Game 10 Report – Baylor

Pregame

Texas (6-4; 4-3 Big 12) at Baylor (9-1; 6-1 Big 12)
November 23rd, 2019, 2:30 PM CT
McLane Stadium, Waco, Texas
Weather – Sunny, 60 degrees

Game Recap

Baylor 24 – Texas 10

Baylor came into this game coming off their first loss of the season to Oklahoma the week before, blowing a 28-3 lead. The question was if Baylor would find a way to respond to that loss. Texas had been struggling coming in losing three of five, with their only wins being by 2 over Kansas and by 3 over Kansas State.

This game was dominated from Baylor from the beginning. After a scoreless first quarter Baylor started the scoring off with a 28 yard run from John Lovett to take a 7-0 lead. Texas struggled the entire first half offensively, but was able to put in a couple big plays on the last possession of the half to kick a field goal and go into halftime only down 7-3.

The second half was more of the same. Baylor was able to put together a couple drives in the third to score twice and take a 21-3 lead into the fourth. They scored another field goal to make it 24-3. The only touchdown of the game for Texas came with one second remaining in the game after taking a timeout to stop the clock after the game was already decided. Final score: Baylor 24-Texas 10.

Stadium Overview

McLane Stadium is one of the newest stadiums in college football, opening in 2014, and is located along the Brazos River. Being along the river led to a pretty unique tailgating experience as there were several boats along the piers that many people were hanging out on. There is also a large bridge across the river to led to many other tailgating activities on the other side.

Inside the stadium there was very large scoreboard on the South side of the stadium. Below the scoreboard there was a small grass area where there was some general admission seating. Throughout the rest of the stadium there were three seating tiers. Along the sidelines there were individual seats. In the corners there were benches with backs and along the North side of the stadium there were regular benches with no backs. Between the first and second tier there were also runner boards that went around the entire stadium.

The concourse area around the stadium was one of the nicest I have seen. There was plenty of room for people to walk around and they were all under cover as well. There was not anything special about the concessions in the stadium. Beyond the normal food, there was Chick-fil-a, Pizza Hut, Double Dave’s pizza, 5th Street Grill, and Dippin’ Dots.

One interesting item during the pregame was the Baylor Line. Each year, Baylor freshman join the Baylor Line where they rush the field before the game and build a line on the field for the team to run through as they enter the field.

Also, as a side note, the Oblivious cam is the worst pregame activity there is. I think it is pretty lame to put unsuspecting people on cam to time how long they don’t pay attention to a scoreboard. Please get rid of that as soon as possible.

Hot dog – $4.00

Souvenir drink – $6.00

Other Sporting Event

Women’s Basketball – Lamar (1-2) vs. #2 Baylor (4-0)

I actually attended a men’s basketball game at Baylor once before back when I was in college. I didn’t remember being impressed at the time. But, they have made main renovations through the years, especially with the large video board and runner boards above each entrance into the arena.

Even though Baylor was coming off a National Championship season and ranked #2 in the country coming in, I was still very surprised by how many cars were in the parking lot at the Ferrell Center when I arrived for this game. After all, they were playing a Lamar team that was going to be easily over-matched. That showed just how many loyal fans this team has built through the years.

As for the game, Lamar kept it close for about 4 minutes, but Baylor just pulled away after that. Before the game I predicted a fifty point Baylor win to a friend and actually was too low. Baylor won the game 90-28 with center Erin DeGrate leading the way with 19 points off the bench.

Campus Overview

Baylor University is the first private university I have visited as part of this road trip. As such, it is also one of the smaller campuses with very few students walking around while I was there. There were a lot of pretty buildings throughout the campus. My favorite view on campus was probably from the photo posted below from the Rosenbalm Fountain with the golden dome of Pat Neff hall in the background.

There were a lot of open areas along campus which I really liked. There is also a bear habitat on campus though the bears were not out when I visited; likely because it was fairly early in the morning with on and off rain at the time.

Attractions

Dr Pepper Museum

I still remember the first Dr Pepper I ever had when I was at a Boy Scout camp growing up. I became a big fan and it was interesting to see the place where it was originally bottled in Waco, Texas. I actually came to this museum right after it first opened as a kid, but it has expanded a great deal since that initial trip.

There are two building as part of the museum. The first has a lot of history of Dr Pepper including how it was first created along with a lot of memorabilia. It also showed some of the first machines that were used to mix and bottle the drink. There was also an old well that was initially used to get the water used to make the drink when it was first being made.

The second building was an old bottling plant that has been converted into more exhibits, including a large 7-Up bottling display. There was also a gift shop and small cafe that sold drinks and floats. The drinks were severed the old-fashioned soda counter way, with syrup and soda, as opposed to pre-mixed drinks. You received a voucher for a small soda along with your admission, but it was just a tiny cup.

Waco Mammoth National Monument

The Waco Mammoth National Monument is located on the West side of Waco along the Bosque river. It was initially discovered in 1978 when a couple of men were searching for arrowheads and discovered fossils in the area. After more research, it was determined that the areas was the site of 16 Columbian mammoths. Within the past few years it has become a national monument and a building has been erected around the bones to keep them well protected.

Alongside the extraction site there are also a few trails around the area that people can hike. The park itself is free to visit, but there is a minimal $5.00 fee to actually take a tour of the building and the found fossils.

Texas Ranger Hall of Fame

The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame is a small museum located next to the Baylor campus that focuses on the history of the Texas Ranger law enforcement teams throughout the state. There was an auditorium that showed a movie about the group and its start with Stephen F. Austin. There was also a review of its history with Native Americans throughout the state and with Mexicans along the Texas-Mexico border. There was also a few displays about the famous showdown with Bonnie and Clyde.

Texas Sports Hall of Fame

The Texas Sports Hall of Fame is also located near the Baylor campus and has a very extensive amount of displays about teams in Texas along with famous players from Texas. One thing that I really liked was there was focus on every sport, not just the major ones. There were displays for college teams from the state, pro teams, individual athletes and more.

Another major exhibit was a focus on the history of the Southwestern conference. There were displays for all of the teams as part of that conference along with a listing of all the conference championships they won in all sports. As a sports fanatic, I found this museum very interesting and fun to walk through.

Magnolia Market at the Silos

The Magnolia Market is a very popular place in the downtown Waco area best known for the owners Chip and Joanna Gaines of HGTV fame. The area has a very large outdoor space in front of the famous silos where families can come and relax and enjoy food from a variety of food trucks lined up around the edge. There is also a large store full of various home goods, a garden store with various seed and plants, and a very popular bakery. The line for the bakery went out the door while I was there.

While I was there a man proposed to his girlfriend in the middle of the green that was well received by the crowd around at the time. There were also many people from the city of Waco around to use the opportunity to recommend other things in the city to visit while they were there. Although this would not be a place I would normally visit, with its large variety of events and stores its popularity is very understandable.

Dining

Hecho En Waco

Hecho En Waco is a moderately upscale Mexican restaurant located in the downtown area of Waco. It is located in a small strip mall along with some other small, local businesses. Inside was a pretty open space with plenty of seating including a bar and some outdoor patio seating.

I went with the Che’ tacos which were corn tortillas with carnitas, cheese, avocado, pickled onions, and tomatillo sauce served with a side of rice and black beans. The tacos were delicious with the carnitas being nice and moist and a generous portion of avocado inside. The cost was a little high for the amount of food received, but no complaints about the quality of the food at all.

Vitek’s Market

Vitek’s BBQ is a popular joint located near the Baylor campus that has been featured in several national publications. They were very crowded when I went in the late afternoon. They also had a small market inside along with the restaurant. There was also a very large patio area that would make for a fun place to hang out and eat during the summer with a fire pit and outdoor bar.

I went with the Famous Gut Pak which is one of the main items the restaurant is known for. It comes with Fritos, topped with brisket, sausage, beans, and cheese, along with onions, pickles, and peppers. I also ordered a side of mac and cheese. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Gut Pak. I think having all of the ingredients just tossed in together made it hard to enjoy the meat that the restaurant is known for. I also think the crunchiness of the Fritos took away from the rest of the dish as well. The mac and cheese was very tasty though and enjoyable. If I returned I would get a more traditional BBQ dinner.

Health Camp

When I first read the words ‘Health Camp’ next to places to eat in Waco I was not expecting a small burger joint. This place was actually built in 1949 and has been serving burgers and shakes ever since. I went with a classic cheeseburger with fries and a banana shake. The burger itself wasn’t anything special. If anything, I found the size a little lacking for a place like this. The fries were very good though. They were fresh out of the fryer with a nice crispness to them and very hot. The shake was very thick and had a strong banana taste as well.

The one thing to be aware of for this location is parking. It is right next to Magnolia Table, which is an extremely popular dining location. That makes parking in this area fairly limited so just be prepared to drive around or take a small walk to get here.

Czech Stop and Bakery – Wall, TX

The Czech Stop and Bakery is a famous Texas stop for anyone traveling between Dallas and any points south. It is located in the city of Wall, Texas, and is famous for its pastries. Specifically, they make a very large variety of kolaches, which are pastries filled with cream cheese and/or various fruit fillings. For my trip, I went with two classic cream cheese kolaches, one cream cheese with lemon kolache, and one cream cheese with pumpkin kolache. The pastry was a perfect texture and the fillings were very generous. My favorite had to be the cream cheese with pumpkin as the spice of the pumpkin filling was a perfect compliment to the sweetness of the cream cheese. I came really close to stopping and getting more for my trip back to Dallas, but decided that one stop was enough.