20 Comments

    • ianaboyd

      Oh yeah, I just didn’t follow up to verify who you were talking about. I completely missed the story where they had a second QB transfer.

      • Andrew

        Ian,

        I think on the above most likely scenario is BU winning over UT & KU for another run at OU. Tbh, the bears now know they can hang with OU who everyone thought was going to smash them. The confidence, hunger & it being a home game will give them a huge opportunity to show what they can do in their last home game.

        Let’s not forget: BU is going to play for a B12 championship game in year 3 of a total rebuild. This team will be made up of those that stayed (& recruited for a completely different scheme), those that were recruited on the fly (1st yr), transfers & a couple that are playing as sophmores/red shirt freshmen. Most of those are middling 3 star recruits. Think about that for a minute. In the next 2-3 years with his recruits, including upgrades at various positions & more beef on the O-line, this team will be scary! Compare that to what OU & UT are at now with all their blue chip recruits. BU is poised to be an annual force at the B12 championship game.

        That’s my story & I’m sticking to it,
        Andrew

        • System Poster

          That’s the glass half full take. The half empty take is that Baylor is primed for regression next year. They played in some extremely close games with the worst teams on their schedule and were downright lucky more than a couple of times. They also had the benefit of playing am extremely soft and favorable schedule against a really down Big 12 (4 new coaches, three potential contenders fielding new QBs, favorable road/home splits). It’s also very possible to see a scenario where some of the new coaches get acclimated and start to pose problems for Baylor’s rise, QBs like Duggan and Sanders settle in, OU takes it to the next level with a more talented QB, UT figures out their defense, etc.

          • ianaboyd

            Yes, this is all true. Other problems for Baylor:

            Seniors on defense: Bravvion Roy, James Lockhart, Jordan Williams, Blake Lynch, Jameson Houston, Henry Black, Chris Miller, Grayland Arnold. That’s 8 starters and there’s a solid chance James Lynch also leaves to get drafted. He should.

            Seniors on offense: JaMycal Hasty, Denzel Mims, Sam Tecklenburg, Jake Fruhmorgen. That’s four starters, not as bad, I’d say there’s a decent chance they’re actually a lot better on offense in 2019.

            The main concern is defense. Will they look more like the team that sucked on D or the team that finally put it together this year and really dominated at times? I think maybe the latter but it’s hard to be sure.

            Schedule goes: Ole Miss in Houston, Kansas, Incarnate Word, La Tech, at OU, bye, at Tech, TCU, at Texas, OSU, at ISU, at WVU, K-State.

            Not crazy, the obvious issues are traveling for OU, TX, ISU, and WVU. I think year to year the round robin schedule is pretty consistently rough for everyone. The bigger issue isn’t the setup but what you are noting, that they’ll be retooling their D in a year when the league is loaded at QB and lots of teams could be putting a lot together.

      • Will

        There was a question as to whether he would get a transfer waiver when he came over, so he was an afterthought at the time.

        And even for you, 4th string QB on the 8-9th place team in the conference is a pretty deep cut. But now the former 2 star has beaten out two former 4 stars and looks like he could stick for the next two years.

  1. Eliseo

    Hey Ian do you think that Texas’s woes can be fixed by changing with everyone on the staff and the coordinators or do we need to fire Tom Herman before anything improves?

    • ianaboyd

      Hard to imagine that Herman is incapable of getting this right. People tend to go nuclear too quickly.

      He’s shown a knack for culture and recruiting, just needs better staff.

  2. Brandon

    Super frustrating as an OSU fan that we lost to Texas Freaking Tech and now have to rely on a massive TCU upset to compete for the big 12 title.

    Doubly so because I am pretty confident our defense will give us a chance to win the game. We don’t have the defensive line Baylor has but we have some really talented guys on the back 8.. including what will probably end up being 1-2 all big 12 defenders.

    TCU’s defense might (?) keep them in it, I’m not actually sure anymore after their performance against Texas Tech. Coverage busts left and right. I guess the saving grace is Max is legit. And they have some skill players.

    If we’d just beat Texas Tech…sigh.

    On another note, Dru Brown may be finishing out the year for OSU. And I think the offense will actually be (marginally) *better* with him at QB.

      • Brandon

        Sounds like a ligament sprain in Sanders’ throwing hand. Injured it on a first half play and aggravated it in the second half, leading to him being pulled out early.

        I imagine that at worst Brown is starting and Sanders is used for short yardage looks.

      • Clint_in_Idaho

        If you’re asking why would Brown play – Sanders went out with a hurt hand. It “doesn’t appear to be serious”…but who knows?
        If you’re asking why the offense MAY be a tad better – (1st off, I don’t agree with that), but Dru throws a good ball and Sanders has shown some limitations. But, I think if Spencer’s able, we roll with him!

        • Brandon

          Long story short, Dru Brown is more experienced and the game doesn’t play as fast for him mentally. In extremely limited action against far inferior competition this has bore out to be true. His experience shows in the speed of his reads and knowing where to place the ball.

          He isn’t as physically gifted but a QB who knows where to put the ball and can deliver it on time has shown over and over and over again to be far more successful over time. Will he deliver against West Virginia and OU? No idea.

          Well worth paying attention to, heading into Bedlam, Ian. And it certainly sounds as if he may have had season ending surgery on a ligament tear in his throwing hand.

          • ianaboyd

            I dunno, I think if Brown was better Gundy would have played him. And with no Wallace that hurts a lot too.

  3. Marc

    Hey Ian,

    Do you think Texas will be better than Baylor/OU next year?
    In a way Herman’s teams play much better as underdogs so maybe in a tougher season they’ll actually have more chance to win the conference title

    • ianaboyd

      Depends on a lot of factors. How does Herman reorganize the staff? Are Ehlinger and Cosmi back?
      Oklahoma is the best bet, I think they’ll be excellent next season. Baylor has a lot of questions but they won’t be terrible.

      • Andrew

        Ian,

        I agree with some regression coming next year. Though, will the O-line improve enough to make up for the losses on the D-line? That’s the question. Considering how impactful D has been especially with how putrid they were the past 2 years is the story of the season.

        Let’s not forget BU won’t be the only team with a potential regression/change next year:
        *OU has Spencer, but will he be ready? What about their D?
        *UT may have new coaches & therefore new schemes in D, how long will it take them to gel?
        *KS is losing a ton of seniors & this was a good year to show a lot of progress, even with a new staff, so how much will they regress? Will they make a bowl?
        *TT loses a lot of seniors on D, will that be a good thing since they weren’t that good? How long until their D gets better under a 2nd yr staff?
        *KU may no longer be a total doorstop, so will other programs go after them now that they may no longer be an automatic win? If so, how will they respond? Can they respond?
        *WV is an unknown & in rebuild mode, who can help? How many transfers will they need & how many years will they dip into that well? How long until CNB can get his recruiting numbers up?

        I’m sure there are others, but this is all what I can think of now.

        Andrew

        • ianaboyd

          Baylor needs to find more high-impact DL, unless Lynch comes back in which case I think they won’t have too much trouble figuring something out.

          OU: Rattler has insane talent, people don’t realize what’s coming. He has Mahomes-ish ability to throw dimes from different arm slots and without a clear runway. He’s a supercarrier, with major force projection on the move. I assume their D will be as good or better, Grinch has shown he’s pretty competent.

          UT: We’ll see what Herman gets up to. They have as much talent or more than anyone else in the league. In fact, they probably have more talent than Oklahoma when you factor what’s on the defensive side of their roster. They’re pretty far behind OU in terms of leveraging it on the field.

          K-State: They’ll be solid. They lose a lot of starters on the OL but Klieman is replenishing the talent level of this team, infusing some speed unlike what they’ve had in the past, and two of the more promising players on their DL are both back.

          TT: I don’t know about that D, they haven’t really put it together like I thought they might. My concern is that they are too pressure oriented. Offense will be better in year two.

          KU: Need to find a transfer QB.

          WVU: Watch out for the Mountaineers. Lotta OL back, this Jarrett Doege kid can actually execute the gameplan, and I think they get the Stills bros back on the DL. Most of the main skill talent on this team is young also.

          Overall the league figures to be like this year but better. Lots of good teams and coaching staffs that can make your weaknesses seem like your identity.

          • Andrew

            I think Lunch comes back. He may be a middle to late pick & Rhule will be honest with him about his options. If Lynch stays, he’ll be the glue to the DL that Roy is.

            UT by far has the most talent, it’s the development side that’s currently part of the problem. The other part is when blue chips think they’re all that & are more about individual plays than just being a supportive player. It prevents the program from being a team-first, consistent play. Which is why lower ranked kids play better as a full team, the whole is greater than sum of individual parts.

            The B12 will definitely be really interesting these next 2-3 years until new identities are forged & current teams make changes to stay ahead of the new staffs, strategies & tactics.

            Andrew

  4. Andrew

    I’ll be honest about the UT D: they lost a ton of talent & they’ve had a lot of injuries + younger talent. Is it enough to call for Orlando’s head? Maybe, maybe not. But with the resources UT has, they will call for someone’s head regardless.

    Also, to expand on the 4 & 5 star players, it’s not a 100% reality but it really depends on the culture. Some like Alabama, Clemson, Ohio, etc have it to the point where you’re a talented cog & not THE man. It seems to me that UT only gets up consistently for big games, otherwise they go through the paces. This is a culture issue, if that doesn’t improve, you can change all the coaches you want & it becomes moot. UT has always been big man in the league, but now they’re living off of prior glories & they need to realize that every year they have to earn that “We’re baaaack!” phrase, otherwise they’ll be an average, good team like so many others. Not being disrespectful, but a 7-5 or 6-6 season might as well be a dumpster fire for UT when they have the talent & resources to play for the B12 title & be a CFP seed just about every year.

    Andrew

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