By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
Starting at the top with head coach Art Briles, the fourth-ranked Baylor Bears got back to doing what they do best.
Seth Russell threw for 277 yards and a record-tying six touchdowns, the ground game churned out 427 yards and the defense played more like the dominant unit it's expected to be as the Bears routed the Rice Owls, 70-17, Saturday afternoon at McLane Stadium.
"I would call this pretty close to a complete win," said Briles, whose team improved to 3-0 and extended its national-best home-field winning streak to 18. "I think the defense was borderline dominant at time. . . . Our guys up front really made a lot of plays and kept a lot of pressure on their quarterback."
The offense turned it over four times in a 66-31 win over Lamar, and the defense had slow starts in the first two games this season. But this one had a different look from the start.
"Everybody at practice had that look on their face," said sophomore linebacker Taylor Young, who came back from a shoulder injury to record one of the team's five sacks. "They were hungry and they showed it every day. We wanted to prove people wrong and show we are a dominant defense."
Rice (2-2) did score on two of its first three possessions - the second one following a 74-yard kickoff return by Austin Walter - but the Owls netted just 132 yards over the final three quarters and their only other score came off a Baylor turnover.
"(Defensive coordinator Phil) Bennett is a genius," said sophomore nickel back Travon Blanchard. "He does a really good job making halftime adjustments and making adjustments during the game. He makes sure he puts us in great position to be successful. Coach Bennett told us to calm down and play the game we know."
After turning it over four times in his last game, including three picks, Russell was near-perfect. He was 12-of-16 for 277 yards and six touchdowns and no interceptions for a mind-boggling passing efficiency rating of 344.18.
"The offensive line did an amazing job. I could have sat back there all day," said Russell, who was not sacked once. "And when you give the quarterback that kind of time, an average guy can be phenomenal. I give a lot of credit to the receivers, because they're the ones making the plays. I just sit back there and look pretty."
In easily the best half of football for the year, the Bears rolled up 444 yards offense in the first half and took a commanding 42-10 lead into the break.
The Owls actually took the early lead, driving it 60 yards in nine plays for a 37-yard field goal by Hayden Tobola. But after giving up 53 yards on the first three plays, the defense stiffened and held Rice to just three points on the opening series of the game.
It took Baylor just two minutes to take the lead for good. Showing a nice run-pass balance, the Bears picked up 31 yards rushing before Russell hit blazing fast receiver KD Cannon for a 26-yard TD strike. Russell appeared to overthrow him, but Cannon hit another gear and hauled it in hear the back of the end zone.
"If you get it out early enough, put enough air on it, he's going to hit a different gear," Russell said. "He's going to go get the ball."
Russell wasted on time on the next series, taking just two plays and 20 seconds to go 74 yards. Jay Lee bullied his way for 17 yards on a sideline route and then beat the safety with an inside slant and went the distance for a 57-yard touchdown that extended the lead to 14-3.
Scoring in Baylor-type warp speed, the Owls closed the gap to 14-10 just 21 seconds later. After Walter's big kickoff return, quarterback Driphu Jackson connected with Dennis Parks for a 24-yard TD.
After Baylor's only punt of the day, the Owls had a chance to regain the lead. But Blanchard forced and recovered a fumble by Jackson near midfield. Four plays later, Russell and Corey Coleman hooked up for the first of their three TD connections, this one from 16 yards out.
Coleman, who came in as the nation's leading receiver, posted his third straight 100-yard day with six catches for 100 yards and three scores.
"He's something. I feel like he's the best receiver in the nation," Russell said of Coleman. "He's somebody that fights for everything he gets. He never takes anything easy. If he catches the ball, it's a touchdown."
Maybe not every time, but seven of his last 12 receptions have gone for touchdowns.
After an 11-yard TD run by Shock Linwood, who finished with 158 yards on 16 totes, Coleman finished off the first-half scoring with TD catches of 32 and 35 yards for a 42-10 lead. On the last one, he adjusted and went up and snatched it out of the air on a ball that was underthrown.
"My job is to make (Russell) look good, and his job is to make me look good," Coleman said. "Every time he throws the ball up in the air where I can put my hands on it and go get it, it's my job to come down with it. Sometimes, you're going to have catches like that, and you just have to keep your focus on the ball."
Rice peeked back in for at least a moment, converting a fumbled end-around by Cannon. Darik Dillard capped off the short 24-yard drive with a five-yard run that made it 42-17 early in the third quarter.
But the rest of the game was all Bears. Johnny Jefferson got in the books with a nine-yard TD run, while Russell capped off his night with a 22-yard strike to Lynx Hawthorne, who made a nifty over-the-shoulder catch.
The reserves tacked on a couple late scores, with redshirt freshman receiver Ismhael Zamora catching a short pass from freshman QB Jarrett Stidham and reaching out to barely touch the pylon for an eight-yard score. Redshirt freshman had his second straight 100-yard day, picking up 111 yards on 19 attempts, and finished things off with a seven-yard TD run with just 2:24 left in the game.
After finishing off a perfect nonconference slate, the Bears will open Big 12 play with next week's Texas Farm Bureau Shootout against Texas Tech (3-1, 0-1) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Red Raiders lost a heartbreaking shootout with third-ranked TCU, 55-52.
"We understand the competition is going to get higher, the stakes are higher and the emotions are going to run higher," Briles said. "Instead of being the hunted so much, it kind of equals out when you get into conference play, because we're all playing for those glass trophies that I've got sitting in my office. We're all playing for the same thing."
