WACO, Texas — Riley Skinner goes through stretches where he looks as if he just can't miss.

A pass tucked under a cornerback, another dropped over a linebacker, followed by a mid-range pass down the middle. All of it keeps No. 23 Wake Forest on the move.

Skinner was his uncannily accurate self again last night, tossing three touchdown passes in 41-13 season-opening win over Baylor as the Demon Deacons played up to their first preseason ranking in school history.

"We were efficient," Skinner said.

As usual.

Skinner's 72 percent completion rate led the nation last season and he coolly shredded the Bears, going 27 of 36 for 220 yards with a pair of touchdown passes to Chip Brinkman and another to Ben Wooster. He also earned his 19th career victory, a school record for a quarterback.

"The history here, that's not too impressive of a record," Skinner said. "Hopefully we can add on to that a little bit more."

Baylor, trying to shake off 12 years of losing, hired coach Art Briles away from Houston to replace Guy Morriss. But Briles became just another victim of dubious Bears history, becoming the sixth of the past seven Baylor coaches to lose his first game.

Briles had built a struggling Houston program into a Conference USA champion. His Baylor debut seemed to generate more of a wait-and-see attitude than much of a buzz.

Only about 30,000 fans came to 50,000-seat Floyd Casey Stadium to watch and many started leaving when Wake Forest took a 34-6 lead late in the third quarter.

"Certainly not the way we drew it up. The thing that's really painful for me and the staff (is) you want to give people a reason to believe," Briles said. "I feel like we let a lot of people down."

The solid win solidifies the early-season expectations for Wake Forest, which has clawed into the top ranks of the Atlantic Coast Conference under coach Jim Grobe.

The Demon Deacons forced five turnovers, turning three into touchdowns, and held Baylor to 250 total yards. Cornerback Alphonso Smith got his 15th career interception.

"I was proud of them. It would have been easy to come here and not be ready to play," Grobe said. "I don't know if I've ever been this nervous about an opening game. We've always played well as the underdog but I was really concerned about having that Top 25 ranking coming in here."

EAST

MIAMI 52, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 7

Graig Cooper had a 66-yard punt return for a touchdown and rushed for another score, quarterback Jacory Harris accounted for two TDs and the Hurricanes moved into their new home — Dolphins Stadium — with a season-opening win over the Buccaneers.

BUFFALO 42, TEXAS-EL PASO 17

Drew Willy completed 10 of 16 passes for 221 yards and four touchdowns, including bombs of 68 and 58 yards to Naaman Roosevelt, as the host Bulls rolled up 484 yards in cruising past the Miners.

CONNECTICUT 35, HOFSTRA 3

Donald Brown ran for 146 yards and four first-half touchdowns as the host Huskies raced to a 28-0 halftime lead in rolling past the Pride for their eighth straight home victory over two seasons.

WESTERN CAROLINA 35, SHORTER 0

Andy Horn completed 22 of 33 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns as the host Catamounts outgain the Hawks, 477-142, in the season opener for both teams.

SOUTH

SOUTH CAROLINA 34, NORTH CAROLINA STATE 0

Mike Davis and Taylor Rank ran for touchdowns, and Dion LeCorn and Jared Cook caught TD passes from backup Chris Smelley as the host Gamecocks overcame four interceptions by first-time starter Tommy Beecher to give coach Steve Spurrier his 16th-straight opening game victory.

GEORGIA TECH 41, JACKSONVILLE STATE 14

Jonathan Dwyer and quarterback Josh Nesbitt each ran for two touchdowns as the host Yellow Jackets ran for 349 yards and had 484 total yards under first-year coach Paul Johnson — a former Hawai'i assistant and Navy head coach — in rolling to a season-opening victory over the Tigers.

TROY 31, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 17

DuJuan Harris ran for 148 yards and scored three touchdowns as the visiting Trojans capitalized on two Blue Raider turnovers to build a 17-3 advantage in the first half to win their season, and Sun Belt Conference opener.

MIDWEST

VANDERBILT 34, MIAMI (OHIO) 13

Quarterback Chris Nickson rushed for a career-high 166 yards and two touchdowns and passed for another TD to lead the visiting Commodores over the Redhawks to win their season opener after losing the final four games of last season.

IOWA STATE 44, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 17

Austen Arnaud threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score in his first career start, freshmen Sedrick Johnson and Darius Darks each caught touchdown passes and the host Cyclones returned five interceptions for a school-record 202 yards in a rout of the Jackrabbits.

BALL STATE 48, NORTHEASTERN 14

Nate Davis passed for 280 yards and three touchdowns, MiQuale Lewis had 11 carries for 95 yards and one touchdown, and the host Huskies had 487 yards total offense in routing the Cardinals.

EASTERN MICHIGAN 52, INDIANA STATE 0

Terrance Blevins ran for a career-high 176 yards and scored two touchdowns, and the host Eagles amassed 637 yards of total offense to hand the Sycamores their 15th straight loss since 2006.

CENTRAL MICHIGAN 31, EASTERN ILLINOIS 12

Dan LeFevour threw for 213 yards and three touchdowns, and Ontario Sneed scored on a 23-yard run for a 10-3 lead in the second quarter as the host Chippewas never looked back in beating the Panthers.

SOUTHWEST

CENTRAL ARKANSAS 38, HENDERSON STATE 14

Nathan Brown threw for 367 yards — including three passes for scores — and the host Bears rolled to a 28-7 halftime lead and were never threatened by the the Division II Reddies in the season opener for both teams.