NOTE: The content on the Baylor Blitz is solely meant for the subscribers of SicEmSports. Let's all please make sure that whatever is written here stays here. We appreciate you all helping us with this. Now, let's all take a look at Baylor recruiting and what else is going on involving the Bears.
NOTE: A couple of things we want to let you know about
>There's a lot of talk and innuendo about Abilene Cooper and one-time Baylor commit Cordell Dorsey enrolling at Baylor in January. Based on the sources we've spoken to, that appears to be the case but we're not reporting that it is a done deal until we do a little more reporting. We hope to have a clearer picture in the coming weeks. We can tell you that Dorsey remains on course to graduate from Cooper in December. He was arrested in September for aggravated sexual assault. The case is still pending but as you know Dorsey has returned to the team. Once we have more and are satisfied, then we will restore his commitment to Baylor. For now, we're maintaining our policy of leaving him off the 2014 class.
>On Thursday of next week (Dec. 5) we will have a piece on the five greatest games ever played in the history of Floyd Casey Stadium. Jake, Stephen and I have discussed this and are finalizing the list. We look forward to bringing you that presentation.
-SicEmSports
Townsend liking the Bears
Missouri City Ridge Point 2015 linebacker Cameron Townsend enjoyed a phenomenal junior season. He helped the Panthers to a 9-3 record and an appearance in the Class 4A area playoffs.
It turned out to be a pretty solid season too for the 4-star 6-1, 200-pound prospect, who holds a Baylor offer along with seven others including Oklahoma, USC and Texas. He collected 42 total tackles and tied for second with three sacks.
"We won our first playoff game and individually, I played pretty good,'' Townsend said. "I had a few mistakes here and there, but I felt like performed good.''
Baylor's unprecedented season hasn't gone unnoticed either. Townsend said he talked with Baylor linebackers coach Jim Gush last week about the usual but called it a good meeting.
"I'm planning on going to when they play Texas,'' Townsend said. "I'm definitely highly interested in them.''
Townsend has been making some of the rounds. Earlier this fall he visited Oklahoma to watch the Sooners. But it's a sure bet that he will attend one of Baylor's junior days in early 2014.
Townsend is very aggressive and moves laterally very well. That's what makes him attractive. At this point, his recruitment is fluid.
"I don't want to commit until I've taken all five of my official visits next year,'' he said. "I'm hoping that's midway through my season.''
-Kevin Lonnquist
Sheffield's next visit to Baylor
Fort Bend Marshall 2015 DB Kendall Sheffield is already one of the most highly sought defensive backs in the country. A 6.0 rating validates that along with offers from Baylor, Ohio State, Texas and Notre Dame.
The two-way player helped Marshall finish the 2015 season and was actually the team's leading receiver at 223 yards (you can tell Marshall didn't throw it much). But Sheffield was pretty explosive averaging 17 yards per reception and 25 yards per rushing attempt. He was a touchdown waiting to happen. Defensively, he did collect an interception.
With the season over, Sheffield can continue his evaluation and is expected to make a return visit to Waco on Dec. 7 in the regular season and Floyd Casey finale against Texas. Among his visits to Baylor was a trip to see the team go through it Meet the Bears scrimmage on Aug. 10.
"Everything's about the same right,'' Sheffield said. "Nothing has really changed in the way I feel about all the schools.''
But the good news is that securing another trip to watch a program continue to make strides should make some impression. Obviously, there's still some time before he makes a decision. There have been some whispers it could come in the spring but who knows how valid that is.
-Kevin Lonnquist
On Payton Hendrix
We do know that 2014 Dallas Bishop Dunne DB Payton Hendrix still has a lot of interest in Baylor, according to his coach Michael Johnson.
Dunne completed a 7-5 season before it lost to TCA-Addison, 31-0, in the regional round of the TAPPS playoffs last week.
At this point, it's unclear if he has scheduled an official visit to Baylor. But should the interest remain the way Johnson suggested, then it should be a matter of time. Of course, we'll put tougher a list of players who are expected to attend the Texas game.
Regardless of the Dorsey situation, Baylor still needs 1-2 or defensive backs to fill out its 2014 class. But keep in mind one of those spots will be filled in by 2013 signee Fort Worth Southwest Ath Wesley Harris who greyshirted.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Still solid with Baylor
We didn't get a whole lot of response this week from the current commitment class so don't be alarmed by the lack of them. And keep in mind, Baylor usually does a great job of securing its class.
What's been unprecedented is how most this class was settled by late June. And again, everything looks really good with Texarkana Liberty-Eylau Ath Davion Hall enrolling in mid-January as he is a December graduate, along with Ennis running back Terence Williams, Lackawanna CC offensive lineman Jarell Broxton and Kingwood Park tight end Jordan Feuerbacher.
>Josh Malin, DL, Cibolo Steele: "Yes, everything is good with Baylor.''
>Verkedric Vaughns, DB, Mesquite Poteet: "There's some other schools like Colorado State and [Northern Illinois] and Texas A&M was thinking about offering. But I'm only visiting Baylor.''
>Jordan Feuerbacher, TE, Kingwood Park: "Everything is great. I completely stopped talking to all other coaches when I committed. There was nowhere else I wanted to be.''
>Blake Blackmar, OL, Clear Creek: "Everything is great with Baylor. I haven't talked to any other schools.''
>Jamie Jacobs, DE/LB, Waco Midway: "Everything very good with Baylor. I've had some interest from Oregon State and SMU but I'm good.''
>Greg Roberts, DE, Nacogdoches: "I am most definitely 100 percent a Baylor Bears. We haven't talked about the greyshirt, but I think it's a decision that will be made in the future so I probably won't know until the spring or summer or something like that.''
Big 12 Weekend
A look at Saturday's games. All times are central. All rankings are BCS. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have a bye.
Texas 41, Texas Tech 16: Before non-capacity crowd Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, the Longhorns (8-3, 7-1) kept their hopes alive of at least sharing the Big 12 championship thanks to a punishing rushing attack. Malcom Brown rushed for 128 yards while Joe Bergeron, wearing the injured Johnthan Gray's No. 32 jersey, rushed for 104 yards. Texas' defensive line harassed Tech quarterback Baker Mayfield seven times. The Red Raiders (7-5, 4-5) finished the regular season dropping their last five. The Longhorns visit Baylor on Dec. 7 to close out the 2013 regular season.
Kansas State (6-5, 4-4) at Kansas (3-8, 1-7)
11:00 a.m. Memorial Stadium, Lawrence, KS (FOX Sports 1)
The skinny: Bowl eligible, the Wildcats are trying to improve their positioning because the Big 12 can't fill all eight of its bowl spots. There's talk of KSU going to the Texas bowl in Houston. Jake Waters threw for more than 300 yards in the 41-31 loss to Oklahoma last week. In this battle for the Governor's Trophy, the Wildcats have won the last four meetings. Kansas was embarrassed in its 34-0 loss at Iowa State last week. An upset would energize the offseason.
No. 9 Baylor (9-1, 6-1) at TCU (4-7, 2-6)
2:30 p.m. Amon Carter Stadium, Fort Worth (ESPN2)
The skinny: A very erratic season for the Horned Frogs comes to end with no bowl. There have been offensive problems between an underperforming offensive line, underachieving wide receiver corps and an unplanned thinning out of the running backs. Waymon James is the latest to leave the program for unknown reasons. Still, the Horned Frogs would love nothing better than to derail Baylor's BCS at-large chances and Big 12 championship aspirations. The Bears will play with a heavy heart as head coach Art Briles learned of the passing of his older brother Eddie on Wednesday.
Iowa State (2-9, 1-7) at West Virginia (4-7, 2-6)
3:00 p.m. Milan-Puskar Stadium, Morgantown, WV (FOX Sports 1)
The skinny: The regular season finale for both teams. What ISU coach Paul Rhoads should feel is pretty energized after his team played its best game of the year with a 34-0 shutout over Kansas. Freshman quarterback Grant Rohach was given the team in the seventh game of the season and performed very well last week throwing for 300 yards and two touchdowns. The Mountaineers may start Clint Trickett at quarterback and have been rotating quarterbacks all season. Thus, there's been the inconsistency. Running back Charles Sims needs 54 yards to reach 1,000 for the season.
-SicEmSports
Baylor-TCU: The 109th Meeting
Since 1899, Baylor and TCU have playing football games against each other. On Saturday at Amon Carter's Stadium, the Bears and Horned Frogs renew a series now in its third century. Of course, they were Southwest Conference Members when TCU joined in 1923 and played until 1995, the final year of the league. After a 10-year hiatus, they renewed the rivalry in 2006.
TCU has won four of the last five meetings including last year's 49-21 decision in Waco, the Horned Frogs' first season in the Big 12. But upon some scant research, here's what makes this rivalry so interesting:
>The first meeting in 1899 was a 0-0 tie.
>At one time, both schools were located in Waco. TCU moved to Fort Worth in 1910. What made the early years of the rivalry so interesting is that they played each other multiple times in the same season. They met twice in 1901, 1903 and 1910 and then three times in 1902, 1904, 1905, 1907, 1908 and 1909. The first game in Fort Worth was on Nov. 18, 1910, a 10-3 Baylor victory.
>Prior to the 2011 meeting, there were disagreements about who led the series. Both schools claimed a 50-49-7 advantage in the series. Both sports information departments say the discrepancy probably dates back decades.
>The game has featured two Heisman Trophy winners in Baylor's Robert Griffin III (2011) and TCU's Davey O'Brien (1938).
>There have been five College Football Hall of Fame coaches in Baylor's Morley Jennings and Grant Teaff and TCU's Matty Bell, Dutch Meyer and Francis Schmidt.
>In the 108 meetings, 40 have been decided by seven points or less. There have also been 36 shutouts.
>Tragedy struck the 1971 game when TCU coach Jim Pittman collapsed and died on the sidelines. It's the only time in college football that has ever happened.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Big 12 Power Rankings
Each week, SicEmSports ranks the Big 12 teams based on expectations and performance. Ratings always vary. Agree or disagree, there's nothing like finding out who is ranked where. These rankings were before the Texas-Texas Tech game.
1. Oklahoma State - Now in control of the Big 12 race
2. Baylor - Injuries piling up; Bears need to put OSU game behind them
3. Texas - Was Thanksgiving Mack Brown's last home game?
4. Oklahoma - Two weeks of prep for Bedlam at Stillwater; Trevor Knight needs it bad
5. Kansas State - Turnovers more of a problem them this
6. Texas Tech - Red Raiders can't run the ball and can't stop it either
7. West Virginia - Offseason will be important to define this team's 2014 QB
8. TCU - DB Jason Verrett will get some consideration for All-American teams
9. Iowa State - Cyclones had their first Big 12 shutout since a 41-0 decision over Baylor in 2001
10. Kansas - In Montell Cozart this team trusts; his offseason will be important
-Kevin Lonnquist
Emptying the Notebook
>2016 Sachse DB Jared Mayden hasn't been offered by Baylor yet, but he's ready for it should it happen: "Just waiting on it. Just ready to commit.''
>If Baylor was looking to try and make some inroads still with Argyle LB Sam Sizelove, that doesn't appear to be happening. When asked this week, the Kansas State commit said, "KSU all the way.''
>The injury situation for the Bears Saturday seems about the same from what we know about LB Bryce Hager (groin), running backs Glasco Martin (knee), Lache Seastrunk (groin) and defensive back K.J. Morton (abdominal strain). Hager looks more doubtful than the other three who are considered day-to-day. You may have to wait for pregame warmups to actually know.
-SicEmSports
