Rice-Baylor Preview Capsule

The Baylor Bears are ready to show forth that they deserve to be in the college football playoffs.

Coming off an open date, Baylor plays its final non-conference game Saturday against Rice (2-1).

Defensively, the Baylor Bears yield 166.5 yards in passing and 188 yards in rushing.

The Baylor (11-2) will host Rice (8-5) in a NCAA College Football battle at the McLane Stadium, Waco, TX on September 26, 3:00 PM. Over under has seen the Rice Owls go a 7-6 so far, while the Baylor Bears go 8-5. The Bears scored 28 unanswered points after halftime for a 56-21 season-opening win.

On the season, the Baylor Bears average 398.0 yards in passing and 356 yards in rushing. “You have to play the best that you can all the time, and for us, that is playing with that chip on our shoulder”, All-America tackle Spencer Drango said. That mark represents the longest current streak in the FBS.

ABOUT BAYLOR (2-0): Seth Russell has thrown for 718 yards and nine touchdowns in the first two games, but the rushing attack has been just as impressive. Owls quarterback Driphus Jackson has completed passes at a 63% clip and has rushed for 7.3 yards per attempt. Rice has allowed 347 yards a game, and held Texas to 277 yards two Saturdays ago. On the other hand, with 11 Wins and 2 losses, Baylor Bears gained 554.0 total yards on an average including 352.7 passing yards (with 38.0 passing attempts having completion percentage of 71.1) and 201.3 rushing yards per game. The Owls last beat a ranked team when they upset No. 21 BYU 27-14 in 1997.