Well, this didn’t take long.

WVU promised better football on the schedule and wooed everyone with tales of explosive offenses, top-ranked teams and premier players. Right on cue, here come the Baylor Bears, now ranked No. 25 with a 3-0 record and one of the nation’s more prolific offenses.

Front and under center is the star quarterback, Nick Florence, who leads the country in total offense. The Bears were grooming Florence to be the guy this season. The time has arrived, though with a most unusual twist.

This isn’t the first time – or even the second – Florence has had to replace Griffin, though. Griffin tore his right ACL in 2009 and Florence started the final seven games. Last year, with Griffin established, Florence was scheduled to redshirt and regain the starting position as a junior this season.

That plan went awry in the 11th game of the season. Griffin slid late in the first half, but was hit up high and suffered a concussion. The Bears were up just 31-28 at the half and decided to play the unselfish Florence.

“It was unexpected in the sense Rob got hurt and no one expected that, but before the year started we talked about redshirting and said if worst comes to worst and something happens, then I’ll probably go in,” Florence said. “We were trying to get through the year and we got through most of the year, but then it happened. But that was a big game for us. We needed to win that game to get to 10 wins.”

Florence played admirably in relief, completing 9 of 12 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns as the Bears rolled and won 66-42. It gave Baylor an 8-3 record and its first eight-win season since 1991. Before the season, Baylor’s players talked about a 10-win season and the win against the Red Raiders kept everything on track as the team aimed for a bid in the Cotton or Alamo Bowl.