That 2012 team stunned everybody by crushing No. 2-ranked Kansas State, 52-24, at Floyd Casey Stadium to begin a four-game winning streak. They finished off the year with a dominating 49-26 win over UCLA in the Holiday Bowl to complete an 8-5 record and set the stage for the back-to-back Big 12 titles that came the following two years.

Rhule believes that speech by Florence inspired his team.

“As you’re sitting there talking to the players and they’re trying to figure it out and putting too much pressure on themselves, he gave them a message that it’s all about coming together as a team,” Rhule said. “When he said that, I thought our kids sat up a little bit in their chairs and took a little bit of pressure off them. He just gave reality to what I’m saying. And the cool thing was he gave reality to it in a Baylor way.”

After last week’s dismal 40-27 loss to Duke at McLane Stadium, the Bears played much more like a cohesive team in Saturday’s 26-7 win over Kansas. A week after trailing the Blue Devils 23-0 at halftime, the Bears went up by the same score in the first half against the Jayhawks.

The Baylor offense took its cue from the Baylor defense, and vice versa. Both units supported each other and looked like they were having a lot of fun doing it.