Just some things I picked up:

>Although Baylor is pushing for Arkansas QB Malik Hornsby - he’s scheduled to announce on Jan. 8 from his IG account - the current thinking is that UNLV leads because Bobby Petrino is the new OC there.

>Baylor made a late hard run at Texas QB Hudson Card. However, it was a timing thing where Purdue was ahead.

>I know Baylor and Ole Miss QB Luke Altmyer have been in contact. At one point things looked promising. But Illinois seems to be getting into this and could be the favorite.

>Haven’t heard too much on Baylor and Virginia QB Brennan Armstrong. Could still be an option.

>One name that could surface is Vanderbilt’s Mike Wright. Hasn’t announced he’s in the portal yet but could. A dual-threat QB.


>But keep in mind Baylor’s market is subject to NIL commitment along with telling candidates they can compete for the starting job. If they get any vibe that it’s ride or die with Blake Shapen, this pursuit becomes tougher.

Will keep you posted when we hear more.

Bears fell 7 spots following the loss at Iowa State. One of their lowest rankings in quite some time. Rankings

WACO -
Baylor freshman guard Keyonte George picked up Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Week honors, announced by the league office on Monday.

The Big 12 Preseason Freshman of the Year averaged 18.5 points per game last week, while playing without the services of BU’s third-leading scorer, L.J. Cryer. George’s week was highlighted by 21 points to lead the No. 12 Bears past upset-minded Nicholls in Baylor’s first game after the Christmas break.

His 21 points went along with six rebounds, 4 assists and a career-high seven made free throws. The performance against the Colonels marked the seventh time George led the team in scoring this season, and was the sixth time he notched 13+ points, 5+ rebounds and 4+ assists.

Shouldering more of a scoring load in the conference opener at Iowa State, George went for 16 points and three rebounds. After being held to just one point in the first half, George found his stroke in the second half, pouring in 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including a pair of threes, in a team-leading 18 minutes.

I'm probably not going to be very good at it, but I will try.

This is a great look for the Longhorns after the Chris Beard thing...
Login to view embedded media

Great work by the. A beautiful tribute in a lot of emotions today against Illinois.

Login to view embedded media

There were more than 100 Power Five de-commitments in December. Here are the most impactful:

This guy amazes me.
On December 29, 2022, the NFL posted this.


Tom Brady has been in the NFL over half his life.

Today, he threw for 392 yards, 3 TDs and no interceptions. All three of his TD passes were absolute dimes to Mike Evans. Shortest was 30 yards, longest 63 yards. Tom Brady is unbelievable.

This guy hasn't hung on and held a clipboard on the sidelines for the last ten years to still be on a roster. This is not a good Tampa Bay team, and he just put them on his shoulders to make the playoffs again.

Yeah, yeah, weak division, got it. The only time he's missed the playoffs since 2000 (he didn't play as a rookie) was 2008 with a knee injury. His first playoff game this year will be his 48th playoff game. Guy has played three full seasons of playoff games.

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
At Hilton Coliseum in Ames, No. 12 Baylor couldn't hold an early 9-point lead, wilted in the second half and lost to the Cyclones for the first time in the last seven games.

The Bears (10-3, 0-1) struggled defensively in the second half as the Cyclones shot 55.5 and finished at 50 percent for the game. Adam Flagler got off to a hot start scoring 13 of Baylor's first 18 points and finished with 20 for the game. However, he only scored two in the second half.

Guard LJ Cryer missed his second consecutive game as he was in concussion protocol.

Keyonte George tried to pick up the slack in the second half scoring 15 of his 16 in that stanza. However, he also committed five turnovers and drew a technical foul. Baylor's turnover issues continued committing 19 for the game.

Leading 29-20 with 5:22 to play in the first half, the Bears got cold and the Cyclones got hot. ISU finished on a 14-2 run to take a 34-31 lead at the break. The Cyclones stretched it to 43-32 with 17:42 remaining forcing Baylor head coach Scott Drew to call a timeout.

The Bears closed to 43-40 but never threatened again. Baylor shot 34.7 percent in the second half. Shooting from the arc also proved pivotal. Iowa State was 10-23 (43.5). Baylor was 5-22 (22.7).

Baylor returns to the Ferrell Center on Wednesday to play host to No. 18 TCU in its Big 12 home opener for an 8:00 a.m. (ESPN2).

• Baylor is now 10-3 on the season, 0-1 in conference play
• The Bears had their five-game winning streak snapped.
• Baylor is now 20-14 all-time against Iowa State under Scott Drew
• BU is 10-10 under Scott Drew in conference openers
• The Bears had their six-game winning streak against ISU snapped, the longest by either team.
• ISU snapped Baylor’s four-game winning streak in Ames, the longest road winning streak by either team in the series.
• This season marks just the second time BU will open and close Big 12 Play with the same opponent (2006-07 vs. Oklahoma State)
• Baylor is 156-90 in Big 12 play in the last 13+ seasons since 2010, after going 54-149 in the league’s first 13 seasons
• Baylor is 46-6 vs. unranked teams over the last three seasons.
• Drew is 427-236 in his 21st season as a head coach and a school-record 407-225 in his 20 years at Baylor. Since playing without scholarship limitations, Baylor is 373-156 (since 2007-08) under Drew.
• Adam Flagler scored a season-high 18 first-half points, his 12th-straight double-figure scoring effort, and his fourth-straight against Iowa State.
• He finished with 20 points, his second-straight 20-point effort and his fourth of the season.
• Saturday marked BU’s second loss in 11 games of 20+ points for Flagler in his Baylor career.
• Flagler has now scored in double figures in 13-straight games.
• Keyonte George notched a double-figure scoring effort for the 11th time this season.
• Dale Bonner made his third-straight start, and has a BU career high four starts this season
• Jalen Bridges made his 65th-consecutive start (13th at Baylor)
• Bridges scored in double figures for the fifth time this season.
• Caleb Lohner played in his 65th-consecutive game (13th at Baylor)

Last podcast of 2022!

We discuss Matthew Powledge, quarterbacks, the portal, NIL, and the upcoming conference basketball schedule.




Came in at 23:28

Listen to the podcast here

The little used safety who barely saw time in his tenue at BU is in. He appeared in 12 games in 2022 and made a total of 12 tackles. There could be more like Harris - guys who never really saw the field - enter the portal. Harris was actually part of Dave Aranda's last minute haul for that 2020 class that included Blake Shapen and Micah Mazzccua.

Login to view embedded media

Walcott with the pick six in the Sugar Bowl vs Ole Miss. He was supposed to be The replacement at the star and just never lived up to the expectations

Login to view embedded media

…fast. Very fast. Fastest this season.

Login to view embedded media

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
One of the silver linings to Baylor’s 30-15 loss to Air Force in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl last week was that starting quarterback Blake Shapen didn’t suffer an injury.

Should there not be anything bizarre health wise for him between now and the start of spring football – no date has been set – he should be ready to go.

But from a scholarship QB standpoint, who is going to join him? Shapen is the only scholarship QB on the roster.

With the stunning flip of Austin Novosad from Baylor to Oregon, the Bears are left in a bind on who fills out that part of the roster. There aren’t any high school options as the Bears offered only three for the 2023, and they signed Dec. 21.

A high school commit won’t help this situation anyway. Baylor needs an infusion of immediate college experience.

In short, the Baylor QB situation is a mess.

Head coach Dave Aranda acknowledged last week that the staff will hunt through the NCAA transfer portal to find some help. Easier said than done because a good number of those in the portal are in the portal because they saw little to no playing time at their previous stop.

However, the issue for this position in 2023 is if Baylor is going to treat spring football as a competition between Shapen and whoever or not. If it’s the latter, then Baylor is going to struggle finding someone who wants to come here. NIL will be a factor as well.

The other issue Baylor coaches must decide is if they want a QB to be more of a running threat – Shapen is not that – or if they remain comfortable with a drop back and run when it’s necessary approach.

The portal period runs through Jan. 18. As of now, there were 47 QBs in the portal. But only 17 are not committed as the others found a location or withdrew.

Baylor spring football needs to be a true battle for the starting QB job. Here are some candidates that Baylor may pursue:

>Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina (two years of eligibility) – He missed the last three games with a foot injury. But he has command of his market. Baylor’s timing either could be really good or really bad. It’s either good because he hasn’t decided or it’s a really bad because McCall has already narrowed his list to finalists and the Bears are too late.

Reportedly, he canceled a visit to Auburn earlier this month. It’s unclear if that’s still an option. The other schools he’s connected to are Liberty – where his former coach Jeremy Chadwell relocated – NC State and Florida. He was also looking at UCLA and Oregon. However, those programs filled their needs.

The North Carolina native has 8,019 career passing yards with 78 touchdowns against eight interceptions. He’s also rushed for 1,053 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns.

Hudson Card, Texas (two years of eligibility) – A couple of weeks ago, this was dismissed. But it now may need to be a thing. The Lake Travis product doesn’t have a great arm and will force a ball when he should not. However, he knows the Big 12.

Card finished the 2022 season throwing for 928 yards and six scores. He also completed 69 percent of his passes. Like Shapen, he’s not a great runner.

TCU, Notre Dame and UTSA are considered other programs in the mix.

Brennan Armstrong, Virginia (one year of eligibility) – Virginia’s all-time leading passer probably wants to go out with a bang. The lefty threw for 8,442 yards and school-record 58 touchdowns.

But with a new coach, Armstrong did not have a very good 2022 for the Cavaliers. He threw for just 2,210 yards and seven scores against 12 INTs. He was also sacked 34 times and completed just 54 percent of his attempts.

NC State, Notre Dame, Syracuse Wisconsin and Minnesota appear to be those in the running. Oddsmakers have him going to Notre Dame.

Luke Altmyer, Ole Miss (three years of eligibility) – Baylor fans might remember him from the 2022 Sugar Bowl. Altmyer came on in relief of Matt Corral and threw for 174 yards and a touchdown.

The former 4-star prospect has a big arm but lost the starting job to Jackson Dart in the spring. He appeared in only three games in 2022 so his eligibility is robust along with a redshirt. He appeared in the maximum of four in 2021.

Altmyer is planning to stay with Ole Miss through Wednesday’s Texas Bowl against Texas Tech. He also reportedly visited Illinois 10 days ago. Missouri and Louisville were believed to be in the hunt.

Spencer Sanders, Oklahoma State (one year of eligibility) – He knows Baylor’s offense. Baylor knows him. The question for Baylor is if it’s looking for a one-year stop gap solution, which is what Sanders is, or something long term as it builds the bridge to the 2024 high school QBs.

The veteran has 2024 NFL Draft aspirations. He has been linked to Ole Miss and Auburn, two programs that have the kind of offense that develops signal callers.

Finally, there’s the unknown QB that’s out there. But the risk is that their little playing time and development possibly doesn’t help Baylor’s pursuit. This is going to be a challenge for this staff.

By SicEmSports
A rarity on Wednesday at the Ferrell Center where the Bears shot better from the arc (45.8) than from the field (43.1).

But they had another strong effort from Keyonte George who led with 21 (4-6 from 3-point range) followed by Adam Flagler with 20 (4-9 from deep). Langston Love proved his energy off the bench with 17.

Baylor was without guard LJ Cryer who was out under the concussion protocol.

The Bears were loose with the basketball with 18 turnovers - George with six - but they did force 20 Colonels turnovers and held them 37 percent shooting including 11 percent from deep (2-18).

Baylor owned the boards at 45-34.

Nicholls closed a 45-31 Baylor halftime lead to 47-41. However, the Bears went on a 20-2 run midway through the second half to put this one away.

The Big 12 opener is at 1:00 pm Saturday at Iowa State (9-2). at the Hilton Coliseum.

m Leonhard Would be a Home Run Hire as Baylor's Defensive Coordinator​

Dave Aranda is taking his time with this coaching decision, and Jim Leonhard is still on the market.


Ignore the extra 'h' in his name, and Jim Leonhard would be a flawless hire as Baylor's next defensive coordinator. From his playing career to his tenure as Wisconsin's defensive coordinator, Leonhard has bred success.
The entire idea of Leonhard landing at Baylor starts with his relationship with Dave Aranda. While Aranda was the defensive coordinator at Wisconsin, Leonhard was wrapping up a decade-long career in the NFL.
He then turned to coaching, immediately reaching out to his alma mater and Aranda to learn the ropes. Studying under Aranda paid off. After the now Baylor head coach left Wisconsin for LSU, Leonhard was added to the Badgers' staff as the defensive backs coach and his rise was meteoric.

Trusting Leonhard (Leonard) could be the one. We'll know in less than a week......and then a few Portals to transfer in.
The Bears will be there, upfront and formidable in 2023.
Sic 'em Bears, get the Best, be the Best and win 'em all..

I am heading back from Fayetteville today. Will get back in time to get you ready for the Bears vs. Nicholls State in the final tune-up before Big 12 play begins Saturday at Iowa State.

Wisconsin vs OSU will be over tonight.

Then things get interesting.

And Baylor has completely mismanaged it.

Drones — Starting at VT next year
GB — Starting at USF next year
Zero — Starting at UAB next year
Pyron — Potentially starting at GT next year
Novosad — Bails on signing day eve
Even losing preferred walk-on CJ Rogers is looking bad now! And of course we saw Shapen massively regress this season.

Hey Shawn Bell:

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
With Baylor’s bowl game the day after the early signing period followed by the postgame fallout, there really was not much of an opportunity to offer some perspective of the recently signed 2023 class.

With the late signing period of Feb. 1 still to come, there is the opportunity for Dave Aranda’s program to add more pieces. However, that’s likely going to be on the portal side rather than from the high school side. The portal period concludes on Jan. 18.

>Numbers Game: Baylor finished 26th overall in the Rivals Team Rankings with its 20 signings. In the summer, the class was ranked as high as No. 16. League City Clear Falls linebacker Corey Kelly told SicEmSports he plans on signing with his teammates on Feb. 1. The class ranked fifth in the Big 12 behind Texas, Oklahoma, TCU and Texas Tech.

>Portal Infusion: To this point, Baylor has added four, the largest haul that the program ever had in the portal era. That includes BYU offensive linemen transfers, brothers Clark and Campbell Barrington, Arkansas wide receiver Ketron Jackson and Oklahoma State running back Dominic Richardson. There is the thinking that Baylor could add a couple of more before the portal period ends. Keep an eye on Texas A&M defensive back Jaylon Jones.

>Where this class was helped I: The tight end class of Houston Stratford’s Hawkins Polley and Phoenix’s Matthew Klopfenstein should add to a tight end tradition that’s growing and becoming more and more productive. Each has a great set of hands and are capable of being solid blockers. They likely need a full redshirt year so they will be ready to contribute in 2024. Have some good vibes with the defensive line class led by Fort Bend Ridge Point’s DK Kalu. Finding good nose tackle is really hard. Have to hope Jerrell Boykins can be serviceable.

>Where this class was helped II: The defensive back group of Caden Jenkins, Tay’Shawn Wilson, DJ Coleman, Carl Williams IV and LeVar Thornton Jr. has some upside to it. Thornton’s length is a great weapon since Baylor likes him at safety. Williams has a chance to be a ball hawk. And pay attention to the Bears using Coleman on special teams. He blocked five punts this year. The disappointing part is we didn’t get to see Wilson who missed most of 2022 with a dislocated kneecap. But he is fully recovered and will be going through the track season.

>Where this class was hurt I: We’ll start with the obvious with losing Austin Novosad at the last minute to Oregon. With the Baylor QB room in the state that it is, that exposed the problem even more. Novosad was going to arrive in January and possibly compete for the starting job. Now, Baylor is left to scramble through the second and third tier of QBs in the portal. There is no depth at that position.

>Where this class was hurt II: Presuming Kelly signs on Feb. 1, that will save a linebacker class that was gutted with the losses of Christian Brathwaite (flipped to LSU) and Taurean York (flipped to Texas A&M). The current BU locker room isn’t in the same position as the QB room, of course. However, a portal addition may have to serve as the bridge.

Final assessment: This is a very solid class. Please don’t misunderstand that. When you finish in the 20s, you did something right. Secondary needs along with additions for both the offensive and defensive lines were addressed. What soured everything was the poor finishing highlighted by the Novosad defection.

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Dominic Richardson led Oklahoma State in rushing in 2022. Now, Baylor hopes he can be an integral part of its 2023 backfield.

On Thursday, the former Cowboys running back announced on social media that he is coming to Baylor after entering the NCAA portal. The Oklahoma City native is believed to have three years to play two.



Login to view embedded media Richardson’s first season was 2020 when the NCAA ruled that was a COVID in which no player lost eligibility. He has not burned a redshirt.

Richardson finished 2022 with 543 yards and eight scores. He averaged 3.6 yards per carry. When the Cowboys played at Baylor on Oct. 1, he was their leading rusher (24-73). He became a receiving threat this fall (22-220, 10.0)

While Baylor is adding two running backs in the 2023 class between Franklin’s Bryson Washington and Mineola’s Dawson Pendergrass, there is a need for more immediate experience.

The Bears are expected to lose Sqwirl Williams, a fifth-year junior who was introduced on Senior Day. Plus, the status of running back Taye McWilliams’ future is uncertain after he suffered a concussion Sept. 10 at BYU and never returned this season.

For his career, Richardson has rushed for 1,139 yards and 15 touchdowns and averaged 4.3 yards per carry. He is expected to arrive in January.

Our Cole Patterson has the latest.

No change from last week. Women barely hanging on at No. 23.