Rice University’s marching band used its halftime performance in a Friday night football game against Baylor University to mock Baylor’s recent sexual assault scandal.
Advertisement
Bears quarterback Seth Russell found his rhythm at the start of the second quarter and went on to pass for 337 yards and three touchdowns.
After a 75-yard touchdown drive by Rice to cut it to 14-10, the Bears would once again answer with a 24-yard touchdown run by Terence Williams. The Bears only converted seven of 17 attempts on third down and the team still had eight penalties for 85 yards.
Briles, it appears, did not get to see the performance.
The Bears are coming off a 2016 season with a 45-14 overall record and 13-4 mark in Big 12 play, finishing second in the conference and falling in the NCAA Regional final to OR in Eugene.
The Owls have been mistake-prone in their first two games and have fumbled four times and quarterback Tyler Stehling has thrown three interceptions.
Briles was in attendance for most of the first half of the Bears’ 38-10 win, leaving the stadium near the end of the second quarter. The Bears only gained 62 yards in the first quarter and did not score a point. BU got to Rice’s 30 yard line where Chris Callahan’s field goal attempt went wide left.
Baylor is accused of violating Title IX – the federal law that prohibits gender discrimation – in the scandal that cost coach Art Briles his job and led to the resignation of president Ken Starr.
Darik Dillard ran for 124 yards on 14 carries for the Owls.
“I’m not trying to be a distraction, ” Briles told ESPN when he was leaving. Running back Shock Linwood, who broke Walter Abercrombie’s all-time record as Baylor’s leading rusher.
However, Rice’s 3-0 lead seemed to be a wake-up call for the Baylor offense, which had been sluggish to that point. Today’s game has a late start time and will air on a national TV channel as well as being available as a live stream online option. Sophomore QB Chase Litton now has an astonishing 367.23 passer rating (tops nationally) after completing 13-of-16 passes for 309 yards and six touchdowns.
The No. 19 Bears (2-0) are the first ranked opponent to venture onto the Rice campus since No. 21 BYU lost to Rice on October 11, 1997. Getting ready for a team like Army and then having to turn around and play a team like Baylor is going to be tough. “I think the consensus at Rice is that The MOB didn’t do a whole lot wrong”.
Advertisement
The 21st-ranked Baylor Bears continued to rumble through nonconference play as they shrugged off the Rice Owls on Friday night at Rice Stadium.
