During the last two decades of the Southwest Conference, Houston was an annual stop for the Baylor football team.

The Bears played either Rice or the University of Houston there every season from 1975 until the final year of SWC football in 1995. But when the Big 12 began, Baylor’s trips to Space City ended.

Baylor will make its long awaited return when it faces the Owls at 7 tonight at Rice Stadium. Since Baylor recruits the Houston area heavily, this will be a special trip for many of the players on the squad.

Sophomore receiver Josh Gordon, a Houston Lamar graduate, is among the many Baylor players who are anxious to play in their hometown tonight against Rice.
Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald

“I’m ready to go back home,” said Baylor sophomore receiver Josh Gordon, who played at Houston Lamar High School. “My family and a lot of my friends from high school are going to be there. I’ve played games at Rice Stadium, and it’s a really big place.”

Art Briles played at the University of Houston during the 1970s and coached the Cougars for five seasons before taking the Baylor job in November 2007. While he might run into some old friends, he’s made it clear this is strictly a business trip for the Bears.

This will be the second straight week that the Bears will face an old SWC rival on the road, and Briles hopes for a much better outcome than last weekend’s 45-10 pounding by No. 4 TCU in Fort Worth.

“Anytime you go into somebody’s backyard, you’d better be better than what you need to be,” Briles said. “We weren’t that last Saturday. I take a lot of the blame on myself, honestly, because I underestimated a little bit the energy TCU would have playing us. That won’t happen again. We’ll go into Rice with whatever senses we are blessed with on full tilt.”

Hoping to reach a bowl for the first time in 16 years, this game is critical for the Bears. With a win over the Owls, the Bears would improve to 3-1 heading into Big 12 play against Kansas next weekend at Floyd Casey Stadium.

Though the Owls (1-2) are nowhere near the top of the national rankings like TCU, the Bears know they need to perform much better in every area to get back on track. Nobody is more eager to get back into the groove than Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin, who takes losses personally.

“I didn’t lose much at (Copperas) Cove — I’m allergic to losing,” Griffin said. “Some guys can laugh it off and giggle and come in here with a good attitude. But me, I’m just more focused. Being here for three years and putting all the work that I’ve put in and my teammates have put in, fighting back from knee surgery, I didn’t sign up to get beat like that.”

Since the SWC ended, the Bears and Owls have played only once. With Blake Szymanski passing for 412 yards and a school-record six touchdowns, the Bears rolled to a 42-17 win in 2007 at Floyd Casey Stadium.

Baylor’s freshmen on that squad are seniors now, and they’d like to make it two in a row. The Bears are looking for a much better defensive showing after allowing 558 total yards against TCU.

With Baylor delivering very little pressure, TCU quarterback Andy Dalton was almost perfect as he hit 21 of 23 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns. TCU’s offense played with machine-like precision as it scored touchdowns on its first five possessions on drives of 80, 73, 73, 90 and 25 yards.

“We came out of the locker room amped, and to have them start the way they did with the first drive took a lot out of us,” Baylor safety Byron Landor said. “It’s all execution, and we need to work on the little things. You don’t really notice it until you watch the film and see a missed tackle here or a wrong step there that leads to a big play and a big touchdown that influences the game.”

The Owls opened the season with a 34-17 loss to Texas at Reliant Stadium before pulling off a 32-31 win over North Texas in Denton. Playing their first game at Rice Stadium last week, the Owls dropped a 30-13 decision to Northwestern.

Nick Fanuzzi and Taylor Cook combined to hit 30 of 52 passes for 291 yards against Northwestern, but the Owls didn’t score a touchdown until Turner Petersen ran for a 10-yard score with 14 seconds remaining in the game.

Baylor’s secondary could be vulnerable with cornerbacks Antareis Bryan (pulled hamstring) and Clifton Odom (sprained ankle) expected to miss the game. The Bears will rely on veterans Chance Casey, Romie Blaylock and Mikail Baker to carry the load at cornerback, while 5-10, 165-pound true freshman Tyler Stephenson could also see his first action.

“When I was recruited, I always thought I’d get a chance to play,” Stephenson said. “I’ll probably be kind of nervous, but I’ll be ready. I’ve always been one of the smallest guys on the field, but I try to take advantage of my speed.”

jwerner@wacotrib.com

757-5716