Robert Griffin and company made enough explosive plays to give Baylor great hope in its season opening win over Sam Houston State.

But the Bears had enough misfires and mistakes to give them plenty of homework heading into Saturday’s second home game against Buffalo.

After playing the only Football Championship Subdivision team on the schedule last weekend, Baylor coach Art Briles is looking for more consistency and better execution against the Bulls. Under first-year coach Jeff Quinn, Buffalo opened with a 31-0 win over Rhode Island on Thursday.

Baylor wide receiver Terrance Williams caught one of Robert Griffin's two touchdown passes against Sam Houston State.
Rod Aydelotte / Tribune-Herald

“We’ll have to step up our game to come out with a W,” said Briles at his Monday press conference. “We’ll have to execute and cut down on our penalties. We were close on a few things, but close doesn’t count. We left a lot on the table without a doubt.”

The Bears came out hot against the Bearkats as they raced to a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter. Griffin threw touchdown passes to Brad Taylor and Terrance Williams while also scrambling for a 30-yard touchdown.

But the connections didn’t come as easily as the game wore on. After Jay Finley busted loose for a 44-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter, the Bears didn’t score another touchdown the rest of the game in their 34-3 win.

With the Bearkats stacking defenders on the line of scrimmage to stop the run, the Bears passed often as Griffin hit 19 of 36 for 242 yards and two touchdowns. But his numbers would have looked much better if not for a pair of dropped touchdown passes and several more throws that barely missed the mark.

“They took away a lot of short throws, and we kind of had to go vertical,” Griffin said. “We had a lot of drive-killers with dropped balls and incomplete passes. But it wasn’t like I was throwing the ball to China. They were close. They were a little behind or a little in front.”

Bearkats take away Wright

Biletnikoff Award candidate Kendall Wright, who has made 119 career catches at Baylor, had a hard time getting untracked as he caught three passes for minus one yard.

“I’m not worried about Kendall — he’ll get his plays,” Griffin said. “I’m not going to press and focus on getting the ball to him all the time. If Coach Briles wants to throw 17 times to him, I’ll do it. But we will get the ball to him.”

Though the Bears ran for 200 yards on just 25 carries, Briles is seeking more consistency. Much of Baylor’s rushing yards came on Finley’s 44-yard touchdown burst and Griffin’s 30-yard scoring run.

“It’s really hard to say this, but I didn’t think we were very productive,” Briles said. “The stats looked good. But the way we got it wasn’t the way I want to do it. I like to be positive on every play.”

Briles is also looking to cut down on penalties after the Bears were flagged 10 times for 103 yards against the Bearkats.

“Penalties are always a concern especially early in the season,” Briles said. “We had some special teams penalties that hurt us. Penalties are going to happen, but you don’t need them to be self inflicted.”

Scouting Buffalo

After limiting the Bearkats to 195 yards total offense, Baylor’s defense will face a much tougher task against Buffalo, which plays in the Mid-American Conference.

Following a three-year stint as the University of Cincinnati’s offensive coordinator, Quinn became Buffalo’s head coach this season after Turner Gill left to coach Kansas. Quinn brought his wide-open offensive attack to Buffalo, which racked up 423 yards against Rhode Island.

Buffalo sophomore quarterback Jerry Davis hit 21 of 35 passes for 302 yards and touchdowns to four different receivers.

“They’ll be different from the old Buffalo,” Briles said. “They ran more of a two-back offense under Coach Gill. Now, they mirror what the Cincinnati teams did under (former coach) Brian Kelly.”

BEAR FACTS: Baylor played true freshman safeties Ahmad Dixon and Prince Kent and receiver Tevin Reese against Sam Houston State . . . Saturday’s game will be Baylor’s second against Buffalo. The Bears pulled out a 34-21 win at Buffalo in 2007 . . . Kickoff is set for 6:10 p.m. and will be televised on Fox College Sports.

jwerner@wacotrib.com

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