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 very difficult, as you tend to see play out in the Big 12 on a weekly basis. Here’s some notes that the venerable Mike Gundy gave me at B12 media days on the practice: You know, there’s really two ways in our league. You either gotta defend the quarterback, width and length, or you … [Read more…]
Who’s making the playoffs in 2019? I’ve been pretty bad at prognosticating this over the years. Usually I’m pretty dialed in on a handful of potential teams. Last year I nixed Ohio State amidst concerns over program distractions but I elevated Michigan and committed the error for the second consecutive year of overlooking problems at … [Read more…]
My main intention with this series was to dive into the differences between varying types of 4-2-5, 3-3-5, and 3-2-6 defensive formations but I hit 1500 words in a hurry explaining how teams will still play true 4-3 and 3-4 structures against the spread so I decided to split this into multiple parts. Today we’ll … [Read more…]
They released them the other night I think. Me and the wife have been watching “Stranger Things” recently so we aren’t super up to date on the World Series or this playoff show. The whole goal of these weekly rankings is to amp up the anticipation and talk around the sport and maintain the entertainment … [Read more…]
This was a fun piece to write, over at Saturday Down South I explain some of the details and philosophy of the 3-4 quarters defense that Paul Rhoads is installing at Arkansas. One thing that’s funny about this is that Rhoads is the DB coach for Arkansas and things aren’t going to change much for … [Read more…]
There’s not a lot of evidence that I’m particularly good at picking the playoff teams. Maybe no one is, but my track record isn’t great. Last year I apparently picked Michigan, Alabama, Oregon, and Florida State. FSU got derailed early by injuries and Francois wasn’t as good as I expected. Michigan was a solid pick but … [Read more…]
My man Bill Connelly (@SBN_BillC) has made it to the upper tiers of the 2017 Big 10 in his annual preview of every single team in college football. If you don’t track this series every year I don’t really know what’s wrong with you because it’s a fantastic, ongoing stat-based historical of every team in … [Read more…]
Over at Football Study Hall I talk about new Wisconsin DC Jim Leonhard, a former walk-on and 3x All-B1G safety who then had a nice run in the NFL working with Rex Ryan. It stands to reason that Wisconsin would eventually be coordinated by a former walk-on since they have a few of them starting … [Read more…]