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All week coaches have emphasized the importance of leaving last week’s game in the past, and cautioned against letting one loss sink the rest of the season. "Baylor is improving, so we have a lot of work to do and we can't let one loss beat us twice", Mack Brown said this week.
After all, the Horns are still in the thick of the Big 12 and national title race after having fallen only three places in this week’s BCS rankings. And if history has taught us anything, it’s that the landscape of college football can (and probably will) completely reinvent itself over the season’s final weeks.
In the meantime, Texas will get its first look at a much improved Baylor team that, for the first time in years, appears on the rise in the Big 12.
At the center of the Bears’ re-emergence has been freshman quarterback Robert Griffin, whose mobility has revitalized the Baylor offense. And largely to the credit of the offensive system implemented by new head coach Art Briles, Griffin has already set numerous school- and national freshman passing records, most notably tossing his first 210 collegiate passes without an interception.
Benefiting most from Griffin’s management of the offense is freshman wideout Kendall Wright, who leads the team with 40 receptions. The freshmen duo is turning heads across college football, and isn’t going unnoticed here in Austin, as Brown gave the pair some high praise earlier this week.
“Robert Griffin is doing for Baylor what Vince [Young] did for us as a freshman. It's amazing what he does”, he said. “They have improved with their receivers. [David] Gettis was a great receiver last year, but Kendall Wright is a guy that can score every time that he touches it.”
Even given their improvement, Baylor is still a welcome matchup for the Horns, who are reeling from injuries after their grueling four-week stretch against top-11 opponents. The Horns saw defensive leaders Roy Miller and Brian Orakpo, as well as second-leading receiver Quan Cosby, go down with injuries last week in Lubbock.
But despite his own injury and disappointment stemming from his team’s first loss, Miller spoke positively to the character of the team this week when asked about finishing the season strongly.
"Losing right now after we've done so much, it hurts," he said. "But we're going to fight. The good thing is, guys don't quit."
NOTES:
- The game will be broadcast on FSN. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m.
- Colt McCoy, Brian Orakpo and Mack Brown were each named semifinalists for the three major awards presented by the Maxwell Club after each season: McCoy for the Maxwell, presented to the country’s top offensive player; Orakpo for the Bednarik, presented to the nation’s best defender; and Brown for the Munger, presented to the nation’s top coach.
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