2011 ALL-BIG 12 FOOTBALL FIRST TEAM
OFFENSE
Pos. Player School Class Hometown/Previous School(s)
QB Robert Griffin III Baylor Jr. Copperas Cove, Texas/Copperas Cove
RB Terrance Ganaway Baylor Sr. DeKalb, Texas/DeKalb/Houston/Texarkana College
WR Kendall Wright** Baylor Sr. Pittsburg, Texas/Pittsburg
OL Philip Blake Baylor Sr. Toronto, Ontario, Canada/Champlain Regional Prep/Tyler (Texas) JC
2011 ALL-BIG 12 FOOTBALL SECOND TEAM
OFFENSE
OL Robert T. Griffin Baylor Sr. Euless, Texas/Trinity/Navarro College
DEFENSE
Pos. Player School Class Hometown/Previous School(s)
DL Nicolas Jean-Baptiste Baylor Sr. Stafford, Texas/Strake Jesuit College Prep
2011 ALL-BIG 12 HONORABLE MENTION
Baylor: Art Briles (CoY), Elliot Coffey (LB), Ahmad Dixon (LB), Tevin Elliott (DL), Mike Hicks (DB), Sam Holl (DB), K.J. Morton (DB), Jordan Najvar (TE), Tevin Reese (WR), Cyril Richardson (OL), Terrance Williams (WR), Erik Wolfe (FB)

Signs to Arizona practice squad.

Decommitted

We talk about the portal, signing day, and Baylor's probable strategy.



Came in at 17:27

Listen to the podcast here

The last college tuition payment for the Crimson Tide has been made.

The Baylor legacy from Willis and Rivals No. 75 and 2024 4-star QB makes his commitment decision announcement at 3:00 pm Wednesday. Just letting you know. Not expecting Baylor. Florida the leader.

Crazy week, but that's what rivalries are about. @WINNIE BEAR picked up a win with a 6-4 record and only missing the point spread by 1. @Clairatt and @efernandez14 also went 6-4, but missed the spread by more. Clairatt was the only picker that got Michigan-OSU correct. Everybody got fooled by Oklahoma State's collapse.



This last week is for the conference championships. To get to ten games, I'm adding one pro game. There are eleven conference championships going on, but I figured most of you would have to look up the mascots for the MAC and the SWAC teams, so decided to go pro. Two games are on Friday.
The tiebreaker will be the point spread for the Big 12 Championship, TCU vs KSU.

Friday, December 2

PAC-12 Championship - Allegiant Stadium - Las Vegas, NV
#4 Southern Cal (11-1, 8-1) vs #12 Utah (9-3, 7-2)

C-USA Championship - Alamodome - San Antonio, TX
North Texas (7-5, 6-2) vs #23 UTSA (10-2, 8-0)

Saturday, December 3

Big 12 Championship - AT&T Stadium - Arlington, TX
#3 TCU (12-0, 9-0) vs #13 Kansas State (9-3, 7-2)

SEC Championship - Mercedes Benz Stadium - Atlanta, GA
#11 LSU (9-3, 6-2) vs #1 Georgia (12-0, 8-0)

AAC Championship - Yulman Stadium - New Orleans, LA
#18 Tulane (10-2, 7-1) vs. #22 UCF (9-3, 6-2)

B1G Championship - Lucas Oil Stadium - Indianapolis, IN
#RV Purdue (8-4, 6-3) vs #2 Michigan (12-0, 9-0)

ACC Championship - Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
#10 Clemson (10-2, 8-0) vs #24 North Carolina (9-3, 6-2)

Mountain West Championship - Albertsons Stadium - Boise, ID
#RV Fresno State (8-4, 7-1) vs #RV Boise State (9-3, 8-0)

Sun Belt Championship - Veterans Memorial Stadium - Troy, AL
#RV Coastal Carolina (9-2, 6-2) vs #RV Troy (10-2, 7-1)

Sunday, December 4

NFL - AT&T Stadium - Arlington, TX
Indianapolis Colts (4-6-1, 2-3-1 Away) @ Dallas Cowboys (8-3, 5-1 Home)

That game will be play Jan. 14 in Orlando.

https://twitter.com/Hula_Bowl/status/1600574842889191442?s=20&t=pDRG9RiBz32g5wKxIh-v_g

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Baylor’s Gavin Holmes has run out of eligibility. He walked on senior day. But there’s a chance Baylor could keep that name going in 2023.

Earlier this week, Wake Forest sophomore defensive back Gavin Holmes announced he entered the NCAA transfer portal. Almost immediately, the offers piled up including one from the Bears. Others are Texas, West Virginia, Washington and Ole Miss.

“I heard that there was another Gavin Holmes on their team,’’ this Holmes said. “That’s crazy. It would be cool Gavin Holmes lined up against Gavin Holmes in practice.’’

A product of Archbishop Rummel in New Orleans, Holmes turned into a ball hawk in his two years as a starter for the Demon Deacons. He had solo INTs in 2020 and 2021 – returned one for a score in 2020 – and for his career, broke up 15 other passes. That included nine this past fall.

The veteran usually got one of the tougher cover assignments weekly. He appeared in 27 total games but all 24 between these past two seasons. Of his 45 career tackles, 36 are solos. According to Pro Football Focus, Holmes has graded in the mid-60s.

Baylor is looking for some veteran leadership in the secondary after that unit struggled in 2022. Veteran Mark Milton just completed his fifth season but did not walk on senior day.

“I talked with [Baylor defensive backs coach] Kevin Curtis and that went pretty well,’’ Holmes said. “He knows his stuff. He just told me that they’re looking for help and that I could be a fit for them.’’

Holmes said on Wednesday that he was returning to New Orleans later in the day. Once he gets settled, he will sort through all of his offers and determine his next steps. That would include visits.

A decision may not come until January. Time will tell. Holmes still has a redshirt and the COVID year available to him. He’s draft eligible in 2025.

“We’re just going to talk about what’s best me for,’’ Holmes said. “There’s a lot to look at.’’

The transfer portal officially opens Monday and it's already been incredibly busy. We have you covered. Rivals has all the latest news on the biggest transfers, we're now ranking every entry into the portal and we also have a message board to talk about everything portal-related.

Please use these resources to find all the breaking news and everything else when it comes to the portal:

Site: https://portal.rivals.com/

Transfer Tracker & Ranking: https://n.rivals.com/transfer_tracker/2023

Message board: https://forums.rivals.com/forums/football-transfer-portal.46/

And please follow us on social for all the breaking news: @RivalsPortal

It was choppy to start at the Ferrell Center as you could imagine. The Bears didn't have their two most prolific scorers on the court with Adam Flagler (illness) and LJ Cryer (back) sidelined.

But it gave Langston Love and Dale Bonner the opportunity to start. After an up-and-down first half, the Bears saw a 39-30 halftime lead cut to 41-38 in the opening minutes.

However, they used an 8-0 run to jump up 49-38 and really were never threatened. Love scored a career-high 20. Keyonte George hit the 20-point mark for the third time this season with 21. Bonner added 12.

Baylor had a pretty poor shooting first half but was able to get it going once everybody became a little more comfortable with each other and finished at 46.6 percent. They also cleaned up the ball handling. After a wild first half, Bears finished with just 19.

Because they had the size advantage, they dominated on the glass, 41-23. One other interesting note is that Flo Thamba won his 100th game wearing a Baylor uniform, the most of any player in program history.

Now time to hit the books for final exams. Bears don't play again until Dec. 18 when they meet Washington State at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas in the Coast-to-Coast Pac 12 Challenge.

Postgame Notes

• Baylor won its seventh-straight game against Tarleton and its first since 1986
• Baylor is 61-17 against in-state opponents since the start of the 2011-12 season
• BU is 45-3 in home games over the last four seasons
• Baylor is 78-4 in its last 82 non-conference home games dating back to Dec. 12, 2012.
• The Bears are 142-16 in non-conference home games in the Drew era, including 114-8 since 2007-08.
• BU is 58-8 in home games against unranked opponents since 2016-2017
• With 100 career wins, Flo Thamba is now the winningest player in program history (Only includes games played).
• The senior also set a new program record with his 208th win of his career (including all games regardless of participation)
• Thamba tied a season high with six points.
• Langston Love made his first-career start and notched his first-career 20-point game, a new career high.
• Love is the fifth-different player to score 20+ points this season.
• Keyonte George had a game-high 22 points his third 20-point game this season.
• The reining Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the week is averaging 17.25 points per game in his last four games.
• This is the second time this season BU has had multiple 20-point scorers, and the first time since 11/20/22 against UCLA.
• George tied a career-high with seven rebounds
• Jalen Bridges pulled down a season-high 8 rebounds.
• Jordan Turner played in his first game of the season after missing the first eight with a wrist injury.

Quotable

Langston Love
(What was the mindset of the team with LJ and Adam out?)
Some guys were out, so we had their back just like they have our back when we're playing. So, we just wanted to come in and just play hard for them.

(On the lob)
It was really exciting. Playing with a great passer like Keyonte, I knew he was gonna hit me. So, I just had to finish it off.

(Had a couple really good slams, any extra joy after last season?)
I would say that being back out there is great but it's really a blessing because, (after) all the work that I had to put in last year, my legs feel better than they’ve ever felt in my time playing basketball. So, that's what helps me get up right now. And just leaning on the backs of my teammates. They helped me through a lot, so it's cool.

Dale Bonner
(Ran the offense, how was that, an adjustment?)
I wouldn't say it's an adjustment. Just when my numbers called to play the 1, 2 or 3. Wherever the coaches need me to be, that’s what I'm gonna play so I'm just gonna continue to do that.

(Were they a pretty physical team?)
Yeah, they’re physical but they also foul a lot. We also fouled a lot, too.

Keyonte George
(Tough first half for you, what was the different in those halves?)
I mean, I've said it before, I'll say it again. Trusting my work. Some of the best shooters miss shots. So, that's my mentality. They can miss shots, I can miss shots. So, getting to the rim, out to the free throw line and then it starts opening up the game for me and I was able to make shots.

(Team didn’t shoot a lot of threes in the first half, did that open up later, what happened there?)
We got a lot of athletic guys on his team. So, get to the rim, get fouled, put pressure on the defense and then we got great shooters on the team, so that opens up for them. So, just using all our weapons. Like I said, putting a lot of pressure on the defense making them guard.

(Was that one of the more physical teams you played this year?)
No. They were definitely physical though, for sure. Using their hands a lot, body checking us, hitting us on box outs. But it was real physical. I wouldn't say it's one of my (most) physical games, but it's up there.

And then there were two - Wes Tucker and Bryson Washington. Washington with the game-winner in a dramatic finish. We also have Cory Huff's season stats.

Commitment Chart

I figured they would tumble after the blowout loss at Marquette. They saved it from being worse by surviving against Gonzaga. Zags are now No. 18.

Rankings


WACO, Texas – Baylor freshman guard Keyonte George picked up Big 12 Conference Co-Newcomer of the Week honors along with Kansas’ Gradey Dick, announced by the league office on Monday.

The Big 12 Preseason Freshman of the year averaged 15 points per game last week, highlighted by 18 points to lead the No. 6 Bears past No. 14 Gonzaga in the inaugural Peacock Classic. Friday’s performance against Gonzaga marked the fourth time George has led the Bears in scoring this season, and his six rebounds were just one off his career high (7).

The freshman burst out of the gate with 14 first-half points against the 'Zags, one point off his career-high for points in a half, to give the Bears a five-point lead at the break. In the second half, George made some clutch buckets as he twice put Baylor back in front after Gonzaga had wrestled back the lead.

In BU’s game against Marquette, George had 12 points against the Golden Eagles, marking the sixth time in seven games he has scored in double figures.

George ranks ninth in the conference in scoring (14.9 ppg), 10th in field goal percentage (.398) and fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.328), while pulling down the second-most rebounds per game (4.1) among Big 12 guards.

The freshman is Baylor’s first newcomer of the week since Kendall Brown took home the distinction at the end of last season (3/7).

By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Like his life, Irving Berlin’s songs had and have staying power. The famous Russian composer, who moved to the United States when he was 5-years old, lived to be 101 (1888-1989) and created so many classics.

But his classic White Christmas blended the simple with the elegant. Berlin wrote it for the 1942 movie Holiday Inn. It won the Oscar for Best Original Song.

The RJB has no issues with Bing Crosby’s original rendition. But when The Drifters do it, now we’re the high rent district.

Login to view embedded media
*****
I’ll pardon your less than enthusiastic response when you found out Baylor’s bowl assignment for 2022. In fact, I’ll give you latitude for the indifference or apathy.

When you come off a 2021 season where you win a conference championship, win the Sugar Bowl, finish No. 5 in the nation and have preseason expectations that were what TCU is currently enjoying, playing a bowl game before Christmas is not what you were anticipating.

In fact, if I told you that was Baylor’s fate was that it would play Dec. 22 in TCU’s Amon Carter Stadium for the Armed Forces Bowl against Air Force, you would have looked at me and thought I was out of my mind.

Alas, as this season spiraled to a dismal 6-6 finish and three-game losing streak, this is where we’re at. On Nov. 5, Baylor had its conference championship and bowl destiny in its hands as it was preparing to play at Oklahoma. And when the Bears won in Norman, OK for only the second time in program, there was some “here we go” mentality.

After that nothing. There was the unexplainable performance against Kansas State, the kick to the gut loss to TCU and the fourth quarter meltdown at Texas.

While some people may question why Baylor isn’t in like the Guarantee Rate, Texas or Liberty Bowl against another P5 team, I think I just answered why Baylor isn’t.

I was asked about this on Twitter. My response was the poor finish left this program vulnerable for its bowl assignment.

Playing Air Force may not be a sexy assignment. It’s a bruise to the P5 ego. But it’s going to be a difficult assignment. The Falcons are a solid bunch and run an option that will demand discipline. It’s a game of chase against Troy Calhoun’s program. Either you fall behind and you’re chasing their running backs after 4-and-5-yard gains while the clock is draining, or the Falcons are chasing you if they misfire. The option is not a good come-from-behind offense. We’ll get into that a little bit this week with a first look piece. But their 9-3 record is not to be dismissed. The Falcons won the Commanders in Chief Trophy with wins over Navy and Army.

As for the Bears, they’re going to have to decide how they want to approach this. Either they want to play with great intensity and emotion and play for the idea of finishing the season with a winning record or they can be flat and not be engaged and get beat.

This is a tricky scenario Dave Aranda’s program faces.


*****
A quick word on the College Football Playoff. Really no controversy over the selection of Georgia, Michigan, TCU and Ohio State in that order for the national semifinals.

I think what the selections show is that the first three were not in danger of losing their spots had they lost their conference title games. TCU was the only one of the three to do that. However, consider the Horned Frogs lost on the last play to the No. 10 team (Kansas State) in the poll in overtime. Had TCU been blown out, there might have been some tense moments.

It is good for the Big 12 to have representation in the playoff and with a team that isn’t jumping conferences. It probably is hard to process it because it is TCU. But Sonny Dykes’ program earned it, deserved it, and has its shot.

When USC imploded against Utah that was an easy replacement with Ohio State. I really enjoyed Alabama head coach Nick Saban lobbying for his 2-loss Crimson Tide to make it and was creative in his arguments. But deep down, Saban knew it was a longshot. Heck, even my Crimson Tide told me she didn’t believe they deserved to go.

*****
Some items to pass your way from the mothership

>First, with the NCAA transfer portal officially opening on Monday, we’ll track and see who else from Baylor might enter. We’re up to four in WR Seth Jones, RB/WR Josh Fleeks, QB Kyron Drones and S Devin Neal.

I do anticipate more from this team to move on. Now, who will Baylor move on from other programs will take some time to process. This program will need some help with defensive line and linebacker. It also wouldn’t hurt to maybe look at an experienced wide receiver.

This is a short window. It closes Dec. 15.

>Second, the final Rivals ratings period before the early signing period is released this week. We’ll see what happens with the likes of Dripping Springs QB Austin Novosad, Arlington Lamar 4-star offensive lineman Isaiah Robinson and 4-star and No. 158 Katy Mayde Creek defensive back Tay’Shawn Wilson. I think 4-star LB Corey Kelly should be fine.

I’m concerned about Robinson and Wilson because they suffered season-ending injuries early in the football season so there was little to nothing to evaluate. Novosad, who is No. 61, had a great year.

As for Baylor adding to this 2023 class, I don’t really see this staff doing anything major unless the right fit comes along. I could see them using the late signing period in February to add the last couple of additions.

>Third, I’m bringing back “Where are the Baylor Coaches” on Monday. In home and campus meetings with the 2023 commitment class and others are scheduled or have taken place. We’ll keep you posted. Like those other threads, this will be a running account as to what is happening. That’s another short window that runs through Dec. 18. The dead period resumes Dec. 19 through Jan. 12.


About Baylor NCAA tournament Volleyball
On Friday, No. 17 Baylor (25-6) had to survive a 5-set match against No. 20 Rice (27-4). Baylor won, 16-25, 25-22, 25-23, 14-25, 15-11, Friday in the Ferrell Center. Baylor advances to the Sweet 16 and will head to Louisville Thursday. That match is set for 12:30 p.m. Thursday (ESPNU).


Let’s make it a great week!

This is at TCU's Amon Carter Stadium. It's a 6:30 kickoff. Falcons finished 9-3 and lost all 3 games by one score. More to come.

Login to view embedded media

Dripping Springs 24.....Austin Vandergriff.....27. A fourth QTR field goal ended the Season
for Drippings Springs' and Novasads HS season. Stats N/A, so now he's BAYLOR BOUND.
A Great season for the team and Novasad......
Sic 'em Bears, fans, D.Springs, Novasad, continue to be the best you can be.....

As Transfers from Baylor and other schools announce, we can pontificate:

Example: Hudson Card just announced he is leaving Horns. Is he an Upgrade over Shapen? I think that is a close call.

This gut check win on Friday in the Peacock Classic at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. was about execution and survival all into one.

Baylor held the lead for the most of the game, wilted and fell behind 63-56 with 1:41 to play. But then Adam Flagler, who was pretty quiet throughout the night, drilled two threes to cut it 63-62.

Gonzaga's turnover issues did them in, They committed two over that last 101 seconds. But the play of the game goes to Jalen Bridges who stepped up.

After an Flagler miss on a 3-pointer, Bridges retrieved the offensive rebound and was fouled by Gonzaga's Drew Timme (his fifth) with 16 seconds remaining.

Bridges hit both free throws. The Zags then turned it over when Dale Bonner got a steal. However, the Bears gave it right back with five seconds to play. The Bears had to survive Gonzaga's Nolan Hickman's missed layup as time expired.

Far from pretty. The Bears shot 37 percent and were just 6-24 from the arc. Keyonte George had it going in the first half with 14 of his 18.

Baylor won this game despite Flagler finishing with 11 and LJ Cryer with 7 and getting outrebounded 49-38. However, they also won this game because Flo Thamba and some help made Timme pretty much a no-show. He finished with 9 points but didn't earn his first field goal until about six minutes to go in the game.

A great win for this team considering how bad everything looked Tuesday at Marquette. The Bears defense was a total 180 from Tuesday. The Zags shot just 36 percent and were just 27 percent from the arc.

Last game before finals week is against Tarleton State at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday at the Ferrell Center.

Postgame notes from Baylor SID

• Baylor leads the nation with a 24-7 record against AP Top 25 teams over the last four years, 15 of those came away from home.
• The Bears held the nation’s best offense in Gonzaga, to a season-low 63 points.
• After dropping the first five games of the series, BU has won two straight over Gonzaga.
• BU has had at least one player score 20+ points in seven of the last nin games.
• Baylor has built leads of 10+ points in 38 of 45 games since the start of the 2021 NCAA Tournament (38-7 record).
• Keyonte George led all scorers with 18 points. It is the fourth time he has led the Bears in scoring this year.
• In three games against ranked opponents this year, George has averaged 14 points per game.
• Adam Flagler has scored in double figures in all eight games this season.
• Flagler made multiple three-pointers in 10-straight games.
• Jalen Bridges went 4-for-4 from the free throw line, including a pair of clutch free throws to give BU the lead with 16 seconds left.
• It was the eighth time in Bridges’ career he went perfect from the line (minimum 4 attempts)
• Bridges made his 60th-consecutive start tonight.

It was a grudge match but they survived.

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media

There should be more changes coming. Could be along the defensive staff. Obviously, Baylor's defense just didn't perform up to expectations given what was expected this year.

After a year in which Baylor won the Big 12 and had extraordinary production, the 2022 season was far different. Baylor was in the middle of the league in scoring defense (26.6), fourth in total defense (370.3), third in rushing defense (137.6) and third in passing defense (232.8).

Since the Oklahoma State game, Baylor allowed scoring totals of 36, 43, 23, 17, 35, 31, 29 and 38. That's an average of 31.5 points per game.

I heard Wheat’s name during the day. But he also was in charge of special teams and the number of issues that group have this year also doesn’t make this surprising.


Login to view embedded media

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media