Baylor football is off to a historic 8-0 start and it doesn’t look like Baylor is ready to slow down anytime soon.
Despite the uncertainty around the Big 12, Baylor Head Coach Art Briles’ position at Baylor is cemented with a 10-year contract extension, which was approved by the regents Wednesday night.
With many people focusing on how to stop Baylor, or wondering how Baylor will adjust on the road, the coaching duel that will take place in Manhattan, Kan., seems to be overlooked. Both Baylor head coach Art Briles and Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder have rejuvenated programs that were at one point bottom feeders of the Big 12.
Snyder’s first tenure at K-State was from 1989 to 2005, in which he led the Wildcats to three Big 12 titles, six 11-win seasons, and helped turn Kansas State into a contending, winning program on an annual basis.
For the fourth time this season, our starters were pulled before the third quarter was over. The first three times were against Wofford, Buffalo and ULM, and we had halftime leads of 38-0, 56-13 and 49-7 respectively, so sportsmanship there was all well and good. Last Saturday, we had a halftime lead of 56-14 and pulled the starters very early yet again.
The difference? West Virginia is a Big 12 foe.
When he was coming out of Midway High School in nearby Hewitt, Baylor junior nickel back Ahmad Dixon could have chosen to go to pretty much any school in the nation. He was ranked as the No. 15 national recruit by ESPNU 150 and had scholarship offers from Alabama, Texas, USC and pretty much everywhere else in between. Instead of bolting for a glamorous, prestigious program, Dixon decided to stay home and head to Baylor, who was just coming off of a 4-8 season.
Despite losing 42-34 to the No. 12 Oklahoma Sooners in Norman on Saturday, the Baylor football team is certainly showing signs of improvement.
The offense is displaying multiple facets within the passing and rushing attack.
There has been a lot of grumbling as of late.
Grumbling from a lot of people about Baylor football. From fans and commentators, from students and alumni even, nobody seems too pleased with the performance of our football team.
And why should they be?
The Baylor Bears are 0-26 all time on the road against top 25 opponents in the Big 12. This does not bode well for them in their trip to Norman to take on the No. 12 Oklahoma Sooners. The Bears, 4-4 (1-4), won a conference game last week over the Kansas Jayhawks 41-14. This week presents a much tougher task because the Bears will be on the road to face the 6-2 (4-1) Sooners.
Seven games into the season, the Baylor Bears (3-4, 0-4) are still looking for their first Big 12 Conference win.
Luckily, the football schedule brings the Kansas Jayhawks (1-7, 0-5) to Waco for homecoming. The Jayhawks, like Baylor, are also looking for their first Big 12 Conference win.
The Bears are in a rut, but with five games left to play, there’s still plenty of time for the Bears to find their identity and play their best football down the stretch.
Sure, Baylor has had a tough time in conference to date, but there’s still plenty of football to be played this season.
While the football team is busy trying to scrape a win out of the goose egg in the conference win column, the women’s basketball team is protecting its 40-game win streak.
What’s the difference between the two besides the obvious?
Saturday is do or die for the Baylor Bears as they travel to Ames, Iowa, to take on the Iowa State Cyclones at 6 p.m. for their homecoming in 40-degree weather.
“We’ve had our first half of the season, and now we’re going into our second half,” head coach Art Briles said. “I don’t know if it’s a good analogy or not, but I use why divorces happen – there’s a variety of reasons, but sometimes it’s because you hear things, you see things, you do things, and sometimes it amounts over time. Then it goes to a point to where you think you can get away from it. What we’re trying to do is start cleaning. We have six games left, and those six games will determine our football season.”
There is no doubt that Baylor’s defense is the Achilles heel of the team. But why is the defense so awful? It sounds strange, but Baylor’s offense might be one reason the Bears have never had a vaunted defense. Is head coach Art Briles’ offensive philosophy hurtful to his defense? Baylor possesses a high-octane prolific scoring offense that any team in college football would be jealous of. But the quick-strike ability of the offense might be crippling the defense.
Baylor and Texas came into Saturday night’s game in a minor state of panic. Both teams started the year strong, but each has lost its last two games. The Bears fell to the Longhorns 50-56, 106 points and 1,132 points later.
Senior quarterback Nick Florence finished the game 30-of-41 with 352 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
“I was really proud of the team and how they fought,” head coach Art Briles said. “We challenged them this week to be tough physically and mentally, to have a tough man’s mentality.”
Before Baylor enters the tunnel to run out onto the field at Floyd Casey Stadium, the team hits a sign above the doorway that says “Finish Strong.”
“We aren’t going to put our heads down and throw in the towel,” senior quarterback Nick Florence said. “We still have seven more games left. There is still a lot of football to be played. When it comes to bowls, you are defined by how you finish. We’re going to keep fighting until the end.”
Let me throw some numbers at you: 9.2 yards allowed per play, 14.6 yards allowed per completion , eight passing touchdowns allowed and zero forced turnovers.
If these stats are the result of your defense’s play, do you really trust them to make a stop late in the fourth quarter? No.
There’s history in unchartered territory as Baylor travels to West Virginia for its Big 12 conference opener at 11:06 a.m. Saturday.
Baylor head coach Art Briles and West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen worked together at Texas Tech from 2000-2002.
The Baylor Bears faced a tough challenge in a hostile environment against the University of Louisiana at Monroe, winning 47-42
It wasn’t pretty, but it was a victory.
While the Baylor football team was offensively dependent last year with Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III, this year’s team is co-dependent on offense and defense.
“When you have a team around you and it’s not all about you, you can do a lot of things,” senior quarterback Nick Florence said.
On Saturday, the Bears will take on the Sam Houston State Bearkats, but it’s been a week since Baylor defeated SMU by a score of 59-24 in their rocky season opener.
“We didn’t feel like we were completely clean against SMU and we worked on correcting things,” said head coach Art Briles.
Baylor Nation may miss Heisman trophy winner Robert Griffin III, but not much as the Bears defeated the SMU Mustangs 59-24.
During the 2011-2012 season, it is possible that Pat Neff has gone through twice as many green bulbs as it did through 2008-2010.
Head coach Art Briles showcased his team in 75-minute controlled scrimmage Saturday at the Higher Complex Practice Fields.
“They said it was the biggest pro day of all time at Baylor.”
Baylor football left the Alamadome field victorious on Dec. 30, 2011. The team returned the field Tuesday for the first time since to begin spring practice.
Head coach Art Briles announced Wednesday that 23 student-athletes have signed their National Letter of Intent to play football at Baylor.
“RG3” was chanted repeatedly at almost every Baylor football game as quarterback Robert Griffin III led the Bears to 17 victories in two seasons. When the possibility of Griffin leaving for the NFL developed, the “one more year” chant usually followed the “RG3” chant.
As the athletic competition moves from the gridiron to the hardwood to start 2012, I wanted to rank the top moments from the Baylor football season. I
Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III is entering the NFL Draft.
Junior quarterback Robert Griffin III approached the Heisman ceremony as he has approached all media events this semester, with an air of dignity, glory to God and a sense of humor.
Faith: something that holds the promise of a better tomorrow. Something shown by Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III and the reality of the tomorrow promised by head coach Art Briles when he came to Baylor in 2008.
It’s not a BCS Bowl or the Cotton Bowl, but the Bears will take it. And they’ll take it gladly.
