Texas Gets Cotton Bid, Coach Gets a New Deal : Southwest: Longhorns rally against Baylor, 23-13, for berth against Miami.

The Texas Longhorns buried their Waco jinx, earned their first Southwest Conference title in seven years, and got Coach David McWilliams a new five-year contract on Saturday.

The Longhorns rallied for a 23-13 victory over Baylor in Floyd Casey Stadium, where Texas hadn’t won since 1982. The victory sends sixth-ranked Texas to its 19th Cotton Bowl for a meeting with second-ranked Miami.

“There’s no way they could beat us today,” McWilliams told his team after the game. “You did what you’ve done all year, come from behind.”

With Texas trailing 10-3 at halftime, McWilliams reminded his players that they had rallied to win five times this year.

“I told them they were a second-half team and that if any team could come back, we could,” McWilliams said. “It sure feels good to see a smile on everyone’s face.”

McWilliams was rewarded with a five-year contract by Texas President William Cunningham in the dressing room just before Cotton Bowl President John Stuart made everything official by inviting Texas to Dallas.

McWilliams was under heat to produce a bowl season for the Longhorns before the year began and he pulled it off.

“I appreciate the new contract, but I really wasn’t feeling any pressure from the administration before this year began,” he said. “I told the team to play for themselves, not me. But I’m happy about it, believe me.”

Butch Hadnot’s 19-yard run and three Michael Pollak field goals helped Texas erase a 10-point Baylor lead.

“We knew Texas had the capability to come back,” Baylor Coach Grant Teaff said. “We still had our chances. Texas will be a great representative of this conference. If they beat Miami, I predict they will be the national champion.”

Baylor had turned down a bid to the Independence Bowl to concentrate on Texas.

“It’s sad that we will end up second or third in the conference and not go to a bowl,” Teaff said.

Texas, which has a game remaining against Texas A&M;, improved to 9-1 overall and 7-0 in the SWC and avenged a 43-point loss to the Bears last season. Baylor finished 6-4-1 and 5-2-1.