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Griffin leads Baylor to 30-13 win over Rice

Sep 26, 2010 - 4:52 AM By KRISTIE RIEKEN AP Sports Writer

HOUSTON(AP) -- Robert Griffin passed for 268 yards and three touchdowns to lead Baylor to a 30-13 win over Rice on a rain-soaked Saturday night that included a weather delay of about an hour.

The Bears outgained Rice 456 to 296 to move past last week's 45-10 loss to No. 4 TCU.

Baylor (3-1) led 7-3 early in the second quarter when the game was suspended for about an hour because of lightning in the area. After the rain passed and the teams returned to the field, the Bears built a 20-3 lead by scoring on their last three possessions of the first half.

Griffin added a 46-yard touchdown pass to Josh Gordon in the third quarter that stretched the lead to 27-6. Gordon shrugged off his coverage and grabbed the TD pass, then took a late shot from Brian Stacey as the Owls were flagged for unnecessary roughness.

Nick Fanuzzi had 204 yards passing with two interceptions for Rice (1-3). The Owls' only touchdown came when Sam McGuffie scored on an 11-yard run that made it 27-13 with about six minutes left. It was the first rushing touchdown of the season for McGuffie, who joined the Owls after transferring from Michigan.

It was not raining when the teams left the field for the weather delay, but it soon began raining heavily and fans were ushered out of the bleachers and to the concourse by police officers and security guards.

The rain had all but stopped by the time the teams returned from the locker room for a short warmup before the game resumed.

There was an announced crowd of 23,395, but it was much more sparse after the delay.

The second half got off to a wild start with three turnovers in a four-play span. Baylor's Kendall Wright had a reception for 17 yards before fumbling at the end of the play. Mikail Baker intercepted a pass by Fanuzzi on the next play to give the Bears the ball back.

But Baylor coughed it up again two plays later when Griffin's pass was intercepted by Chris Jammer.

The Owls took advantage of that mistake, making it 20-6 early on a 43-yard field goal.

Griffin found Lanear Sampson on a 47-yard pass that got the Bears to the 3-yard-line just before halftime. Baylor settled for a 20-yard field goal after an incomplete pass to lead 20-3 at halftime.

Griffin didn't take long to get the Baylor offense going after the delay, finding Wright on a 40-yard touchdown pass about 7 1/2 minutes before halftime to push the lead to 14-3. That drive came after Chance Casey intercepted a pass by Fanuzzi.

Wright finished with seven receptions for 106 yards.

The Bears got the ball at the Rice 16 after a botched punt in the second quarter, but managed no yards in three plays. They settled for a 33-yard field goal that left the score at 17-3.

Jerod Monk put the Bears on top when he grabbed a 6-yard touchdown pass from Griffin to make it 7-3 with about 3 minutes left in the first quarter.

The Owls took an early 3-0 lead when Chris Boswell connected on a 42-yard field goal in the first quarter.

Baylor's Aaron Jones missed a field goal from 26 yards with about 10 minutes left in the game, but hit one from 37 that made it 30-13 with about 3 minutes left.

Rice's Alex Francis suffered an apparent left leg injury at the end of a 25-yard kickoff return in the second quarter and was taken off the field on a cart. There was no immediate update on his condition.