Russell throws 3 TD passes, No. 21 Baylor beats Rice 38-10

HOUSTON (AP) Seth Russell threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns and No. 21 Baylor shrugged off a slow start to beat Rice 38-10 on Friday night.

Russell was 22 of 38 to help the Bears win their 19th straight regular-season nonconference game and improve to 3-0 for the sixth straight season, a program first.

KD Cannon caught nine passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns.

Rice (0-3) led 3-0 after the first quarter before JaMychal Hasty scored on a 16-yard run, and Cannon caught a 10-yard pass from Russell to put the Bears up 14-3 midway through the second quarter.

The Owls closed to 14-10 with 3 minutes left before halftime, but that would be as close as they would get.

Darik Dillard ran for 124 yards on 14 carries for the Owls. Emmanuel Esukpa had Rice's lone touchdown.

The Owls fell to 0-3 for the second time in three seasons.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

BAYLOR: The Bears were able to gain yards, but struggled to put points on the board early. Russell had a pass intercepted, and Chris Callahan missed field goals from 47 and 37 yards. The defense played well, holding the Owls to 265 yards.

RICE: The Owls hung with Baylor and kept it a two-score game until 45 seconds left in the third quarter. Rice still struggled defensively as the Bears put up 638 yards. The Owls offense was able to run well, but could not get anything going passing, gaining just 31 passing yards.

BRILES MAKES AN APPEARANCE

Former Baylor head coach Art Briles was in the stands for the game. Fired at the end of May for Baylor's sexual assault scandal, Briles sat behind the Baylor bench about 20 rows up from the field. Briles' son, Kendal, is still the Bears' offensive coordinator.

UP NEXT

BAYLOR: The Bears start Big 12 play against Oklahoma State in Waco on Sept. 24.

RICE: The Owls will look for their first win of the season as they play their second Conference USA game against North Texas on Sept. 24.

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Online: AP College Football site: http://collegefootball.ap.org