By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

After giving up 447 yards passing and 585 yards total in Saturday's 48-45 season-opening loss to Liberty, Baylor's defense has some help on the way.

During Monday's Big 12 Coaches' conference call, first-year Baylor head coach Matt Rhule said cornerback Jameson Houston returned to practice Monday morning after missing Saturday's game with a "head issue."

The Bears also get sophomore safety Rajah Preciado back, will have sophomore safety Henry Black "full-go now," and freshman corner Timarcus Davis has been cleared following offseason surgery, "so hopefully he can help us at maybe the nickel (back)."

"Obviously, we've had a ton of injuries in the secondary," Rhule said. "I know some of those kids are coming back, and I know they're coming back with a purpose. No one likes giving up 440 yards (passing). A lot of them have said, 'Hey, this is on me. I could do better at X, Y and Z.' I hope that we'll come out and play a much better game this week and find a way to get a win, but I was pleased with the reaction."

With Houston and Grayland Arnold both sidelined, the Bears had to go with a cornerback rotation of true freshman Harrison Hand, sophomore Jourdan Blake and converted receiver Blake Lynch for Saturday's game against Liberty.

Lynch had less than a week to get ready after moving from receiver when Arnold suffered a broken arm at the Bears' final scrimmage. He gave up some passes against the Flames, but he also broke up a pass in the end zone.

"We'll leave Blake Lynch there, because we think he has a chance to be really good, just continue to develop him," Rhule said. "But, certainly we have a lot more depth and a lot more experience this week than we had last week."

Junior receiver Chris Platt is another option at cornerback moving forward, but he was the team's leading receiver with three catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns and also returned two kickoffs.

"We haven't really had a chance to kind of get him worked in," Rhule said. "A lot of those injuries ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬" even Jameson happened at the last minute, happened on Wednesday. But, moving forward, (Platt) would be someone that we've talked about helping us if need be."

The injury news was not as fortunate at the running back position, with redshirt sophomore JaMycal Hasty expected to miss "a minimum of four weeks" with a knee strain. The only healthy back with any experience since Terence Williams will miss two more games with a shoulder injury, Hasty had 56 yards and one touchdown on 11 carries in the first half before getting hurt.

In his absence, freshman John Lovett handled the bulk of the load in the second half and finished with 89 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. Lovett and fellow frosh Trestan Ebner are now listed 1-2 on the depth chart, with true freshman Dru Dixon also available at running back.

"I thought Lovett got in the game and played well, so we really feel good about him," Rhule said. "Dru Dixon caught the kickoff return and had kind of a bowling ball return out to the 40, so he showed he could do it in live action. And Trestan Ebner, we felt all along that Lovett and him were running neck-and-neck. They're young, so we'll try to maybe simplify things for them, but I feel good about them. And hopefully, we can get Terence back here in a couple weeks and have some veteran experience to go along with the three young guns."

Baylor (0-1) will try to bounce back with a matchup against UTSA (0-0) at 7 p.m. Saturday at McLane Stadium. The Roadrunners had to postpone their scheduled season opener with the University of Houston last week because of Hurricane Harvey.

"They're multiple on offense and defense, so I would have loved to have seen them play," Rhule said. "I think they're one of the tougher teams that I've watched, and they're my kind of team. I like teams that are tough, that are hard-nosed, that are physical. They're going to come here and they're going to go right at you."

NOTE: Baylor was one of just a dozen FBS programs nationally to play double-digit true freshmen in the season opener, tying for the sixth-most with 11. The Bears also tied Arizona and Illinois for the second-most true freshman starters with three, one less than LSU. With Lovett penciled in as a starter, that number could grow to four or higher this week.