By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
The Tarleton State Texans will make the trip to Waco this weekend in hopes of taking down a Big 12 opponent. While Tarleton looks to be a conference favorite, preseason predictions have Baylor football settling near the bottom of the Big 12.
Texans (1-0) head coach Todd Whitten spoke with The Baylor Lariat this week to discuss the upcoming matchup with the Bears.
A lot has changed at Baylor since last season. How difficult is it to gameplan for a team with so many changes to the roster and coaching staff?
It is difficult. And so that’s really kind of college football and the first part of the season. I often say, I wish, like the NFL, we had some preseason games to where we could all see one another play. And I know there’s no way to do that.
So we have to kind of go back and and watch film from when, when Coach Aranda was a coordinator, and we have to watch Baylor film to study the personnel. And then you got to go back and and look at the other guys, maybe that are transferring in and watch their previous teams, so we can watch them play and study the personnel even more. [And] new coordinators, you got to go back and look at the Cal offense … whereas our stuff’s all the same. So we’re, we’re an easy opponent, I suppose. But it is what it is, but it is another degree of difficulty, I think, in getting ready – as if, you know, playing up a division wasn’t tough enough.
You’ve just finished the four-year transition period from Division II to FCS. What has that process been like, and how has it impacted the program?
Well, obviously the biggest difference currently, as we play on Saturday, Baylor has 85 scholarships and we have 63. So there’s a difference there, being FCS as opposed to FBS. But being past the transition phase of this thing is, really, is a nice thing. It’s kind of a cloud hanging over your head, so to speak, as you go through that. And it’s four years long, you’re not eligible for the playoffs. And so, some difficulties, some frustrations [are] obvious there, but we’re thankful to be through that, and we’re thankful to be through that, really, in pretty good fashion. We had four winning seasons, and so, you know, in y’all’s world, that would have meant you’ve been to bowl game four years in a row.
In the in the FCS, you kind of got to get to eight wins, and that’s kind of the lucky number to get a chance to play in the postseason, and not even then is that guaranteed. But we’re very thankful to be through that period, and now we are fully established and ready to go. I don’t know that that helps us with playing Big 12 folks, but it is nice to be through that process.
Starting quarterback Victor Gabalis missed most of last week’s game against McNeese State with a thumb injury. Will he be out again against Baylor?
Yeah, Victor is out this week.
How has that affected your gameplanning for Saturday?
Well, so Victor got hurt in the first half last week and did not play in the second half. And we, you know, we held on to win 26-23. We were ahead 26-7, I think, at halftime. So we didn’t score a point in the second half, missed a couple of field goals and didn’t play very well at all offensively. You know, Victor’s our starting quarterback for a reason. And so we gotta, we gotta play better at that quarterback position than we did in the second half. [Jaden] Pete and [Daniel] Greek, our two backups, they both practiced well this week. But that’s college football, really, at any position. And so, we got a next man up. We got to get those guys ready to go. We’ve got a veteran football team and in so many ways, we played well last week, particularly the first half, and played well enough to get a win, which is huge.
Winning’s hard, but, but you know the, at some point, at some time or another, you’re going to probably have to play with your backup quarterback. I’ve been doing this a long time and it just shows up once in a while. And so we’re, we’re kind of in that, in that predicament right now. But I’ve got confidence in both of our backups, and like I said, they’ve had a good week, and so, they don’t have any choice. They’ve got to go play well for us.
How important is it to have such an experienced offensive line and running back core supporting the backup quarterback?
Really important, I think, especially given the fact that that our quarterback’s injured. And so a veteran offensive line and a strong running game will take up some of the slack, that’s for sure. And so we are blessed. We’ve got a very good offensive line, a really, really good tight end, one of the best tailbacks in all of FCS in Kayvon Britten. We still gotta find a way to be explosive in the pass game though and make some big plays.
You know new Baylor offensive line coach Mason Miller very well from your time coaching together. What is it that makes him such a good coach, and do you think he’s the right guy to turn the tide for the Baylor offensive line?
I think so. I’m really high on Mason. So to start with, he’s a really good person. That’s a really good place to start. And he’s an exceptional football coach. He’s been with me twice, and I’m very, very proud of him and all of his successes, and so I have great confidence that coach Mason Miller will do very well. Y’all are very fortunate to have him.
Well, he’s been well trained. He’s a veteran. He’s a guy that’s coached for, I would say, many years now, at all different levels, and I think that’s one of the things. He’s been at the small college level. He played at Valdosta. He’s been at some really good jobs, some tough jobs. He understands young people, young people respond to him. He’s got a good football mind, and he and he understands the inner workings of having a good offense and moving the football. Even though he’s spent a lot of time as an air raid guy, he fully understands the value of a good run game. And so, he’s just really good.
Where are some areas you’re looking to see improvement this week?
I think being explosive. We didn’t have enough of that last week. We had a couple of big plays, but to be good on offense, you got to make big plays. I think you got to do a lot of things, but certainly be explosive is one of them. So we played our backup quarterback in the second half [and] we were not very productive, and so we’ve got to get him playing better, whether that’s Pete or Greek. And, I think, giving our offense a chance to make big plays.
A lot of eyes were on your team last week with the nationally televised broadcast. How did you see your team respond to that, and do you think the added pressure helped prepare the team to play at McLane Stadium?
Well, I know our players and our program and our community and our university, we were all excited about that. We have a good program, and we felt like we were deserving in that opportunity to get to play on national television. And so doesn’t happen that often at this level, and so you really got to probably make the playoffs at the end of the season to get on some national television games. And so we were blessed and very thankful for that. And so I can say unequivocally that our program, everyone involved, was fired up about that, and so I’m sure it helped us in our preparation.
Are there any players from Baylor or four position groups that stand out on tape and that you want your team to really focus on?
Yeah, probably all of them. I think they’ve got a really, really good looking group, and so just across the board, really. Not anyone that that I would be willing to point out, but I sincerely mean, I think they’ve got a good looking squad and a lot of talent, and I think they’re very well-coached.
