The 2019 Baylor Bear defense that carried the team to the Big 12 championship game and nearly defeated Oklahoma only to fall short twice, was built around the defensive line. The back eight of their 3-2-6 unit was very good (mostly seniors), but this team could regularly control action in the run game and generate … [Read more…]
In the last post I went over the top 10 Big 12 defenses of the 2010s based on scoring defense within league play. That gave us the following list: I like the 2017 TCU Horned Frogs, 2010 Nebraska Cornhuskers, and 2017 Iowa State Cyclones from that list for their performance and/or innovative impact on the … [Read more…]
Recently I was talking Oklahoma defensive back recruiting and schematic future under Alex Grinch with Sooners Wire’s Kegan Reneau. It was sparked by this post I did on what Oklahoma and Texas will be attempting to do philosophically to stop all the potent passing attacks the Big 12 will feature in 2020. Reneau asked me … [Read more…]
Over on Twitter I recently had a brief conversation with Travis Roeder and Cameron Soran about new Baylor offensive coordinator Larry Fedora’s fondness for power run schemes. I think this is the tweet that kickstarted the convo about his power run game. Baylor has been uniquely power run oriented since their rise under Art Briles. … [Read more…]
One of the more fascinating subplots of 2020 in the Big 12 was always going to be what Baylor made of one of Matt Rhule’s favorite young talents, Matt Jones. The 6-3, 240 pound freshman played in three games last year early before shutting it down to redshirt and preserve eligibility for the future. He’s … [Read more…]
It’s more than a little interesting to observe the TCU-Baylor rivalry these days. The Frogs aren’t even really a strictly Texas school anymore, their admission is over 50% comprised of out of state students, and the football program has served them well as an advertisement for kids from California and other locales. Baylor on the … [Read more…]
You could argue that Baylor was the story of the 2010s in the Big 12. Oklahoma obviously dominated most of the decade, winning 6.5 Big 12 titles, making four playoff appearances, and putting up the following record against the rest of the league: A completely inability to deal with Oklahoma was truly the primary obstacle … [Read more…]
I’d never have guessed that this was going to be a major topic in the Big 12, not even in the week or so after Matt Rhule left for Carolina, not until his name was explicitly mentioned for the Baylor job. For starters, Dave Aranda has never necessarily seemed to be a future HC kind … [Read more…]
I’m really starting to enjoy the NFL. For the last several years I’ve had limited attention to give to the NFL between my college football writing commitments, another role I have in life in my local Church that eats up time on Sundays, my family commitments, and then also the NFL’s constantly negative press they … [Read more…]
The #RhuleofLaw has officially ended in Waco. The Matt Rhule hire was a home run for the Bears. Back when it was clear that they would probably have to move off Art Briles I wrote an article suggesting that they make a defensive hire and stick with the 3-down defense they were experimenting with toward … [Read more…]