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Texas-Baylor Preview

Nov 10, 2009 - 6:56 PM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

No. 3 Texas (9-0) at Baylor (4-5), 12:00 p.m. EDT

Texas star Colt McCoy has enjoyed plenty of success throwing the ball against Baylor, but not as much in his lone visit to Floyd Casey Stadium.

McCoy hopes to lead the second-ranked Longhorns to a 12th straight victory over the Bears on Saturday when the Big 12 rivals meet in Waco.

The Heisman Trophy runner-up from last season has posted his two highest touchdown pass totals against the Bears, throwing for 275 yards and six scores in a 63-31 win Oct. 14, 2006, and 300 yards and five touchdowns Nov. 8 of last year in a 45-21 victory.

Those games, however, were played in Austin. In his lone visit to Baylor, McCoy threw for 293 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in a 31-10 win Oct. 20, 2007.

"I've played against Baylor for three years going on my fourth year," said McCoy, who can tie former Georgia quarterback David Greene's NCAA record of 42 career victories. "It is tough to play up there. Sometimes the stadium is windy, and I think we really have to focus on ourselves this week, and focus on going back to work."

Texas (9-0, 5-0) is returning to conference play after a 35-3 victory over Central Florida last Saturday. That wasn't enough to help the Longhorns in the BCS rankings as they dropped a spot to No. 3 behind Alabama.

That caused coach Mack Brown to joke about the system.

"I've called the computers. They haven't called me back," Brown said. "I've invited them to our games. I don't think any of them have shown up."

Brown knows his team's road to the BCS title game is clear with top-ranked Florida and No. 3 Alabama headed for a meeting in the SEC title game. Texas has three unranked opponents left on its schedule before the Big 12 title game Dec. 5 in Arlington at Cowboys Stadium.

"We want to win the Big 12 South and the Big 12," Brown said. "Our dream would be to win a national championship. We've got to keep our eyes and our minds on our goals."

Staying focused could be a challenge this week given the recent history between Texas and Baylor (4-5, 1-4). The Longhorns have an average victory margin of 37.3 points in the last 11 meetings, posting four shutouts.

A shutout may be possible again with Texas' defense ranked No. 1 in the nation, allowing 230.8 yards per game. The Longhorns gave up 151 yards last weekend against Central Florida.

Injuries to Robert Griffin and Blake Szymanski have forced Baylor to turn to third-string quarterback Nick Florence, who was named Big 12 offensive player of the week after setting a school record with 427 passing yards and throwing three TD passes in a 40-32 win at Missouri last Saturday.

"He's not as mobile as Robert Griffin, but he still can run and I think he is doing an excellent job stepping up when Griffin went down just helping his team win," Texas defensive tackle Lamarr Houston said.

Florence was sacked seven times the week before in a 20-10 loss to Nebraska. He bounced back to rally the Bears from an 11-point halftime deficit against the Tigers by engineering three touchdown drives.

"He's been really solid the last couple of weeks as far as placement of the ball, understanding what's going on and has been real good in practice," coach Art Briles said. "With increased reps, I think his confidence and his anticipation skills have really gotten better. It was a good deal that happened, but surprised? I don't think so. I'm just glad we got the expected outcome."

On the other side of the ball, Baylor will have to try and slow down Jordan Shipley, who is averaging 116.7 yards receiving to rank fourth in the nation. Shipley caught 11 passes for a school-best 273 yards and a touchdown last weekend.

"He is the same whether he is catching the ball for 270 yards or didn't catch a ball the whole game," McCoy said. "That's the good thing about him. That is the kind of teammate he is and that's why everyone in the locker room has respect for him."

Texas has scored exactly 41 points in each of its three road games this year while allowing a total of 31.