The No. 5 Bears were in full control on Saturday as they defeated the Rice Owls 70-17 on Saturday at McLane Stadium. Junior quarterback Seth Russell threw five first half touchdowns to quickly put the game too far out of reach for the Owls.
The few times the Owls bested the Bears’ defense was on a short field. Rice’s two touchdowns on Saturday each resulted from drives that started within 25 yards of the touchdown.
Field position and penalties are what kept the Owls in the game early, but the Bears pulled away in the second quarter. Furthermore, untimely fumbles from the Owls crippled their chances against a relentless Bears attack.
The Bears’ defense shutout the Owls’ offense in the second quarter. This allowed Russell and the Bears’ offense to cruise into a comfortable lead that the Bears never let up from that point on.
Baylor entered halftime with a commanding 42-10 lead. The game was over well before the end of regulation. Both teams had second and third-string players on the field as early as the third quarter.
OFFENSE:
Junior receiver Corey Coleman turned another powerful performance on Saturday. Coleman caught six passes for 100 yards and three touchdowns. All three touchdowns came in the first half.
“Baylor is just an incredible offensive machine.” – Rice head coach David Bailiff
Russell also connected with senior receiver Jay Lee, sophomore receiver KD Cannon and junior receiver Lynx Hawthorne for one touchdown apiece. Russell threw more touchdowns (6) than incomplete passes (4), throwing 12-16 and 277 yards against Rice.
“Baylor is just an incredible offensive machine,” said Rice head coach David Bailiff.” If you game plan for one player, they’re just going to get you with another. They’re just great players. They can beat you anywhere on the field. Defensively, bad things are just going to happen to you.”
Overall, the Bears outgained the Owls 793-246.
DEFENSE:
The Bears’ defense terrorized Rice’s pocket throughout the game. Altogether, the Bears combined for five sacks on Saturday.
“That fumble came at an inopportune time.” – Rice QB Driphus Jackson
Junior safety Orion Stewart was responsible for a pivotal forced fumble on Rice’s quarterback, Driphus Jackson, which was recovered by the Bears in the second quarter. Stewart’s contribution extinguished Rice’s momentum in the second quarter.
“That fumble came at an inopportune time,” Jackson said. “It was certainly a drive killer, a momentum shifter and if we could’ve scored then we could have gone up on the end of that drive.”
Baylor limited Rice to just 94 yards rushing and 152 yards passing.
WHAT’S NEXT:
The Bears enter conference play against a hungry Texas Tech team that will have already played No. 3 TCU this weekend. That game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Oct. 3 (next Saturday) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
