Baylor
Bears

Florence, a true freshman, helped the Bears (4-5, 1-4 Big 12) snap a four-game losing streak with a school-record 427 passing yards. Florence, who started the year third on the depth chart, threw for three touchdowns and ran for another.

"He's kind of been under the radar so I guess that's over now," coach Art Briles said.

"He's been really, really solid the last couple of weeks as far as knowing what's going on and being really good in practice. With the increased reps, he's gained confidence and his skills have gotten better."

Florence completed 32 of 43 passes in his fifth career start to earn Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors.

"That's really a great honor for not only him but for our team, first and foremost," said Briles, whose team plays undefeated Texas this week. "If you don't perform well on both sides of the ball and special teams that doesn't happen. We had some guys step up and make plays on the offensive side of the ball."

The Bears rallied from a 27-16 halftime deficit to snap a 23-game losing streak when trailing at intermission.

"We felt pretty good the last two to three weeks about his development, and the guys rallying around him," Briles said. "I think that's as critical a factor as anything else. Our guys are starting to play really well for each other."

SERIES HISTORY: Texas leads Baylor, 72-22 (last meeting, 2008, Texas 45-21).

SCOUTING THE OFFENSE: The Bears are counting on a big afternoon from not only QB Nick Florence, but his two primary targets: David Gettis and Kendall Wright. Wright set career highs with 10 receptions for 149 yards and two touchdowns in last week's win. Wright, who tied a career-high with eight grabs, has caught at least one pass in each game of his career, a 21-game streak. He combined with Wright to became the first two BU receivers to tally 100-plus receiving yards since Dominique Zeigler and Trent Shelton accomplished the feat in 2006 against Kansas.

SCOUTING THE DEFENSE: One glaring stat that must change for Baylor against a high-powered Texas offense that ranks third in the nation in scoring is takeaways. Baylor is tied for 69th nationally in turnover margin and has forced just three turnovers in its first five Big 12 games. Last season, Baylor averaged 2.3 takeaways per game. This season, that average has dipped to 1.6 per outing. In 2009, BU has won the turnover battle in just three games. Not so coincidentally, it won all three.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "It certainly puts us in position, and that's all you can ask for. At least now we're in position to where we can make that a reality. That certainly helped us from that standpoint." -- Coach Art Briles, on the prospects of the 4-5 Bears getting a sixth win to become bowl eligible.

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

LB Joe Pawelek -- Needs 17 tackles to crack the NCAA top-20 list for career tackles. He ranks 24th with 329 stops, most among active FBS players. Pawelek is one of 16 finalists for the Campbell Trophy, given to the nation's top scholar-athlete.

RB Jay Finley -- Enters the Texas game with 1,220 career rushing yards, the 23rd-best career total in Baylor history.

P Derek Epperson -- Ranks second nationally and leads the Big 12 with an average of 45.7 yards on 40 punts. His career punting average of 42.4 yards ranks ninth in the country among active FBS players.

ROSTER REPORT:

--CB Antareis Bryan expects to be ready for this week's game after breaking his foot in the second game against Connecticut.

--TE Justin Akers has at least one catch in 12 consecutive games.

--QB Blake Szymanski served as the backup to Nick Florence in last week's game after sitting out with a shoulder injury.