The 1974 Baylor Bears football team represented the
Baylor University
Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...
in the
1974 NCAA Division I football season
The 1974 NCAA Division I football season finished with two national champions. The Associated Press (AP) writers' poll ranked the University of Oklahoma, which was on probation and barred by the NCAA from postseason play, No. 1 at season's end. ...
. Baylor won eight games and captured the
Southwest Conference
The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...
(SWC) championship for the first time since 1924, and in the process defeated the
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
by a score of 34–24 after rallying from a 24–7 halftime deficit.
It was Baylor's first victory over the Longhorns in 17 years. The 1974 season and the win over Texas are commonly referred to as the "Miracle on the Brazos" (after the
Brazos River
The Brazos River ( , ), called the ''Río de los Brazos de Dios'' (translated as "The River of the Arms of God") by early Spanish explorers, is the 14th-longest river in the United States at from its headwater source at the head of Blackwater ...
, which runs near the Baylor campus) and it remains part of Baylor lore.
Schedule
Team players drafted into the NFL
The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.
Awards and honors
*
Grant Teaff
Grant Garland Teaff (; born November 12, 1933) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at McMurry University (1960–1965), Angelo State University (1969–1971), and Baylor University (1972–1992), compilin ...
,
AFCA Coach of the Year
The AFCA Coach of the Year Award is given annually to college football coaches by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). Separate awards are presented at all levels of U.S. college football. The AFCA as a whole presents the award fo ...
References
Baylor
Southwest Conference football champion seasons
Baylor Bears football seasons
Baylor Bears football
The Baylor Bears football team represents Baylor University in Division I (NCAA)#Football Bowl Subdivision, Division I FBS college football. They are a member of the Big 12 Conference. After 64 seasons at the off-campus Baylor Stadium, renamed F ...
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