By Jordan Smith | Sports Writer
The Bears are looking for redemption this weekend at McLane Stadium against their in-state rival Texas Christian University after suffering their first loss of the season last weekend. The 34-35 loss to the University of Texas on Saturday marked Baylor’s first loss since Dec. 5, which was also against the Longhorns, 17-23.
Head football coach Jim Grobe said the main focus for his team right now is to stay upbeat and focus on one game at a time.
“Well, what I think we try to do as much as anything is just stay positive. Going forward, we can only control day-to-day and week-to-week and try to get ready every week and try to avoid distractions and stay focused on winning,” Grobe said. “That’s kind of got to be the way we go. We’ve just got to really try the best we can to stay focused on football and win the next one. Just do the best you can, basically, is the message to our guys.”
Injuries hurt Baylor in the game against the Longorns. Freshman cornerback Grayland Arnold, although cleared to play, was carted off the field early in the first quarter. Senior quarterback Seth Russell suffered symptoms of a concussion after the game.
Russell said that his concussion scare he suffered against the Longhorns is nothing to be concerned about.
“Yeah, I feel great – definitely feel like I’m going to play,” Russell said. “I’m just going through some concussion protocols. That’s what they want me to do, so I’m going to do that. Woke up with a lot of energy this morning, and I’m ready to go against TCU.”
The Baylor and TCU rivalry has been going on since the 19th century. The first matchup was in 1899 in Waco when Baylor and TCU tied at zero. The overall matchup record between the two is at an even 52-52-7.
Although Baylor has won three of the last five matchups between the two schools, the Horned Frogs took the last meeting on Nov. 27 in double overtime 28-21.
The Horned Frogs are coming off a 27-24 double overtime loss to the Texas Tech Raiders Saturday and will be looking to get back on track against the Bears.
Senior offensive lineman Kyle Fuller said the Bears will have to shut down the Horned Frogs’ defense if they want to come out on top.
“They like to move around a lot. It’s a lot of different looks from a lot of different personnel. That’s always been consistent with TCU, so we’re going to have to take it play by play and make sure everybody knows what they need to do,” Fuller said. “We just have to make sure that we go in and do our job.”
Russell knows what the challenge ahead requires and what needs to be fixed heading into this weekend’s contest at home.
“It’s a rivalry game – a lot of guys are going to be flying around, playing harder than what they normally do,” Russell said. “For the most part, we’ll clean up all of those things, and we’ll be better this week.”
Baylor looks to get back to its winning ways as the Bears take on TCU at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at McLane Stadium.
