Email This StoryFootball welcomes challenge of spoiler role
Nov. 13, 2009
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Sarah Groman | Staff PhotographerKendall Wright (No. 1) evades Pierre Allen Oct. 31 against the University of Nebraska. Wright leads the Bears with 597 receiving yards and four touchdowns in 2009. |
By Kevin Tamer
Sports Writer
The Baylor football team will look to knock off the No. 2- ranked Texas Longhorns from their national title run with a win at 11 a.m. Saturday at Floyd Casey Stadium.
Under 12th-year head coach Mack Brown, the Longhorns enter Waco with a 9-0 overall record, as they have rolled through their opponents with ease this season, outscoring them 369-112.
Texas' explosive offense is led by Heisman hopeful Colt McCoy, who has thrown for 2,447 yards with 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions this season.
McCoy is coming off a career-high game last week against UCF as he threw for 470 yards with two touchdowns, coming up three yards shy of breaking Major Applewhite's school record of 473 yards.
Baylor head coach Art Briles respects the talent of McCoy and has great respect for him.
"He's a good player and a guy that can hurt you with his feet or his arm," Briles said. "He's such an accurate passer. He gets the ball out of his hands fast and makes such good decisions that he can make it happen that way."
Fifth-year wide receiver Jordan Shipley has proved to be McCoy's favorite target, as the two have connected 75 times for 1,050 yards and six touchdowns this season.
Shipley, who is averaging 116.7 yards receiving, ranks fourth in the nation and broke a school record last week as he had 11 catches for 273 yards with an 88-yard touchdown reception. Despite his impressive statistics, safety Jordan Lake believes the Bears' defense has the talent to contain Shipley.
"He does a lot of things based off of how you play your coverage and how you play him," Lake said. "He runs a lot of option-type of routes that are hard to game plan for, but at the same time if your whole defense is playing on the same page you have a good chance of containing him."
The Longhorns will look to short-yardage specialist Cody Johnson to take the carries at tailback, as he has rushed for 207 yards and nine touchdowns this season.
Additionally, the Longhorns have multiple threats at running back with Vondrell McGee, who leads the team with 275 rushing yards, and Tre Newton, who has 224 yards and three touchdowns this season.
After throwing for a school-record 427 yards and three touchdowns in last week's win over Missouri, Garland sophomore Nick Florence and the Bears' offense will face a daunting challenge when it takes on the Longhorns' defense.
Texas leads the nation in total defense with 230.8 total yards per game, and is tied for second in the nation with 26 forced turnovers.
Roddrick Muckelroy leads the team with 63 tackles, while sophomore defensive back Earl Thomas is third in the nation with six interceptions.
Florence welcomes the challenge Texas defense brings and believes the Bears will be able to put points on the board.
"Their defense has a lot of speed and they play with a lot of confidence," Florence said. "We just need to execute one play at a time and not get overwhelmed with what they are doing. But again, they have weaknesses and that's what we were going to attack. We should be able to move the ball and score on them."
History proves to be on Texas' side, as it has won the past 11 meetings with Baylor with an average score of 48-11. In their last meeting, McCoy threw five touchdown passes as Texas broke away from a 14-14 second quarter tie to beat the Bears 45-21.
This game will be the last home game of the season for the Bears and will mark the last game at Floyd Casey Stadium for seniors as the senior class will get to partake in running on the field one more time.
It is likely Jordan Lake speaks for his senior teammates and the rest of his senior class when he said, "I'd love to go out with a win to end Floyd Casey. Against the No. 2 team in the nation would be obviously something you'll remember for the rest of your life."
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