 76 yards with two interceptions and only 19 yards rushing on seven carries.

...

Baylor spent much of the first three quarters in Aggie territory. The Bears had 25 more plays, 60 more yards and more than 9 minutes more in time of possession.

"I thought we had opportunities that we didn't take advantage of," Morriss said. "I thought we were going to win. I don't know what the kids were thinking.

From the Dallas Morning News:
There was a time when taking Texas A&M to overtime would have been cause for celebration around Baylor. Just getting close to the Aggies would have been considered progress.

That time wasn't Saturday. Or the day after, when Bears coach Guy Morriss was still muttering about missed opportunities in a 16-13 overtime loss at A&M.

After beating the Aggies in overtime last season, losing to them is almost a step backwards. But it's all about context.

This was a road game at tradition-rich Kyle Field. And this year, the Aggies had to know Baylor was coming. In fact, Texas A&M probably looked forward to it after the stinging loss of a year ago.

A&M came away victorious in this one, but more than one observer has said that Baylor looked like the better team. That in itself is a victory for a Baylor program that's been a Big 12 punching bag for so long.

"Right now, my message to this football team is not about our opponents beating us," Morriss said. "It's about how we're fighting ourselves now. The one good thing we should take out of this is that we can line up and play with anybody."

Coming into the season, Oklahoma State and Baylor were considered the fifth- and sixth-best teams in the Big 12 South, and there was a big dropoff after fifth.

That's no longer the case. Not after Oklahoma State has shown no signs of offense in four games, including a 34-0 loss to Colorado on Saturday. Meanwhile, Baylor has won two road games and taken one of the league's more talented teams to overtime.
...
Under Morriss the last two seasons, Baylor's improvement has shown up in more than just the Texas A&M games.

The Baylor defense is fast and feisty. Most of all, it has to be respected.

The offense isn't flashy, but the Bears can take what a defense gives them.

Baylor still doesn't have the type of individual talent that can overcome mistakes, so the Bears have to be perfect against a skilled team such as A&M. Baylor wasn't perfect Saturday but still had opportunities to win the game.
...
Baylor's not going to challenge for the Big 12 title anytime soon. However, the Bears aren't automatically the sixth-best team in the Big 12 South anymore. Whatever Morriss is preaching, the message is getting through.

So we outplayed them everywhere except where it really counted, the final score. It looks like, if Baylor can learn to capitalize on those red zone opportunities, we may actually become a decent team, and no easy win for anyone. And it looks like we finally have a coach who's making enough progress from one season to the next that he won't be given the boot after just two seasons (not nearly enough time to properly rebuild a football program, if you ask me). I think it's fair to say that we're no longer the whipping boy of the Big 12, and that makes me no end of happy.