Waco, TX (Sports Network) - The second-ranked Texas Longhorns enter the homestretch of the 2009 regular season by heading to Waco this Saturday to tangle with the Baylor Bears in Big 12 Conference action.

Mack Brown's Texas club is 9-0 and in the driver's seat with respect to the Big 12 South Division, checking in at 5-0 with Oklahoma State right behind at 4-1. The Longhorns are coming off a 35-3 pasting of UCF, marking the third time this season they have allowed fewer than 10 points in a game. Going a bit deeper, Texas has held seven of its nine opponents to 14 points or less, including each of the last six.

Win out, which includes the Big 12 title tilt, and the 'Horns will likely meet the SEC champ (either Florida or Alabama) in the BCS National Championship Game.

Baylor is a game below .500 on the year at 4-5, and the Bears have won just one of their five leagues games thus far. Coach Art Briles' team did manage to pick up its biggest win of the year last week, however, knocking off Missouri in Columbia, 40-32. The victory put the brakes on a four-game slide and leaves the Bears just two games shy of earning bowl eligibility. It was BU's first win over Missouri as Big 12 foes, and it also snapped the Bears' 11-game losing streak in conference road games.

This is the 99th meeting between these two Lone Star State institutions, with Texas leading the series, 72-22-4. The Longhorns won last year's clash, 45-21, and have won 11 in a row over the Bears. Baylor's last win in the series was a 23-21 decision in Waco on November 1, 1997.

Led by QB Colt McCoy, Texas is averaging 41 ppg on the strength of 431 total ypg. McCoy, who needs just one more win to match the most wins ever by a QB at Texas, has completed 72.9 percent of his passes for 2,447 yards with 17 TDs and nine INTs. Jordan Shipley is clearly McCoy's first choice when he looks down field, and the senior wideout has responded by hauling in a team-high 75 balls for 1,050 yards and six TDs. The UT run game accounts for 146 ypg, but no player has more than 275 yards (Vondrell McGee) to this point in the season. Cody Johnson has scored nine of the team's 20 rushing TDs. With the efficient McCoy at the helm, the Longhorns have been highly successful on third down, converting nearly half of their 134 tries.

Coach Brown knows he has a special tandem in McCoy and Shipley, and their unique relationship was on full display against UCF. "Colt and Jordan were as good a combination as anybody has ever seen in college football on Saturday. It was fun to watch them."

UCF scored the first points of last week's clash with Texas, but from there it was all Longhorns as they scored the next 35 to notch the team's ninth win of the season. Johnson scored a pair of rushing TDs, while McCoy threw two scoring strikes, including an 88-yarder to Shipley, who finished with 11 grabs for a school-record 273 yards. McCoy went 33-of-42 for 470 yards, coming up just four yards shy of setting a new single-game UT benchmark.

The Texas defense has been downright dominant this season, allowing a mere 12.4 ppg. Defending the run has been the unit's strength as opponents are averaging just 55.3 ypg (lowest in the nation) and have scored a scant two rushing TDs in nine games. The pass defense yields 175.4 ypg, and the 'Horns have come up with 16 INTs -- 26 turnovers in all -- and collectively, the team has logged 27 sacks. Roddrick Muckelroy leads the club with 63 tackles, while guys like Sergio Kindle (47 tackles, 13 TFLs, 25 QB hurries), Earl Thomas (43 tackles, six INTs), Sam Acho (33 tackles, six sacks) and Blake Gideon (32 tackles, four INTs) have put up huge numbers as well.

The Longhorns allowed UCF just 151 yards of total offense (115 rushing, 76 passing) and posted seven sacks. Kindle led the way with 11 stops, while Lamarr Houston was credited with two sacks as part of his eight total tackles. Texas did not force a turnover in the game, but held the Knights to a 2-of-12 showing on third-down conversion attempts.

Brown loves the way his defense is playing, but is quick to point out the risks involved in facing a dangerous Baylor team. "Baylor is playing at the highest level of any Baylor team we have seen since we've been here. After losing (QB) Robert Griffin early in the season, they have come back. They've played really well the last two weeks."

Baylor doesn't possess the kind of potent offense its counterpart in this bout has, but the Bears aren't completely inept when it comes to scoring points. Just ask the Missouri Tigers who allowed the BU offense to put up a 40-spot last week, in hostile territory no less. With the run game basically nonexistent (38 net yards), the Bears turned to the pass and lit up the Columbia sky with 427 yards and three TDs. Nick Florence wound up 32-of-43 and survived three sacks. He did not throw an INT. Kendall Wright (10 receptions, 149 yards, two TDs), David Gettis (eight receptions, 110 yards) and Lanear Sampson (five receptions, 85 yards, one TD) proved to be too much for the Tigers to deal with down field as Florence was able to hit them pretty much at will.

Florence has filled in admirably for injured starter Robert Griffin, completing 61.1 percent of his passes for 1,369 yards with five TDs against four INTs. Wright is the team leader in catches with 50, although he and Gettis have near equal yardage totals and the two have combined for nine receiving TDs. Baylor has had trouble running the ball all season long, with Jarred Salubi's 260 yards currently the team's top figure. Terrence Ganaway has scored four times on the ground, while Florence has three rushing scores.

Defensively, the Bears stuffed the run at every turn last week, permitting a paltry 10 net yards on 25 carries -- their lowest single-game rushing yield since holding San Jose State to minus-22 yards back in 1994. Mizzou did manage to pass for 468 yards and scored twice through the air, but the Tigers came up short on nine of their 16 third-down conversion attempts and had possession of the ball more than eight minutes less than did the Bears. Jordan Lake led the BU defense with eight tackles, while Robert Tracy had two of the team's four sacks.

Baylor's top defender is LB Joe Pawelek with his 79 total stops, and he has one of the team's nine INTs. Pawelek is the nation's active career leader in total tackles (392). With only 16 sacks and 14 total turnovers, there hasn't been a great deal of impact plays made by the BU defense this season.