After running through a sobering litany of injuries that includes linebacker Clay Johnston and receiver Pooh Stricklin out for the remainder of the season, Baylor coach Matt Rhule said sophomore Blake Lynch's ultimate position this week will "come down to where we have more guys."

Lynch has spent most of the season at cornerback, registering 18 tackles and six pass breakups. But, he also hauled in a 52-yard catch and run in Saturday's 38-7 loss to Texas.

Rhule said he would have moved Lynch back over to offense, but freshman cornerback Harrison Hand also got banged-up in the game and is listed as questionable for Saturday's 11 a.m. matchup between the Bears (0-8, 0-5) and Kansas Jayhawks (1-7, 0-5) in Lawrence, Kan.

"It's just going to come down to where we have more guys," Rhule said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. "If we have more guys on offense, we'll play Blake on defense. And if we have more guys on defense, we'll play Blake on offense. Seeing if Tony (Nicholson) and Trestan (Ebner) and (John) Lovett can help on offense, then we can play Blake on defense. But if not, we'll have to bring Blake over."

The receiver position, in particular, is depleted. Chris Platt and R.J. Sneed already suffered season-ending injuries, and now Stricklin "is out for (Saturday's) game and probably out for the rest of the season.

"We were too beat up (Monday) to practice, so we didn't practice just to give them an extra day to recoup," Rhule said. "So, we'll see if Tony can do anything, but right now I'd say Tony is questionable for the game as well."

Johnston, who leads the Bears in tackles (54), tackles for loss (nine) and QB hurries (three), is a big blow for a defense that had its moments in Saturday's loss. Texas scored 24 of its 38 points off turnovers and short-field opportunities.

"A lot of guys probably played their best game on Saturday," Rhule said. "One of the things for us, as you go through this, is that you have to keep finding guys you can win with. You see (freshman defensive end) James Lynch. He didn't play the first half of the year, but he's got 2 ½ sacks and five tackles for loss. He's in that game and playing really well. . . . Some of the guys on the d-line played their best football game. (Sophomore cornerback) Grayland Arnold played a really good football game; Jameson Houston; Taylor Young is playing his best football."

Sophomore Lenoy Jones Jr. from Midway High School will likely start in place of Johnston at middle linebacker after playing most of Saturday's game and finishing with four tackles and half a stop behind the line. Others expected to step up at linebacker are freshman Jalen Pitre and sophomore Jordan Williams.

"Clay has had those injuries, but he's been a really good player. He brings us something in terms of athleticism. And defensively, that's hard," Rhule said. "So, to have him gone is a blow, but it's an opportunity for other guys to step up and go play. We'll hope that they go do it at a high level."

Another key notable on the injury list for the Bears is sophomore quarterback Zach Smith, who has an AC sprain in his right shoulder. He has started 10 of the last 12 games over the last two seasons and thrown for 1,458 yards with eight touchdowns and six interceptions this year.

"We'll see if Zach can get healthy enough as we move forward, but we don't want to rush him and his shoulder," Rhule said. "He's been blessed with too great of an arm to put him in harm's way."

With grad transfer Anu Solomon "medically withdrawn from school" after missing the last six games in concussion protocol, that leaves true freshman Charlie Brewer to start Saturday's game against Kansas. Backing him up will be sophomore walk-ons Preston Heard and Zack Bennema, who have played in three and one game, respectively.

Rhule said the experience Brewer gained from the last three games should help him going into this week. He was 17-of-27 for 181 yards against Texas and engineered a fourth-quarter comeback against 23rd-ranked West Virginia two weeks ago.

"We'll try to do a good job for Charlie in terms of playing to his strengths," Rhule said. "He got a little beat up in the game and had a hard time running, so I think some of his running packages might be limited. We have confidence in him, and we know he can go out and move the team, so we'll try to build off that."

Because of the injury situation at quarterback, Rhule said Brewer has to be smart when it comes to knowing when to get down.

"You'd like to see Charlie get down, but at the end of the day that's what makes him a special player," he said. "You never want to take a player that has something special about him and not let him do that thing. Charlie is just a competitor. He's going to fight for the first down and he's going to fight for the end zone. That usually leads to other people fighting around you."

Baylor is facing a Kansas team that has lost seven in a row, but the Jayhawks bounced back from consecutive shutouts against Iowa State and TCU to roll up 482 yards in last week's 30-20 loss to in-state rival Kansas State.

"I like the way they play. They play with energy and fearlessness," Rhule said of Kansas, which has also lost six straight conference games since last year's 24-21 upset of Texas. "They've got guys that create matchup problems for you."

Asked about the chance to get his first win at Baylor, Rhule said, "I want to win for (the players). I want them to be rewarded for all the effort and progress and everything that they've done."

"But, you also have to understand what it takes to win. I know we want it to be easy. And when you're way more talented than a team, you can do some fun things and win the game. But, when you're here or slightly below the other team, you have to play really well. You can't have a pick-six and then a fumble and then two penalties and a missed assignment. We can't beat ourselves.

"If we can just keep pushing forward, eventually they'll win, and it will be a true victory. They will have earned that victory. They've done it right off the field and they've done it right on the field. That's what I want for them."