By Jerry Hill

Tribune-Herald assistant sports editor

Guy Morriss can finally connect the dots.

With a 521-yard offensive explosion in Saturday’s 42-17 rout of the Rice Owls, Baylor got to actually see the fruit of its labor.

“Hopefully this will help them buy into some of the things we’ve been trying to pound into their head about the way you work during the week,” Morriss said Sunday afternoon. “Maybe there’s a connection that’s starting to form that, ‘Hey, we just do what we’re asked to do at the speed we’re asked to do it, and good things are going to happen to us.’ ”

Quarterback Blake Szymanski was 26-of-49 for a school-record 412 yards and six touchdowns. But Morriss said the key to Szymanski’s performance was his supporting cast.

“The people around him are playing faster,” he said. “Protection was better, routes were cleaner. That’s why, in part, he had such a big night. Now, he was better as well. He went through his reads, his throws were on target and so forth. The whole deal was just a lot better.”

As Szymanski said Saturday night, “it all starts” with the offensive line. The revamped line had guard Dan Gay sliding over to left tackle, and fifth-year senior Chad Smith stepping in at Gay’s old spot at left guard.

“There are a lot of things that the o-line can build on,” Morriss said. “We’ve not arrived by any means. There’s some things that we’ve got to fix this week, but it was good to see those guys have some success. The protection was better, and we did run the ball better.”

Although it was the most yards Baylor has produced against a Division I opponent since piling up 624 on Iowa State in 1996, Morriss said “500 yards in this offense is nothing.”

“If you go back and really look at the handful of people that have run this offense, 500 yards is almost routine,” he said. “It’s fun to watch when the system is executed well and things happen the way they’re supposed to happen. It was a fun night.”

The message this week is simple. With the Bears (1-1) hosting Texas State (1-1), a lower-tier team coming off a 45-27 loss to Division II Abilene Christian, “We don’t need a Michigan/Appalachian State type deal here Saturday,” Morriss said.

“We don’t want to go through that,” he said, referring to Appalachian’s shocking 34-32 victory over then-No. 5 Michigan in the season opener. “And we’ll point that out to them, because I know them too well. We’ll swell up and start thinking we’ve arrived. We’re not going to let that happen.”

jhill@wacotrib.com

757-5715