Texas vs Baylor Football Preview
by Scipio Tex on Dec 2, 2011 2:23 PM CST
in Texas Longhorns and Other Football
Email
Print
RGIII
First, make sure you read this excellent discussion between our friend Peter Bean over at BON and Mark Moore of SB Nation's new Baylor blog Our Daily Bears.
Like Peter, I've had an unhealthy love of Robert Griffin since I first became aware of him as a junior at Copperas Cove high school, the torture of that unrequited fascination compounded as I realized he was heading to Baylor and not Texas. Makes sense. Copperas Cove was like an hour away. We couldn't be expected to scout him. Why would Texas recruit an elite dual threat, Olympic level track athlete who throws an amazing deep ball, graduated in the Top 5% of his high school class, and has the competitive instincts of a honey badger? RGIII is the ideal college QB and though the Andrew Lucks of the world project beautifully to the NFL game, Griffin is a far more dangerous player at the college level for his ability to extend the play and negate the best laid plans of mice and men.
Offense
Baylor averages 576 yards per game, 7.4 yards per play, and 43.1 points per game. Those are SILLY NUMBERS, more or less incomprehensible, existing in some alternate realm of college football offense. Conversely, we get excited if Case McCoy completes a four yard stop route.
RGIII is the straw that stirs the Baptist's Shirley Temple, but Baylor's OL recruiting classes have also panned out nicely, they have outstanding WR threats on the edge, and Ganaway is a quality RB who exploits undermanned fronts and the defense's overreaction to RGIII. Briles is a creative play-caller and he's distilled college offense down to a few simple components: an elite mobile QB who can erase protection issues with his feet, a vertical game that forces teams to keep safeties deep, a screen game that exploits the former and creates easy yardage, and use of zone read and simple running plays to keep execution levels high across the board. Baylor is a great example of a team that does a few simple things in concert so effectively that defending their offense becomes an amusing game of overcompensation and guesswork (see Iowa State playing Baylor with 7 DBs and allowing nearly 400 yards rushing or OU's safeties continuing to bite on RGIII ball fakes leading to multiple 50+ yard passes), eventually resulting in a barrage of 80 yard TD passes and a humiliated defensive coordinator.
We're the best defense they've seen to date, but if you're expecting to shut them down, you'll need to seriously redefine what success looks like in this game. If Baylor's offense has a weakness, it's that they can bog down in the red zone and they're primarily a big play offense - witness their 45% 3rd down conversion rate. The downside of that reality is they're just as likely to convert 3rd and 15 as they are 3rd and 6. For us, field goals are victories.
QB
Were Griffin at forty other FBS programs, he'd be the landslide winner of the Heisman Trophy, but he has my vote whatever the efficacy of Baylor's PR imprint. His passing statistics look like he's been playing the Fiji Intramural B team every week: 72.6% completion percentage, 334 yards per game, a 34-5 TD/INT ratio. Beyond that, he's also rushed for a ho-hum 600+ yards and 7 more touchdowns. Griffin's primary evolution is that he now uses his feet to buy time in the pocket and you'll see him pull up at the LOS on a scramble with green grass in front of him to scan one more time for an open WR running a vertical. The touch on his deep ball is exquisite and though his arm is plenty strong, it's more about his ability to lead people, put air under the ball, and drop it where the WR doesn't have to break stride. He also has nice touch on shorter balls and has a knack for placing the ball where the receiver can do something with it. He's more or less the perfect college QB and tough as nails to boot.
WR
Baylor's WRs do three things:
1. Vertical routes
2. Stops and hitches
3. Screen game
We've proven pretty adept at dealing with all of those things, particularly #1 and #3. However, the Bears are a different bear from what we've seen. Kendall Wright is their best guy (95-1406-12), but they've got three others fully capable of hurting you in Sampson, Reese, and Williams (these three combine for 20 TDs). All four are deep threats and Baylor loves to run four verticals, roll Griffin out, and let him pick which 70 yard touchdown pass he'd prefer. Or he'll run it for 10 if it's not there. That puts just a tad bit of pressure on your defense. Williams is the closest thing to a big body and Sampson and Reese are both smaller guys. Though Wright is an average sized guy, he has long arms, great ball skills, and will take the ball away from bigger athletes.
I mentioned last week that we have the only secondary in the league with 4 legit cover guys in our nickel package and that's something Baylor hasn't seen to date. They've made a living exploiting their #3 guy against another team's crappy #3, but we don't drop off in coverage until you get to Scott/Gideon. As tempting as it is to man up and challenge Baylor, taking your eyes off of Griffin is suicide. For that reason, I expect a heavy sprinkling of zone with some man under concepts. It's also tempting to assign Vaccaro to mirror Griffin (I don't think a LB can handle him), but I'd prefer we do it with Adrian Phillips to allow Vaccaro to work his slot magic and gang up on the run.
We'll spend the entire game in nickel and dime if we can get away with it without being punished by Ganaway.
OL
For the last three or four years, Baylor has quietly recruited a number of quality OL and now they're all grown up. They go 330-315-320-330-300. They're not the fleetest afoot, but they wear on you and they're a lot to handle when blocking for a 240 pound running back when you're loaded up with DBs to contest Baylor's passing game. I particularly like RT Ivory Wade, Baylor's most athletic OL. They squeeze down hard inside to prevent quick pressure on Griffin and generally count on RGIII to bail them out on free outside blitzers. OL is a development heavy position and Baylor has done the work we've neglected.
RB
Ganaway is a good RB, but his big numbers are very much a creation of RGIII, solid OL play, and huge outside passing threats. See Randle at Oklahoma State. Every back in the Big 12 fantasizes about the green this cat sees on every running play. Nonetheless, he's productive, he's capable of running away from you despite his 240 pound frame, and he's a load to handle when you're running out 5-6 DBs. If we're going to pick our poison, I expect it will be Ganaway. At least between the 20s.
Defense/Special Teams
This will be brief. Baylor's defense is really poor. It's really about what we do in this game rather than what they do. If we operate at severe retardation levels in the basic passing game and our OL plays with estrogen patches, we will not only lose, but we will be humiliated. If we have some basic QBing presence, we can drop 30-40 on them and win.
They're allowing 6.2 yards per play, 37 points per game (and Baylor's offense doesn't turn it over so that's on them), and they can be murdered by any team with some semblance of balance and the ability to punish overplay. The best way to describe them is that they "receive" your offense. It's very much bend but don't break, but they forget the part about not breaking. They inflict very few negative plays behind the LOS, they don't really turn people over, and they have trouble getting off of the field on 3rd down (47% conversion). Other than that, they're the fucking '86 Giants.
Encouragingly, Baylor's defense - like Tech and KU - is undersized on the front. Specifically on the edges where they go 230 and 250 at DE and play a base nickel behind them. They're actually not bad inside (I like their DTs fine), so it's best to hit the edges off tackle. Hello, Luke P in the jumbo set.
Hicks and Holl, their two safeties, suck out loud and the rest of the secondary is OK, though prone to coverage busts. They're solid inside and their LBs will play inside the tackles effectively. The key is bullying them on the edge, getting leverage outside, and hitting a play or two over the top whether by hook or by crook.
Baylor's special teams are nothing special. Bad field goal kicking, below average in all phases of the return game, typically lose the game of hidden yards against a quality opponent. We need to win here decisively.
If we get some QB play, expect an enjoyable game. If not, make your reservations for San Diego.
79 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
The only thing that kept Fiji B from making the 98 championship game was the lethal combo of a pesky BUC team and a Zeta mixer at Colorado Room the night before.
by bigdmullet on Dec 2, 2011 2:39 PM CST reply actions
Most of the coverage this week regarding Texas’ Offense vs Baylor’s Defense (both here and on BON) has done a great job illuminating the key points of the match up. And I’ve noticed that they all then to be a conditional statement: If Texas gets/does X then things will be good for Texas. What rarely is getting added to that is an opinion of whether Texas will come out and do X.
So Scipio Tex, what say you? Will we “get some QB play?”
by TexasWright on Dec 2, 2011 2:40 PM CST reply actions
Diaz did a number on Cam and Denard last year, without as many tools in the workbox. The Texas D is just a horrible match-up for a really gifted player in RGIII. Stinks he has to end on this game. No one really knows how good this D is right now, and RG’ll get no credit for anything other than a 4 TD game.
I honestly tuned out the Heisman years ago. It just makes me angry every year. I have better things to worry about.
by G.O.F. on Dec 2, 2011 2:42 PM CST reply actions
Great analysis Scip, spot on. RG3 is gold, and I’d have killed to see him in Burnt Orange. Oh well. Here’s hoping that wherever he goes in the League, a coach crafts an offense to take advantage of the myriad things he does well. I’ll say it, he’s as good or better than VY, and if he had a semblance of a defense, Baylor would have really gone places.
by TexanNick on Dec 2, 2011 2:43 PM CST reply actions
Thanks for the analysis.
Also, Kendall Sanders just committed.
WHOOP!
by Orangeblood79 on Dec 2, 2011 2:57 PM CST reply actions
Quick note Scip: the reason we have so much trouble getting off the field on 3rd down is because we see a REALLY disproportionate number of 3rd and short.
According to Bill Connelly at SBNation, we’re 49th in the country defensively on passing downs (2nd and 8 or more, 3rd and 5 or more). I’m not super optimistic about us forcing Texas into a ton of long-to-gain plays, but that’s the blueprint.
by Thermhere on Dec 2, 2011 2:59 PM CST reply actions
Also, finally someone has acknowledged that we’ve actually gotten somewhat decent DT play this year. I don’t know how, because Nicholas Jean-Baptiste was terrible for 3 years, but he’s actually been relatively disruptive this year.
by Thermhere on Dec 2, 2011 3:01 PM CST reply actions
San Diego….. best consolation prize ever.
by Phenomenal Smith on Dec 2, 2011 3:07 PM CST reply actions
Bergeron out, Malcolm Brown questionable with a knee (new injury).
Bleh.
by A-Tex Devil on Dec 2, 2011 3:11 PM CST reply actions
Thermhere – we call it the Gaskamp award. Players that come out of nowhere to have solid senior seasons. Past winners include Miguel McCay, Nate Jones and Ben Alexander. Fozzy was in line for it this year.
by Horncasting on Dec 2, 2011 3:13 PM CST reply actions
Where is the new injury to Brown coming from?
by Horncasting on Dec 2, 2011 3:14 PM CST reply actions
TexanNick: Is blaspheme necessary in making the point that Griffin is really good?
It looks like Baylor presents some of the same challenges as OSU only with fewer routes on the passing tree and a running threat QB. I expect to see more of the platinum and nickel packages we used against OSU. More Cover-1 or 3 in this game might allow us to spy Griffin more effectively with a safety or linebacker. In that event, the hand-off to Scott or Gideon is big because we’ve been burned by that exchange a few times.
It sucks that Griffin and the offense can hurt you in so many ways but for that at least we have the best in the business in disguise. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone disguise defenses to spread formations better than Diaz, it’s stunning. And the deception can allow us to cheat situationally without getting burned, so long as we don’t allow Griffin to dance around forever.
by Nickel Rover on Dec 2, 2011 3:23 PM CST reply actions
It is my hope that Mr. McCoy can rise to his potential. If he does, the Texas passing game will achieve borderline retardation.
Not sure where he’ll throw it, though. We have only one Ship. We need a shipwright.
by Louis L'am Jones on Dec 2, 2011 3:24 PM CST reply actions
What the hell is going on with running back injuries this year?
SCREW THIS.
Sick of this stuff.
by Orangeblood79 on Dec 2, 2011 3:26 PM CST reply actions
Weather is looking in our favor. For running, not passing.
by Frank on Dec 2, 2011 3:41 PM CST reply actions
What’s funny is that our running back depth was so good this year. Terrible bounce for us. Offense has to find a way to stay on the field regardless. Another 4 TO and big Special teams day would be nice.
by Nickel Rover on Dec 2, 2011 3:48 PM CST reply actions
So when JS reported from the asset last night that Malcom Brown was close to 100% and that Joe Bergeron would get a chance to test his hammy, what he really meant was MB was limited and JB is out. Gotcha.
Is the report from the asset old or incorrect? Or is the staff playing mindgames…
One would think that if MB was truly hurt, that this wouldnt be released until game time t keep Baylor in the dark.
by Patrick on Dec 2, 2011 3:49 PM CST reply actions
@Horncasting – Man, Ben Alexander was a great kid wasn’t he?
(my time at UT overlapped his)
by Thermhere on Dec 2, 2011 3:57 PM CST reply actions
Good write up.
I would point out that if the deeper routes are covered effectively, you might see passes to Najvar, the TE. He’s 6-6, 260, so probably a mismatch. Najvar has been used sparingly, but he’s solid.
by baylorline on Dec 2, 2011 4:15 PM CST reply actions
Either the asset is full of shit, it’s gamesmanship or MB banged his knee rolling out of bed.
by Savage Henry on Dec 2, 2011 4:33 PM CST reply actions
The touch on his deep ball is exquisite and though his arm is plenty strong, it’s more about his ability to lead people, put air under the ball, and drop it where the WR doesn’t have to break stride.
Have an acquaintance (former coach) who has been to several Baylor practices over the past couple of years. Says after warming up, the first 15 minutes of every practice is off. vs. def. and it is nothing but RGIII throwing deep posts, corner, flag and wheel routes to either side. Then they get down to the daily practice.
I have been watching UT football for more years than I care to elaborate, and there have been very few opposing players that I truly looked forward to watching play against Texas,(Chuck Foreman, Jim Kelly and Bo Jackson head the list) but RGIII is a sight to see.
by srr50 on Dec 2, 2011 4:40 PM CST reply actions
So, with no running backs, again, how do we win this game?
by HornbyMarriage on Dec 2, 2011 4:44 PM CST reply actions
Don’t worry about welcoming me to this great recruiting class. I love Texas anyway. (great write up Scip)
by Kendall Sanders on Dec 2, 2011 4:58 PM CST reply actions
Shwitter says he was wearing a brace on Tuesday.
by Savage Henry on Dec 2, 2011 5:02 PM CST reply actions
Hornby: smoke and mirrors. Short passing game to Shipley from Case, Power-read with Monroe and Ash. It doesn’t look real good.
On the other hand, Shipley might actually be our best offensive player and his return to health and the game might make a big difference. He’s the wildcat operator everyone forgets about.
by Nickel Rover on Dec 2, 2011 5:04 PM CST reply actions
We need this to be Cody Johnson’s senior magnum opus.
by The General on Dec 2, 2011 5:05 PM CST reply actions
Driving directions to Copperas Cove High School
Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
2100 San Jacinto Boulevard
Austin, TX 78712
1. Head east on E 23rd St toward E Campus Dr/Robert Dedman Dr
Turns out it’s more like an hour and thirty-three minutes. That was an extra half hour of Blue’s Clues and animal crackers you’re talking about.
by parlin on Dec 2, 2011 5:18 PM CST reply actions
Well I guess Hills and Johnson better man up tomorrow…Kansas and Tech were fun at the time but really fucked us in the long run. Don’t get me started on Mizzou and their shitty ass field. Took at 3 tech guys a week after we played them.
by STLaw on Dec 2, 2011 5:38 PM CST reply actions
Like I said before: Most unlucky football program since the ‘09 championship. HOW THE FUCK DO YOU GO THROUGH 3 MOTHER F’ING RUNNINGBACKS???!!!?!?!?!?!
by UT07 on Dec 2, 2011 5:54 PM CST reply actions
UT07: By running two freshman running backs into the ground before giving them the benefit of a full season of strength and conditioning to adjust to the college game. I don’t care about the nature of the injuries, it’s the one error I put squarely on the coaches this year, running those guys into the ground in 4th quarters when up HUGE against Tech and Kansas.
by TexanNick on Dec 2, 2011 6:06 PM CST reply actions
The knee injury for Brown is new. It has nothing to do with his toe.
The Asset doesn’t have a time machine.
by Scipio Tex on Dec 2, 2011 6:16 PM CST reply actions
How are the coaches responsible for a knee injury that evidently happened this week?
by g'69 on Dec 2, 2011 6:27 PM CST reply actions
Mack makes five million a year and we get knee injuries?? GEEEZ!
by RomaVicta on Dec 2, 2011 6:29 PM CST reply actions
Why are they letting him have ANY contact when he’s already banged up and our ONLY chance to run the ball?
by Savage Henry on Dec 2, 2011 6:30 PM CST reply actions
Patrick – Excellent point. Methinks Bevo is in the neighborhood because I smell bullshit – regarding Brown and Bergeron!
Either the Asset is full of it or BON is! It’s getting hard to tell.
by Snide Aside on Dec 2, 2011 6:35 PM CST reply actions
Scipio, I was not aware. I’ll withdraw my complaint with regard to Brown.
by TexanNick on Dec 2, 2011 6:35 PM CST reply actions
Snide: Jesus updated on the Asset report. Says Bergeron is out. Brown, who knows?
by TexanNick on Dec 2, 2011 6:37 PM CST reply actions
Well. Fuck.
Fuckinity, Fuck FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
by Bateshorn on Dec 2, 2011 6:37 PM CST reply actions
Scip
MB’s injury is new but I still wonder if just the amount of carries him and JB had, if the injuries aren’t stemming from being worked too hard and not having a full S&C regime in place on them. Maybe these are just workload injuries combined with youth but do you think injuries are coming from injury prone bodies of either player? Somebody said JB had hammy problems in HS I think.
by STLaw on Dec 2, 2011 7:06 PM CST reply actions
On another note, who gave Tim Brewster that Fox Sports job with that ugly mug?! Shit, I should try out for Herbstreit’s job when he leaves to join Urban at tOSU.
by UT07 on Dec 2, 2011 7:23 PM CST reply actions
I just hope our defense can do to RGIII’s Heisman campaign what our offensive line did to Colt McCoy’s campaign in the Big XII title game against Nebraska.
by Cirque du Salado on Dec 2, 2011 7:44 PM CST reply actions
It’s bogus to keep harping on the number of Browns and Bergeron’s carries. They practice and work out every day and they just came off 4 years of HS ball whereby they carried a helluva lot more times than they have for UT.
Turf toe is not because of the number of carries, it’s because of artificial turf. Hammys happen – whether it is one carry or 40. It would appear Brown hurt his knee in today’s practice because, according to Jesus, he was ok last night.
Run Cody against Baylor until his and our OL tongues hang out – then run him some more.
by Snide Aside on Dec 2, 2011 7:53 PM CST reply actions
Snide – turf toe is layman’s term for any of several injuries to the great toe. Most are either caused or exacerbated by overuse. So called “stress injuries”. They were more common on old AstroTurf, but can happen on any surface.
by Ducktor J on Dec 2, 2011 8:36 PM CST reply actions
Why would Texas recruit an elite dual threat, Olympic level track athlete who throws an amazing deep ball, graduated in the Top 5% of his high school class, and has the competitive instincts of a honey badger?
Well, the truth is, “we” wanted to recruit him, “we” really did. But “we” got “our” head stuck in a Sam’s Size Plastic Barrel of Animal Crackers and couldn’t see a darned thing. No big deal, “we” didn’t really need a quarterback, not with what “we” had coming the next year… a kid with a can’t miss pedigree, whose dad was a record-setting NFL Super Bowl quarterback, not some puny-ass undisciplined Army Sergeant.
turf toe is layman’s term for any of several injuries to the great toe. Most are either caused or exacerbated by overuse. So called "stress injuries". They were more common on old AstroTurf, but can happen on any surface.
You mean, like the kinda stress you might put on your toe when you throw off a shoe and then dig that foot into whatever passes for “field”, so you can pick up a couple hundred pounds of football players and haul them into the end zone with you? That only happened two or three times that I recall…
by Tex Long on Dec 2, 2011 9:02 PM CST reply actions
After several premium margarita’s:
Mack needs to go, we deserve a coach who can bring multiple MNC’s.
And if each and everyone of you will be honest, we deserve better!
The comment that Mack made about GIII was pathetic!! enough said!
SGooch!
by VA Horn on Dec 2, 2011 10:04 PM CST reply actions
Ducktor – I am/was a baby mechanic and never had a little one with “turftoe” syndrome – some however, were pretty quick. :-)
Turftoe -Turf toe can occur after a very vigorous upward bending of the big toe. It got it’s name due to the fact that it occurs frequently in people who play games on artificial surfaces. The shoe grips hard on the surface and sticks causing bodyweight to go forward and so bending the toe up. It is also common in martial arts. You are more at risk if you have increased range of motion in the ankle and / or wear soft flexible shoes.
You will note the description says nothing of being “caused or exacerbated by overuse”. I suppose you could make an argument of repeatablility – if you flex your heel/toe enough time something is BOUND to happen. This, however, falls into the fatalistic category and is, frankly, irelevent.
The scary thing about turf toe is that it could be career ending. There are actually three grades of turftoe, i.e:
Grade 1 – Is considered mild whereby the ligs are just stretched a little.
Grade 2- The ligs are partially torn but not fully ruptured
Grade 3 – The ligs are completey ruptured and maybe even some bone fracture. These are the worst and can require surgury.
I suspect that Brown has a Grade 1 turftoe injury as he has returned and has run – aggy game. I know for sure that UT is supplying him with a hard shoe but I worry about his chance of injuring his toe even more. My call would be – rehab and wait until next year – just play Cody and Hills and hope Case can get his head out of his ass.
by Snide Aside on Dec 2, 2011 10:19 PM CST reply actions
Have we caught a single break this year? Seriously.
by lurkerinthedark on Dec 2, 2011 10:24 PM CST reply actions
“If we operate at severe retardation levels in the basic passing game and our OL plays with estrogen patches, we will not only lose, but we will be humiliated.”
I laughed out loud.
by Jungleheat on Dec 2, 2011 10:35 PM CST reply actions
This Derryn Thomas kid would be nice to have right about now.
by UT07 on Dec 2, 2011 10:52 PM CST reply actions
@Snide:
I talked to a Doc friend about exactly the same thing. He speculated it might have been a Grade 2, since those, with athletic training, can be playable after a couple of weeks, and not a Grade 1, since those usually heal quickly. His words, not mine.
@Van Gooch
I usually compare Mack Brown to Mark Richt. He has had top 10 recruiting classes pretty much since he has arrived in Georgia. But nothing to show for it. We can have high expectations all we want and claim he has under-performed, but Mack has outperformed just about every coach in similar circumstances.
by bHero on Dec 2, 2011 10:57 PM CST reply actions
bHero – This kind of injury is out of my field – I have a Podiatrist colleague of mine that I need to call about this – need to ask him about a heel spur problem of my own, anyway.
I would think, if it is a G2 injury, that he should hang ’em up for the rest of this year.
by Snide Aside on Dec 2, 2011 11:08 PM CST reply actions
@lurker
I’ll nominate Diaz, Diggs, and a last second forty yard field goal.
by goldenbohls on Dec 2, 2011 11:08 PM CST reply actions
@Snide
He said the same thing. Said he could play without it being 100%, but there were obvious risks with it not being ready.
by bHero on Dec 2, 2011 11:19 PM CST reply actions
Turf toe is not an overuse injury. Nor are virtually any common knee injuries that are treated with brace wear in football players. Muscle (eg hamstring) injuries are a greater risk in players who are not warmed up, but anyone can have one.
by Wizard of Os on Dec 2, 2011 11:59 PM CST reply actions
Turf Toe has a pretty narrow and ultimately incorrect etymology (or something like that). The most famous recent case of turf toe is Kyrie Irving last year who picked it up on an innocent looking blow by to the basket on the hardwood. All of the sudden he’s out for 4 months. It’s not tennis elbow. It can happen in an instant of bad luck.
by A-Tex Devil on Dec 3, 2011 12:05 AM CST reply actions
Why all the continued discussion about the cause and severity of MBs turf toe. It’s a non-issue now. By all accounts the turf toe problem was healed.
The injury that may limit or eliminate him from the game tomorrow is a knee injury that apparently occurred in last 24 hours.
by Nunna Yo Bizness on Dec 3, 2011 12:27 AM CST reply actions
@JS
I feel bad for JS. The asset has kinda hung him out on this one. He shouldn’t have to fact check every little thing a source say. I believe the information, has been gold since preseason… but there has been several conflicting comments out tuesday, thursday and friday about Brown’s status from about half a dozen sources. I think it might be too much credit to say that Mack is mole hunting… but WTF does all the misinformation mean?
by bHero on Dec 3, 2011 12:28 AM CST reply actions
@Nunna
We know about MB injury, just speculating on his overall health… like normal folk on a Friday Midnight.
OB,BON and AAS said the injury probably happened earlier (TAMU game) and the brace he wore Tuesday was a precaution (cited Mack Brown). Friday had a report from Mack the injury was also today, and Jesus’ guy said he was gtg on Thursday. Something weird going on.
by bHero on Dec 3, 2011 12:31 AM CST reply actions
Two very lucid and non-alcohol induced thoughts:
1) It’s a mole hunt for NOCs.
2) Smoke Screen for Brown @ 100%
And go.
by bHero on Dec 3, 2011 12:33 AM CST reply actions
“as I realized he was heading to Baylor and not Texas. Makes sense. Copperas Cove was like an hour away.”
Just a quick reminder that RG had committed to UH prior to Baylor… and the only reason he went to Baylor was because Briles took the Baylor gig!
I personally went to the Baylor/K-St. & Baylor Kansas games (and no, I’m not a Baylor grad… JS knows!) and your preview is nails… and I might ad, that if you put pressure on RG, he will do one of two things, make a play by running or throwing the ball to one of his minion receivers or will make an ill-advised throw, sometimes to the other guys. So pressure is a big key… hitting him early & often.
The other tidbit of info I can pass along is that Baylor is a typical Art Briles coached team… which means they are un-disciplined; they don’t tuck the ball away after catches and very susceptible to putting the turf on the field… and if the field is wet, look out!
In the K. St. game, Baylor crumbled to pressure & turnovers late in the game and didn’t make plays when they needed. The couple of pics late gave the win to KSU… in the Kansas game, they clearly played down to KU’s level and was down 17-3 at half… then 24-10 going into 4th qtr. Kansas gave that game away by not doing what they did successfully in the 1st half (run & timely passes) and let Baylor make simple plays which got them back into the game. KU lost that game 31-30 in OT because KU went for 2 and didn’t convert…
If Texas doesn’t plays a strong ‘D’ by not giving up the big plays, keeps pressure on RG and put’s him on his back and does the little things on offense to keep moving the chains, I like Texas’ chances in Waco today!
by HotRod on Dec 3, 2011 3:32 AM CST reply actions
“Baylor’s WRs do three things:
1. Vertical routes
2. Stops and hitches
3. Screen game"
They also do a pretty mean slant, and occasionally a crossing route. They murdered us with slants last year and got OU on the crossing route a couple of times this year.
by Hey Man on Dec 3, 2011 7:32 AM CST reply actions
Stupid spam attack on ESPN’s boards. Funny at first… now i want to murder his children.
by bHero on Dec 3, 2011 3:10 PM CST reply actions
The first rules section of the NCAA rulebook is coaching ethics"
“Shifting in a way that simulates the start of a play or employing any other unfair tactic for the purpose of drawing one’s opponent offside. This can be construed only as a deliberate attempt to gain an unmerited advantage.”
by Dave on Dec 3, 2011 3:35 PM CST reply actions
Beat us all the way around when we weren"t beating ourselves.
by Gman on Dec 3, 2011 5:34 PM CST reply actions
The mistake Mack made was thinking Case McCoy is good enough to lead us to a win with his arm and going away from the game plan of run, run, run, and pass only when you have to. Case hit a couple of big throws and Mack got stars in his eyes thinking we could play Baylor’s game. Instead of staying on the ground, eating clock, and keeping RGIII on the sidelines. Of course, other than Shipley our receivers have not helped McCoy either. All receivers not named Shipley SUCK BIG TIME! \
That said, if McCoy is the starting QB next season Mack needs to be gone.
by Gman on Dec 3, 2011 5:39 PM CST reply actions
Live by the McCoy, die by the McCoy.
Wrong McCoy.
by lurkerinthedark on Dec 3, 2011 10:22 PM CST reply actions
It would be an eensie-weensie consolation prize if we helped Griffin win the Heisman.
by lurkerinthedark on Dec 3, 2011 10:25 PM CST reply actions
Like the fourth quarter against A&M, we kept killing ourselves in the running game by getting penalties. We can run the ball on Baylor if we don’t false start or hold to put us into problematic yardage situations.
Case’s luck ran out today. It held on a couple of early throws that were nearly picked off, but then it changed. I don’t know why Ash didn’t get to play in the fourth quarter.
Baylor had the better team. Congrats to them on a good season.
by RomaVicta on Dec 3, 2011 11:28 PM CST reply actions
Baylor beats OU and Texas in the same year. Quite a feather in Briles’s cap and something RGIII can be proud of forever.
by lurkerinthedark on Dec 3, 2011 11:49 PM CST reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Barking Carnival
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
