Baylor running back Shock Linwood (32) pushes aside Kansas linebacker Marcquis Roberts (5) on a run during the first quarter on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015 at Memorial Stadium.

Coming off a strong performance in a 24-23 loss to TCU, the Kansas football team’s defense started its preparation for Baylor with a quickie quiz from defensive coordinator Clint Bowen.

“Raise your hands if you think Baylor is a pass team,” Bowen said.

And?

“It’s amazing how many of them raised their hands,” Bowen said. “In reality, they’re not.”

The No. 11 Bears (5-0) rank fifth in the nation with 290.2 rushing yards per game and 11th with 5.78 yards per carry, which puts them atop the Big 12 in both categories.

Baylor has all the modern trappings of a prototypical national powerhouse: McLane Stadium, a shiny, charming gem on the north bank of the Brazos River built in 2014; creative uniform uses of its green-and-gold color scheme; a spread offense brimming with speedy playmakers.

But in one very important sense, Baylor plays classic old-school football: It sets up big passing plays by hammering away with runs.

It’s easy to see why even players perceive Baylor as a pass-first program because highlights show touchdowns, the longer the play the more prominently it’s featured. And although Baylor ranks first in the Big 12 in rushing yards, it’s no better than tied for sixth with 12 scoring runs. Conversely, the Bears rank seventh in the Big 12 with 278.2 passing yards per game (one yard behind Kansas) and second with 15 touchdown receptions.

“They are a knock-you-off-the-ball, run-it-right-down-your-throat team until you stop it,” Bowen said. “They’ve been in some games, if you don’t stop the run, they ain’t gonna put it in the air.”

In one such game last Saturday in Ames, Baylor overcame a 14-point deficit in the final 11:40 to score a 45-42 victory against Iowa State.

The Cyclones took a 42-28 lead with 4:31 left in the third quarter. Time for Baylor to air it out? Wrong. The rest of the way, the Bears ran 41 plays from scrimmage and attempted just nine passes. They didn’t take their first lead until time expired as Chris Callahan’s 19-yard field goal whistled through the uprights.

Bowen said that Baylor runs the ball 62 percent of the time on third down with between 7 and 10 yards to go. In those situations, according to Bowen, every other Kansas opponent to date has thrown at least 95 percent of the time.

Amazing.

Shock Linwood averages 6.8 and Terence Williams 5.8 yards per carry.

“Shock is a — he is a problem for me,” Kansas head coach David Beaty said. “We’ve got to find a way to contain that guy, and those guys up front have a lot to say about that because they can knock you off the ball.”

Baylor’s five starting offensive linemen weigh an average of 313 pounds.

“They’re giant up front and then they use two tight ends who are basically extra O-linemen,” Bowen said. “It’s not the Baylor that people think. It’s not the four wides, wing it all over the field anymore. A lot of times, it’s a lot of big people on the field and they’re running you over.”

Under first-year coach Jim Grobe, Baylor has run the ball 60 percent of the time.

The Bears generally ran the ball the majority of the time under former coach Art Briles, especially last season. Counting backward from 2015 to Briles’ first season in Waco, 2008, the percentage of running plays: 65, 54, 58, 56, 58, 50, 45, 62.

Kansas defends the pass better than the run, one of the factors that makes this and the Oklahoma game the toughest on the schedule.

The Jayhawks limited TCU’s potent offense to a season-low 366 yards last Saturday, but this week’s challenge is a steeper, trickier one.

“It’s funny how everyone kind of groups the Big 12 offenses as being the same,” Bowen said. “In reality, they are each week drastically different. There is no similarity between TCU and Baylor.”

The matchup nightmare applies on the other side of the ball as well. The Jayhawks are a better passing team than running and Baylor defends the pass better than the run. The Bears rank first in the Big 12 in pass-defense efficiency and sixth in the nation.

Even if it gets out of hand early and stays that way, that won’t nullify the strides KU made in last week’s near miss. If Kansas makes a game of it, take it as a really good sign of things to come.