Meagan Downing | Lariat Photographer
By Tyler Alley
Sports Editor
The 2011 Bears have produced a lot of firsts for Baylor and look to make a few more against Texas at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Floyd Casey Stadium.
No. 17 Baylor is looking for its first nine-win season since 1986, its first five-game win streak since the 1991 season, and its first season with six conference wins since 1986 when it was still in the Southwest Conference. Baylor also looks for its third perfect home record in FCS history.
“It’s big,” junior quarterback Robert Griffin III said. “You want to protect your house, and that’s what we’ve been doing, and we plan on doing that again this week. A lot of the seniors are talking; they want that tarp to come off. Baylor nation, fill up the stands so we can take it off. I haven’t seen it since I’ve been here. I know they haven’t.”
Griffin was not the only player looking for the fans to fill up the stands Saturday. Senior receiver Kendall Wright said he would like to see those extra seats filled up, as this is his and the other seniors’ final game at Floyd Casey.
“It’s our last game in Floyd Casey,” Wright said. “It’s really going to be emotional, but we just want to win. If we get the last win against Texas in Floyd Casey, that’ll be great. When we have the fans like that, getting better every week and staying loud and us getting better as a team, it just helps.”
No. 22 Texas comes into Waco after a last-minute 27-25 win over Texas A&M on Thanksgiving at College Station.
The Longhorn offense is not as potent as in years past, as they run a two-quarterback system with freshman David Ash and sophomore Case McCoy.
“It’s just like preparing for two running backs,” senior inside linebacker Elliot Coffey said. “You’ve got to see their styles. You’ve got to understand what they like to do most. We just have to watch film and prepare for those things.”
The Texas passing game ranks 96th in the nation.
The rushing game has proved to be much better, ranking 20th in the nation due to the success of freshman Malcolm Brown and the corps of running backs.
Texas’ true strength this year is its defense, which ranks first in yards allowed and points allowed.
“Oh they are good,” head coach Art Briles said. “They are really good. They have got good people. They don’t recruit, they choose. And they have chosen good people over the past two years. They have got good schemes, and they are playing with a lot of confidence. It’s a great matchup. It is a great matchup for college football.”
With the game being televised on ABC, Briles said the national stage will help Griffin’s Heisman candidacy, but he said Griffin had the team in mind.
“Robert will be the first to sit here and tell you that if he throws eight passes and completes two and we win the football game, he is going to be extremely happy.” Briles said. “That is the way Robert is. He is team first. Big we, little me is the way I like to put it. He is team first all of the way.”
Texas linebacker Keenan Robinson told the media he does not think Griffin will win the Heisman because he not faced the caliber of defense of Texas yet.
Griffin shrugged the comment off on media day, but he has the chance to prove Robinson wrong come Saturday.
