Baylor Quarterback Nick Florence Has Big Shoes To Fill

Baylor Trying To Prove It Can Win Without RG3

WACO, Texas (AP) – Nick Florence was impressive filling in for eventual Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III last season.

The Baylor Bears now need Florence for more than a half.

With RG3 gone after a record-setting career at Baylor that included 10 wins and a bowl victory last season, Florence is set to take over as the starting quarterback.

“We’re not saying, ‘Nick, we need you to be Robert.’… We wouldn’t say that to anybody,” coach Art Briles said. “We’re going to let Nick be Nick, and Nick being Nick is good enough.”

In his only game last season, after halftime against Texas Tech with Griffin sidelined with an apparent concussion, Florence completed 9 of 11 passes for 151 yards and two TDs. He also ran for a touchdown while the Bears scored 31 points to turn a tight game into a 66-42 victory.

That cost Florence a redshirt year. So instead of this year and next as Briles originally planned, Florence has only this season to be the starter.

Yet the senior quarterback, also the primary starter in 2009 as a freshman when Griffin tore ligaments in his knee, has no regrets about burning a full season of eligibility for that one half of football.

“I had the funnest half of football you could have,” said Florence, who is in graduate school. “I have one year, all I can ask for is an opportunity to play, and I’m going to get that opportunity and I’m going to have fun with it, and take advantage of it.”