TCU can still get bowl eligible after 42-17 win over Baylor with 2 TDs each from Wiley and Bailey
FORT WORTH, TX - NOVEMBER 18:TCU Horned Frogs running back Cam Cook (0) avoids a Baylor Bears defender during a college football game between the Baylor Bears and the TCU Horned Frogs on November 18, 2023 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, TX.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Josh Hoover threw for 412 yards with two touchdowns to tight end Jared Wiley, Emani Bailey had two long TD runs and TCU snapped a three-game losing streak with a 42-17 victory over in-state rival Baylor on Saturday.
Wiley was wide open for catch-and-run scores of 81 and 28 yards for the Horned Frogs (5-6, 3-5 Big 12), last year's national runner-up which still isn't bowl eligible going into the final regular-season game next Friday at 14th-ranked Oklahoma. Wiley had seven catches for 178 yards.
MORE: TCU Horned Frogs Coverage
Hoover completed 24 of 29 passes for his fourth game with at least 300 yards in five starts since taking over for injured Chandler Morris. The redshirt freshman also had his first rushing touchdown with a 3-yard score that made it 28-17 late in the third quarter.
Baylor (3-8, 2-6), which lost its fourth game in a row, had a 7-0 lead on Blake Shapen's 10-yard TD pass to Dominic Richardson after Bailey fumbled at the Bears 2 on TCU's opening drive. Caden Jenkins recovered and returned it to the 31, setting up the 11-play scoring drive.
The Frogs got even on Bailey's 27-yard TD run in the second quarter, and went ahead to stay when Hoover hit Wiley in stride alone near the TCU 40 and the 6-foot-7, 260-pound tight end went untouched to the end zone on the 81-yard score. Wiley was wide open just beyond the line of scrimmage after halftime for his 28-yard score, and Bailey added a 31-yard TD run.
THE TAKEAWAY
Baylor: The Bears dropped to 23-24 overall for fourth-year coach Dave Aranda. They have lost 12 of their last 15 games overall.
TCU: The Horned Frogs avoided their first four-game losing streak since 1998. They have won four in a row and eight of nine in the series against Baylor that dates back to 1899, and is now the most-played in the state of Texas at 119 games - one more than Texas-Texas A&M.
UP NEXT
Baylor plays its regular-season finale at home Saturday against West Virginia. It will be the Bears' single-season record eighth home game, but they are 1-6 at McLane Stadium.
TCU takes on Oklahoma in the Sooners' final regular-season game in the Big 12 before moving to the SEC.