The silver lining in the rash of injuries that have thinned out Baylor's receiving corps is the way that different players continue to step up when their number is called.

Sophomore Denzel Mims became the Bears' go-to guy when Chris Platt suffered a season-ending ACL injury in the conference opener and went over the 1,000-yard mark in last Saturday's 38-24 loss to Texas Tech, when he hauled in 12 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown.

Even with a string of injuries that includes losing freshmen R.J. Sneed and Gavin Holmes for the rest of the year, the Bears have had eight different players record double-digit receptions this season, led by Mims with 55 catches for 1,001 yards and eight TDs.

"Coach Rhule pushes me each and every day to be the best I can be," Mims said. "To be the first receiver to get 1,000 yards for him (at Baylor) means a lot, because he pushed me to get 1,000 yards. I'm glad he believed in me."

Holmes was the latest casualty, suffering a torn ACL in the first quarter of Saturday's game. Since Sneed went down with a leg injury against West Virginia, Holmes had blossomed over the last few weeks, catching four passes for 66 yards and scoring two touchdowns in a road win at Kansas and then adding three receptions for 16 yards and another TD before getting hurt against Tech.

"Tough blow for him, but he's a tough, tough man," head coach Matt Rhule said.

Mims said he got angry when he saw Holmes go down.

"We hate to see one of our brothers go down, because we're so close as a group. We act like we're blood brothers," Mims said. "When he got hurt, it was on my head. After the game, I told him it's going to be all right, the comeback is going to be serious."

The encouraging thing has been how different receivers have stepped up throughout the year. Mims took over the go-to role when Platt went down in the Big 12 opener against Oklahoma; Blake Lynch has doubled at cornerback and receiver; and sophomore Pooh Stricklin returned from a foot injury to catch eight passes for 99 yards and a TD in the Tech game.

"It was pretty bad, they told me not to play for the rest of the season," Stricklin said of the mid-foot sprain. "But, I was just like, 'I'm going to fight through it for my teammates.' . . . It was one of those things where I walked into the training room and looked at the trainer and was like, 'Hey, I am playing this week.' And he made it happen."

Rhule said Stricklin, the Bears' third-leading receiver with 31 catches for 398 yards, came to him the day of the game to say he was available if needed.

"We'll see if we have Pooh or not (for Saturday's 1:30 p.m. game against Iowa State)," he said. "That's kind of one of those things where he says to me the day of the game, 'I can go' or 'I can't go.' But, to not have practiced all week and go out there on emergency duty and play the way he did, that's a credit to him."

Because of all the injuries at receiver, sophomore running back JaMycal Hasty had worked primarily at receiver last week, taking "probably three snaps" during the week at tailback, Rhule said.

But, when junior starter Terence Williams suffered a shoulder injury early in the Tech game, Hasty played predominantly at running back and finished with 143 all-purpose yards. He rushed for a season-high 73 yards on 13 carries, caught nine passes for 51 yards and had a 19-yard kickoff return.

"All of a sudden, he's in the game, running the football, picking up blitzes," Rhule said. "It's just kind of where we are right now. It's kind of all-hands-on-deck. . . (Hasty) ran hard and ran with a burst and had good vision and made people miss. Hopefully, we can build on that, because JaMycal is tough and he's explosive."

Sophomore Tony Nicholson also played through an injury, handling punt return duties and catching three passes for 17 yards. But, Tech put the game away in the fourth quarter when Douglas Coleman stripped the ball from Nicholson and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown to give the Red Raiders a three-score lead late.

"I put my arm around him and said, 'Let's keep playing, babe,''' Rhule said. "So, Tony's going to remember that. I'm proud of Tony Nicholson, now. He probably shouldn't have played. Doctors cleared him, but a lot of guys wouldn't play. He went out there and played the whole game. He fought . . . he competed."

With Holmes out, and Stricklin possibly limited, freshman quarterback Charlie Brewer said, "Another group of guys this week are going to have to step up, guys like Jared (Atkinson). And I trust them 100 percent."

A sophomore receiver who has made just two catches for 24 yards, Atkinson could get the start this week against Iowa State. He also completed a 20-yard pass to Brewer in the road win at Kansas.

"We have a lot of confidence in Jared," Rhule said. "Behind the scenes, Jared's done this (motioning up) over the last two or three weeks."

Baylor (1-9, 1-6) hosts Iowa State (6-4, 4-3) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in its final game of the season at McLane Stadium.