By Nathan Keil | Sports Writer
Baylor senior running back Shock Linwood has been suspended for Saturday’s showdown in Norman with the Oklahoma Sooners. Acting head coach Jim Grobe stated the reason for the suspension as “attitude issues” at his weekly press conference.
“My plan right now is to not have Shock for Oklahoma,” Grobe said. “He’s got some attitude issues, and it’s not anything major.”
Grobe also said that the suspension was not due to a violation of team rules.
“He’s just not been himself. He hasn’t been as focused as I think he needs to be, and he’s in a tough situation. He’s in a really good rotation with running backs right now,” Grobe said. “You have to be on top of his game. Right now, things are not good. I want to help him get his focus back.”
Linwood, despite becoming Baylor’s all-time leading rusher earlier this season, has seen his number of carries fluctuate throughout the season. As his touches have decreased, sophomore Terence Williams and freshman JaMychal Hasty have emerged as the prominent running backs in Grobe’s offense.
“Terence Williams is the guy and JaMychal Hasty. That’s what we went into Saturday with. We didn’t really do anything well in particular on Saturday, but felt those two guys deserved the opportunity,” Grobe said. “We feel that we’ve got three running backs that can play, but Shock has kind of been shaky, so I think right now its Williams and Hasty. Shock’s got some issues to work through, and we’ll see where that goes.”
Several reports, including one from ESPN Central Texas AM-1660, indicate that Linwood was seen pushing wide receivers coach Tate Wallis on the sidelines on Saturday.
Grobe, however, during his weekly Big 12 teleconference call, said the issue was not with his receivers coach, but with one of the graduate assistants.
“He got into it a little bit with one of our graduate assistants,” Grobe said. “He was upset, of course, about not playing well at the time, but it wasn’t anything I have issues with.”
Linwood finished with just 27 yards on six carries on Saturday and did not enter the game until the second half.
Baylor and Oklahoma are set to kickoff at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The Sooners defeated the bears last season, 44-34 in Waco.
