By KEVIN LONNQUIST
Publisher
Regardless of the level of football, when quarterbacks run, a coach’s heart jumps into his throat. When they are dual-threat quarterbacks, sometimes a coach doesn’t even want to look.
So when Baylor quarterback Seth Russell had his eighth and final rushing attempt Saturday against Iowa State no one realized the significance. Now we know it may have altered Baylor’s hopes for pursuing a national championship.
The heart officially jumped into Art Briles' throat.
Baylor’s head coach told the media following the No. 2 Bears 45-27 victory that everyone on that sideline knew something wasn’t right with Russell. Later it was learned that both an X-Ray and CT scan showed a fracture in one of the bones in Russell’s neck.
While it is likely that Russell, a junior, will miss some time, its duration will be learned on Monday. Russell visits a specialist. Then we’ll know if Baylor’s hopes for pursuing the ultimate prize remain genuine or if the journey becomes more uncertain.
Everything would suggest that Russell will miss at least Nov. 5 at Kansas State. Regardless true freshman Jarret Stidham becomes the quarterback.
Now Dec. 19, 2014 became the first important date for the 2015 Baylor Bears. That’s the day when Stidham, who had just finished his senior year at Stephenville, announced his commitment to Baylor after de-committing from Texas Tech.
Jan. 10, 2015 became the second most important date for this program. That’s when Stidham arrived in time for the spring semester so he could go through spring football.
If Stidham doesn’t arrive until June, then it makes these last five games look even more ominous. But we’re not talking about the if. We’re talking about the reality.
Russell performance – 16-37-1 (Iowa State defenders dropped two other INTs) 197 yards and two touchdowns – was about a flat a day a quarterback for Baylor has had since probably back in Briles first two seasons.
His patented deep ball was off. Corey Coleman – who eventually set the Baylor career receiving touchdown record with 31 – had two drops. Ironically, I thought Russell’s mid-range ball looked pretty good.
Some of it was the weather. Some of it was Russell. Some of it was Baylor becoming disinterested after it jumped out to a 35-0 lead. And it was going to be a struggle for me to come up with more than just saying that it was one of those things.
However, the analysis of Baylor’s play in all three phases of this game became secondary because of Russell’s injury.
When we have watched Stidham, it’s come in mop up time. The size is there at 6-3 195. The early signals have revealed the intrigue whenever he becomes the starter. So far, he’s 24-28-0 for 331 yards and six touchdowns. Stidham has a big arm. He can also move in the pocket and take off by design.
When the script isn’t followed accordingly, you just have to shrug your shoulders and move on. You can’t think about what you don’t have. You have a game in less than two weeks to prepare for. That’s all this program can do.
Don’t think for a moment that Stidham’s preparation hasn’t already begun. It probably started hours after Iowa State. Baylor has to get him ready.
The game plan that Baylor will use for him is going to be a fascinating watch. What remains to be seen is how much freedom offensive coordinator Kendal Briles will allow.
Baylor isn’t into building shells with its offense. It won’t when it visits Manhattan, KS against a weakened Kansas State team. Stidham is confident and should turn out to be a solid quarterback.
Having said that, this is the time where Stidham has to find some success early in these games and then build on it. It’s also going to be incumbent upon the veterans between Coleman and Jay Lee, a junior and senior, junior running back Shock Linwood and a veteran offensive line to help him settle in.
When the season started wobbly, I privately shared with a couple of people that I thought if Baylor found itself out of the running for both the national title and Big 12 championships, it would be a good time to start Stidham to see what he has.
I guess we’re all going to find out now as the most important stretch in Baylor football history approaches.
Publisher
Regardless of the level of football, when quarterbacks run, a coach’s heart jumps into his throat. When they are dual-threat quarterbacks, sometimes a coach doesn’t even want to look.
So when Baylor quarterback Seth Russell had his eighth and final rushing attempt Saturday against Iowa State no one realized the significance. Now we know it may have altered Baylor’s hopes for pursuing a national championship.
The heart officially jumped into Art Briles' throat.
Baylor’s head coach told the media following the No. 2 Bears 45-27 victory that everyone on that sideline knew something wasn’t right with Russell. Later it was learned that both an X-Ray and CT scan showed a fracture in one of the bones in Russell’s neck.
While it is likely that Russell, a junior, will miss some time, its duration will be learned on Monday. Russell visits a specialist. Then we’ll know if Baylor’s hopes for pursuing the ultimate prize remain genuine or if the journey becomes more uncertain.
Everything would suggest that Russell will miss at least Nov. 5 at Kansas State. Regardless true freshman Jarret Stidham becomes the quarterback.
Now Dec. 19, 2014 became the first important date for the 2015 Baylor Bears. That’s the day when Stidham, who had just finished his senior year at Stephenville, announced his commitment to Baylor after de-committing from Texas Tech.
Jan. 10, 2015 became the second most important date for this program. That’s when Stidham arrived in time for the spring semester so he could go through spring football.
If Stidham doesn’t arrive until June, then it makes these last five games look even more ominous. But we’re not talking about the if. We’re talking about the reality.
Russell performance – 16-37-1 (Iowa State defenders dropped two other INTs) 197 yards and two touchdowns – was about a flat a day a quarterback for Baylor has had since probably back in Briles first two seasons.
His patented deep ball was off. Corey Coleman – who eventually set the Baylor career receiving touchdown record with 31 – had two drops. Ironically, I thought Russell’s mid-range ball looked pretty good.
Some of it was the weather. Some of it was Russell. Some of it was Baylor becoming disinterested after it jumped out to a 35-0 lead. And it was going to be a struggle for me to come up with more than just saying that it was one of those things.
However, the analysis of Baylor’s play in all three phases of this game became secondary because of Russell’s injury.
When we have watched Stidham, it’s come in mop up time. The size is there at 6-3 195. The early signals have revealed the intrigue whenever he becomes the starter. So far, he’s 24-28-0 for 331 yards and six touchdowns. Stidham has a big arm. He can also move in the pocket and take off by design.
When the script isn’t followed accordingly, you just have to shrug your shoulders and move on. You can’t think about what you don’t have. You have a game in less than two weeks to prepare for. That’s all this program can do.
Don’t think for a moment that Stidham’s preparation hasn’t already begun. It probably started hours after Iowa State. Baylor has to get him ready.
The game plan that Baylor will use for him is going to be a fascinating watch. What remains to be seen is how much freedom offensive coordinator Kendal Briles will allow.
Baylor isn’t into building shells with its offense. It won’t when it visits Manhattan, KS against a weakened Kansas State team. Stidham is confident and should turn out to be a solid quarterback.
Having said that, this is the time where Stidham has to find some success early in these games and then build on it. It’s also going to be incumbent upon the veterans between Coleman and Jay Lee, a junior and senior, junior running back Shock Linwood and a veteran offensive line to help him settle in.
When the season started wobbly, I privately shared with a couple of people that I thought if Baylor found itself out of the running for both the national title and Big 12 championships, it would be a good time to start Stidham to see what he has.
I guess we’re all going to find out now as the most important stretch in Baylor football history approaches.
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