Getting that first Big 12 victory is the Baylor football team’s one and only goal right now.

Head coach Art Briles’ squad will get a chance to attain that win Saturday when the Bears (3-4, 0-3) host the Nebraska Cornhuskers (4-3, 1-2) at Floyd Casey Stadium.

This weekend’s Baylor-Nebraska game is slated to kickoff at 11:30 a.m. and will be televised nationally on VERSUS.

“Nebraska is a really good football team; their story and program everyone knows and they’re certainly no exception this year,” Briles said. “They’ve played really well at times, had some unfortunate things happen along the way in a couple games, but they’re a really strong, well-coached football team. There is no doubt it should be a great game Saturday.”

Although getting off to a quick start is a key this weekend, Briles stressed that slow starts can still result in victories.

“It’s important every game, without a doubt,” Briles said. “What you don’t want to do is feel like you have to do that to play well. You have to be careful saying we have to get off to a good start because if we don’t, then what? Every game we would like to start fast without a doubt. We would love to get out of the gates and make good plays on both sides of the ball and with special teams.”

Overall, Briles stressed the importance of game-plan execution as the basis for getting that first Big 12 win.

“It’s a lot easier to play ahead; the confidence and momentum factors there,” he said. “We feel like we have a good plan and we have to go execute it. We have to be smart about what we do, when we do it and how we do it.”

Baylor senior linebacker Joe Pawelek, recently named a finalist for the 2009 William V. Campbell Trophy (given to the nation’s top football scholar-athlete), believes the Bears can and will make the proper adjustments this weekend.

“[Getting off to a good start] is crucial; any time that you’re trying to get some continuity from the offensive side with different quarterbacks the last couple of weeks, from their standpoint just to be on the same page and feel a little rhythm out there,” Pawelek said. “That’s something that our offense does well. When they find their rhythm they’re able to push tempo and go out and make things happen. From a defensive standpoint, anytime you come out and stop them,, it forces them to start making changes and then we adjust from there. It’s big for both sides of the ball.”

For Baylor freshman quarterback Nick Florence, he and the rest of the offense are ready to hit the gridiron and break out of their conference slump.

“I think this week, as an offense, we need to just come out and find our identity,” Florence said. “I am excited about this week of practice to see what we are going to do. I think everyone on the offense is pretty excited to find a groove and finally fit in. We are going to do that this week and it is going to be a good game Saturday.”

Denton Ramsey may be reached via email at denton.ramsey@gmail.com


[PHOTO CREDIT: David Fuller/LSCSN.com]