By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
The Topper
A couple of quick hits about Baylor men’s basketball.
>They’ve started work outs and everything is off to a good start. If you missed it earlier, they have their “secret scrimmages” set for Oct. 19 against LSU in Houston and Oct. 27 at Texas A&M.
>On the injury front, both sophomore guard Jared Butler and junior forward Tristan Clark are pretty much moving much freer. They’re not completely 100 percent back from their respective knee injuries. But it’s not something that’s causing them to miss time. Baylor’s staff is being pretty careful with them. Freddie Gillespie and Matthew Mayer continue their road to recovery from their injuries as well. Again, the roster should be close to ready for the Nov. 5 season opener against Central Arkansas.
Baylor-Texas Tech notable visitors
Subject to change, a look at several notables who have told SicEmSports they plan to be at Saturday’s Homecoming game against Texas Tech.
Jack Tucker, OL, Argyle (Baylor 2021 offer)
Gavin Byers, OL, Colleyville Heritage (Baylor 2020 commit)
Chateau Reed, WR, Lawton (OK) (Baylor 2020 commit)
Kevin Greene, DT, Del City (OK) (Baylor 2021 interest)
E’Maurion Banks, DE, Wichita Falls Rider (Baylor 2021 offer)
Mose Jeffery, OL, Kilgore College (Baylor 2020 commit) – This is an unofficial visit
Theron Stroops, DB, Lancaster (Baylor 2020 commit)
Adnois McCarty, WR/Ath, Brownwood (Baylor 2020 commit)
Jahdae Barron, DB, Pflugerville Connally (Baylor 2020 commit) – planning on it but needs to double check this weekend
Romario Noel, DB, Cy Ranch (Baylor 2021 commit)
Kaidon Salters, QB, Cedar Hill (Baylor 2021 offer)
Will Nixon, WR, Waco Midway (Baylor 2020 offer; Nebraska commit)
Behren Morton, QB, Eastland (Baylor 2021 offer)
Vencent Rockwell, LB, Longview Spring Hill (Baylor 2020 interest)
Loic Fouonji, WR, Midland Lee (Baylor 2020 offer)
So you’re saying there’s a chance…
It’s no secret that Baylor’s 2020 class could still use a defensive lineman in it. It’s probably the longest of shots. But Cedar Creek 4-star defensive end Alfred Collins said he still continues to talk with Baylor coaches Oscar Giles and Glenn Thomas on a regular basis.
Collins has already taken officials visits to Alabama and Oklahoma. He taking one to Texas A&M this weekend when the Aggies face the Crimson Tide. Collins is also planning on visiting Texas Oct. 18.
That leaves one OV open. It appears LSU won’t get that one. Collins hasn’t decided where that will go. But he hasn’t ruled out Baylor either. Time will tell.
“That’s a thought,’’ Collins said of the visit. “But I don’t know yet. I still talk to Baylor. And yeah, I’m still interested. But my eyes are on a lot of other schools. I would love to come to Baylor and watch a game. These visits are just booking my weekends.’’
Cedar Creek is off to an impressive 4-1 start. So is Collins. Of his 31 tackles, 19 are solos that are mixed into his 13 tackles for loss. He’s also recorded three sacks and nine QB hurries.
Collins is in no hurry to make a decision. That could run through the second signing period that starts Feb. 5. He is a May graduate.
Tucker and Baylor bonding
Baylor is playing its fourth home game of the season Saturday against Texas Tech. Argyle 2021 offensive line Jack Tucker has been in attendance for the first three and will be there for this one.
Ever since the Bears offered in the summer, the relationship between him and the Baylor coaching staff between offensive line coach Shawn Bell and Joey McGuire has reached another level.
“[What I learned] is that the coaches really care about their prospects,’’ Tucker said. “I really like Baylor a lot. Right now, it’s just me asking a lot of questions about Baylor and college football in general.’’
Tucker comes to watch for two reasons: take part in the experience but to watch how college football offensive linemen play the game. He’s paid particular attention to footwork and hand technique.
He also gets that he’s going to have to do it at a much faster pace in college. That’s just the game.
“I watch Connor Galvin [before Galvin got hurt] a lot because he plays left tackle,’’ Tucker said. “I like to watch Jake Fruhmorgen because he blows people up.
“I met Connor at the camp I went to and talked to him for a bit after the UTSA game. We just talked about the game and how some plays went down. He did tell me the biggest thing about college is how much faster everybody is.’’
Argyle is currently No. 1 in the Class 4A poll and pushing toward a deep playoff run that could finish in a state championship.
“It’s cool, but that’s not what we’re striving for,’’ Tucker said. “It doesn’t mean much to us to be No. 1 in Week 7. The goal is to be No. 1 come Christmas. Overall, I think it’s gone well for me personally. I have some stuff to improve on.’’
Baylor players talk Homecoming against Texas Tech
James Lynch, John Lovett and R.J. Sneed met with the media earlier this week.
James Lynch, DE, JR
(feel a difference in how you guys are working together up front) Yeah, I feel like the main thing is working together, because it’s not always just the d-line making a good move, it’s the linebackers helping show disguise and our defense disguising so they get confused and allow us to have a one-on-one or confuse the o-line or confuse the quarterback so it gives us time to get back there.
We did all of this last year, we’re just in our third year now. We haven’t perfected it, but we’ve gotten a lot better at it and we’re a lot more confident. So, I feel like you’re seeing it on the field. We’re showing ourselves that we can play and every week it’s showing up, so we’ve got to keep doing it.
(Bravvion impact) For me and Lock (James Lockhart), that’s what makes the three-man front work is if you have a dominant nose like B-Roy or if you have someone who can come in like Gabe (Hall) or somebody that can help do that, too. When you have someone who can take on maybe three blockers, or even whenever they put a running back in there, it makes us have a one-on-one or a linebacker be able to run free, which makes our defense work very well and makes it easier for a lot of people. So having him is very pivotal for our defense.
(Roy against K-State) That was the most impressive game I’ve seen from him, ever. If you watch, every play on film he’s basically just blowing up the play. If you have a noseguard that can knock the center back, which he can every play, then it disrupts everything. And that’s what he was doing, so it made it a lot easier for all of us.
(confidence with the defense) We have a lot of confidence, but I think the main thing is we’re having fun. We’re having fun just playing together. Like Coach (Joey) McGuire, if you were on the field, we just enjoy being out there. Like if our offense turns the ball over, it’s not a bad thing, it’s another chance for us to show the world what we can do. So, we’re just having fun showing the world that we can play defense and we’re having fun with each other.
(on Clay Johnston’s leadership) Clay is obviously another pivotal guy. You’ve got to have him in the middle just making sure we all know what we’re doing. He’s making the calls for our DBs and our d-line and just making sure we’re everybody’s on the same page. And he’s one of those guys, too, that’s like, ‘Come on, guys, we can show people what we’re capable of, let’s go do it every week, play-in and play-out.’ And he’s one of those guys that after a sack or a pick, he’s always around people celebrating. So, it’s fun having him out there with us.
(Tech’s quick game) It is more difficult. It’s kind of weird, you go from K-State where they have six-inch splits on the o-line to now like three-foot splits, and the offense is totally different, it’s very difficult. They have a lot of playmakers, their o-line is athletic, so it’s going to be tough for us this week, but we’re going to be ready for them.
(stopping them on the early downs) As a defense, the best way to stop an offense is first down. If you can make it second-and-10 or second-and-long, it makes it a whole lot easier for the defense because then the offense can’t do what they want to do. So, every down is key obviously, but stopping them early makes it easier for us.
(Tech QB Jett Duffey) He got Player of the Week last week, I’m pretty sure. You watch him play, and he’s a playmaker, he wants to win. They came into that game and I’m pretty sure they were underdogs and they wanted to play and show the world what they could do. And they played well, so we’re going to have our hands full this week.
(how do you contain him) You just have to make sure you rush the right way and make sure you keep him in the pocket because we can’t let him run around and make plays and make extended plays, because that’s when our defense might break down. So, we have to make sure we’re on our P’s and Q’s and make sure we do what our defense is supposed to do.
(killer instinct to end games) Yeah, I feel like it’s our strength staff a lot, actually, just our conditioning and being able to be tougher in the fourth quarter and be stronger in the fourth quarter and try to end the game and not let it continue and become close when it shouldn’t be, or end the game whenever it is close. So as a defense, it’s our job is to make sure nothing gets out of hand or they can’t come back. Whenever we have the chance, we have to make the most of it.
We’ve always said since fall camp and even spring ball that turnovers are addictive. And when you get one, you want to get more. So, we’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing and keep getting more and more because it’s not enough yet.
(being ranked) No, it’s nice to have people tell you, ‘Good job’ and all that, but what really matters is what we put on tape. And what we put on tape has to be good enough. If it’s not good enough, then we’re going to have problems and we’ll lose to somebody like Texas Tech or anybody in this conference. So, we’re going to make sure we do what we’re supposed to do. It doesn’t matter what number we are, it’s just a number.
(when you look at last week’s tape, do you still see mistakes) On every play, there’s somebody messing something up or anybody messing something up. So whenever you see it on tape and you see it in a game where we won and we should have won by more and we should have played this play better and that play better, it’s frustrating to see, but it’s good because we know we can get better and we will get better.
John Lovett, RB, Jr.
(Confidence level) I didn’t know we were ranked, we just go day by day, step by step. So I didn’t know we were ranked pretty sure a lot of the team didn’t know we were ranked. We’ll go into practice today just fly around competing, we love competing that’s what we do best. That builds our confidence level really.
(1-0 each week) Most definitely, a lot of people, like outsiders might think were focusing Texas, Oklahoma but were just worried about what’s next which is 1-0 against Texas Tech.
(Run game vs. KSU) I honestly couldn’t tell you because every week we just go out and try and do the same thing and just rush as best as we can and we have plenty of running backs def quarterbacks that can run I don’t think that’s a problem.
(46-yard TD run) It was really good, JaMycal Hasty had an amazing block I don’t think he’s getting praised enough for it. If you ask me, the block was better than the touchdown. I couldn’t of done it without his block.
(Blocking) Yeah, no doubt. Sacrifices we’ll lay our bodies on the line for our teammates just to win and go out there and have fun. We make memories with each other
(More on blocking) Practicing with JaMycal every day, just ask him a question it helped me as a player all around especially blocking as you mentioned. I think JaMycal might be one of the best blocking running backs we have I ask him a lot of questions he gives me feedback and just go out there and practice.
(Running vs. TT) I see opportunity, but like I said we just gotta get out there and get better. Texas tech is a good team they fly around on defense, so it’ll be fun this weekend.
(Watching the defense) It excites us to see our defense go out there and fly around I mean we practice against them every single day so to see a team go out there and compete and just really fly around other teams it gives us a really good confidence level.
(Working since August) Yeah, they work they do extra work they stay in the film room. I’m pretty sure Clay [Johnston) lives in the film room with Coach Snow so I don’t know if he goes home he has a sleeping bag in there.
R.J. Sneed, WR, RSSO
(Finally playing Tech at McLane) I look forward to playing every game at Mclane, you know I only played at AT&T one year so I guess I don’t have much to say about that. But it was a cool experience but I guess its kinda cool to bring it home and home away. So next year we can go up to Lubbock.
(The play when Bohanon found him at KSU) Yeah so Charlie went down, and Gerry came in and he stepped up and we ran a little play for me to go to the flat and he didn’t like what he saw down deep so he checked down me and I saw a guy come so I ran into him and next thing I know I was on the 2 yard line. So it was a cool play, I liked it because next play Gerry scored and I like how Gerry came in and took care of business for Charlie.
(The thinking on that play) It was more of a the play called for more of a whatever we can get cause I think we were going to do a two and down play so I think on fourth down we were going to go for it so it was more of a get whatever we can get.
(Gerry coming in at 17-6) Yeah it just goes back to preparation. Gerry prepares like he’s number one quarter back, and he’s here before majority of us and here late after all of us have left he studies film just like Charlie does he prepares himself very well.
(Confidence and not be stopped) I feel like at our best no, but at the same time we can’t get too complacent. You know, there’s a lot of good defense out there, week in week out we got to put the work in. But I feel like as a group, we can be one of the best in the country.
(Watching Tyquan Thornton) Yeah, he stepped up big. Well Iowa state was his first start, and you know he had about 141, and that’s very big and it just takes off pressure for Denzell, so me Tyquan come in and get one on one and (2:36 no idea) that’s good for the team.
(Being ranked matter) Not really, cause you know we still got a long season to go you know. I’m just worried about going 1-0 this week.
(Watching Texas Tech’s defense) They play hot guy kinda like Iowa states you know, it’s a good defense to run the ball in and you gotta find the seams to throw it. You know, they’re a valid defense and I felt like they did very well last week against Oklahoma state. On certain downs you’ll see some man you’ll see some zone they give you a mixture of both.
(Tech’s defense creating turnovers) We got to make sure we attack the ball you know, gotta run our routes with the right depth gotta make sure were looking and excepting the ball to come our way.
Big 12 Power Rankings
Each week, SicEmSports ranks the Big 12 based on how the season is progressing. Agree or disagree, here they are.
1. Oklahoma – Sooners can become clear favorites with win over Big 12 rival
2. Texas – Hoping for health in the secondary against Hurts
3. Baylor – Trusting the process means blocking out Homecoming distractions
4. Iowa State – Because it’s hard to decide who is actually the No. 4 team
5. Texas Tech – Left for dead, the Red Raiders get huge outing from QB Jett Duffey
6. Oklahoma State – Cowboys get a week to think about what happened at TT
7. TCU – QB problems surface for this program
8. Kansas State – Averaging 12.5 points in league games isn’t a winning formula
9. West Virginia – Austin Kendall must put a 4-INT performance behind him
10. Kansas – Changing offensive coordinators
Big 12 Weekend
A look at the action from the opening week of the conference. Rankings are from the AP andcoaches polls. All games are Saturday. TV is listed. Kansas, Kansas State, TCU and Oklahoma State have byes.
No. 6/5 Oklahoma (5-0, 2-0) vs. No. 11/11 Texas (4-1, 2-0); 11:00 a.m., Cotton Bowl, Fair Park, Dallas (FOX)
Series: Texas leads, 62-47-5
Notable: The battle for the Golden Hat. Bragging rights are secondary as these two push toward the Big 12 championship. But since there is a championship game in December, the loser isn’t out of it. Texas QB Sam Ehlinger leads the conference with 17 touchdown passes. Sooners’ QB Jalen Hurts is second with 14. These are two of the highest scoring teams in college football. Oklahoma is nearly at 54. Texas is at 41.
Iowa State (3-2, 1-1) at West Virginia (3-2, 1-1); 3:00 p.m., Milan Puskar Stadium, Morgantown, WV (ESPN)
Series: West Virginia leads, 5-2
Notable: A very interesting meeting because the Mountaineers struggled against Texas and the Cyclones apparently found their offense against TCU. Iowa State QB Brock Purdy leads the conference in passing yards per game at 315. Because of the four INTs he threw last week against Texas, WVU’s Austin Kendall has thrown the most miscues with seven. The Mountaineers are last in the Big 12 in total offense at 353.
Texas Tech (3-2, 1-1) at No. 22/23 Baylor (5-0, 2-0); 3:00 p.m., McLane Stadium, Waco (FS1)
Series: Baylor leads, 39-37-1
Notable: This will be the Red Raiders first appearance at McLane Stadium as the series has shifted back to home and home. Protecting the QB is going to be even more key in this contest. Yes, Baylor leads the Big 12 in sacks with 18. But Texas Tech is tied with West Virginia for second with 14. Both have also been very good in the turnover ratio. They are each +4.
Emptying the Notebook
>Shadow Creek 2020 WR and Baylor commit Seth Jones' injury (knee) isn’t considered serious. From what we understand he’s probably going to not play for a couple of weeks. At the very least, he should be ready for the playoffs.
>What was thought to be a huge lead for China Springs 2021 WR/DE D’Marion Alexander for Baylor may no longer be the case. Alexander has seen a huge push from the TCU staff to the point where he considers it pretty tight between the Bears and Horned Frogs at this point. Still have a long way to go here.
Publisher
The Topper
A couple of quick hits about Baylor men’s basketball.
>They’ve started work outs and everything is off to a good start. If you missed it earlier, they have their “secret scrimmages” set for Oct. 19 against LSU in Houston and Oct. 27 at Texas A&M.
>On the injury front, both sophomore guard Jared Butler and junior forward Tristan Clark are pretty much moving much freer. They’re not completely 100 percent back from their respective knee injuries. But it’s not something that’s causing them to miss time. Baylor’s staff is being pretty careful with them. Freddie Gillespie and Matthew Mayer continue their road to recovery from their injuries as well. Again, the roster should be close to ready for the Nov. 5 season opener against Central Arkansas.
Baylor-Texas Tech notable visitors
Subject to change, a look at several notables who have told SicEmSports they plan to be at Saturday’s Homecoming game against Texas Tech.
Jack Tucker, OL, Argyle (Baylor 2021 offer)
Gavin Byers, OL, Colleyville Heritage (Baylor 2020 commit)
Chateau Reed, WR, Lawton (OK) (Baylor 2020 commit)
Kevin Greene, DT, Del City (OK) (Baylor 2021 interest)
E’Maurion Banks, DE, Wichita Falls Rider (Baylor 2021 offer)
Mose Jeffery, OL, Kilgore College (Baylor 2020 commit) – This is an unofficial visit
Theron Stroops, DB, Lancaster (Baylor 2020 commit)
Adnois McCarty, WR/Ath, Brownwood (Baylor 2020 commit)
Jahdae Barron, DB, Pflugerville Connally (Baylor 2020 commit) – planning on it but needs to double check this weekend
Romario Noel, DB, Cy Ranch (Baylor 2021 commit)
Kaidon Salters, QB, Cedar Hill (Baylor 2021 offer)
Will Nixon, WR, Waco Midway (Baylor 2020 offer; Nebraska commit)
Behren Morton, QB, Eastland (Baylor 2021 offer)
Vencent Rockwell, LB, Longview Spring Hill (Baylor 2020 interest)
Loic Fouonji, WR, Midland Lee (Baylor 2020 offer)
So you’re saying there’s a chance…
It’s no secret that Baylor’s 2020 class could still use a defensive lineman in it. It’s probably the longest of shots. But Cedar Creek 4-star defensive end Alfred Collins said he still continues to talk with Baylor coaches Oscar Giles and Glenn Thomas on a regular basis.
Collins has already taken officials visits to Alabama and Oklahoma. He taking one to Texas A&M this weekend when the Aggies face the Crimson Tide. Collins is also planning on visiting Texas Oct. 18.
That leaves one OV open. It appears LSU won’t get that one. Collins hasn’t decided where that will go. But he hasn’t ruled out Baylor either. Time will tell.
“That’s a thought,’’ Collins said of the visit. “But I don’t know yet. I still talk to Baylor. And yeah, I’m still interested. But my eyes are on a lot of other schools. I would love to come to Baylor and watch a game. These visits are just booking my weekends.’’
Cedar Creek is off to an impressive 4-1 start. So is Collins. Of his 31 tackles, 19 are solos that are mixed into his 13 tackles for loss. He’s also recorded three sacks and nine QB hurries.
Collins is in no hurry to make a decision. That could run through the second signing period that starts Feb. 5. He is a May graduate.
Tucker and Baylor bonding
Baylor is playing its fourth home game of the season Saturday against Texas Tech. Argyle 2021 offensive line Jack Tucker has been in attendance for the first three and will be there for this one.
Ever since the Bears offered in the summer, the relationship between him and the Baylor coaching staff between offensive line coach Shawn Bell and Joey McGuire has reached another level.
“[What I learned] is that the coaches really care about their prospects,’’ Tucker said. “I really like Baylor a lot. Right now, it’s just me asking a lot of questions about Baylor and college football in general.’’
Tucker comes to watch for two reasons: take part in the experience but to watch how college football offensive linemen play the game. He’s paid particular attention to footwork and hand technique.
He also gets that he’s going to have to do it at a much faster pace in college. That’s just the game.
“I watch Connor Galvin [before Galvin got hurt] a lot because he plays left tackle,’’ Tucker said. “I like to watch Jake Fruhmorgen because he blows people up.
“I met Connor at the camp I went to and talked to him for a bit after the UTSA game. We just talked about the game and how some plays went down. He did tell me the biggest thing about college is how much faster everybody is.’’
Argyle is currently No. 1 in the Class 4A poll and pushing toward a deep playoff run that could finish in a state championship.
“It’s cool, but that’s not what we’re striving for,’’ Tucker said. “It doesn’t mean much to us to be No. 1 in Week 7. The goal is to be No. 1 come Christmas. Overall, I think it’s gone well for me personally. I have some stuff to improve on.’’
Baylor players talk Homecoming against Texas Tech
James Lynch, John Lovett and R.J. Sneed met with the media earlier this week.
James Lynch, DE, JR
(feel a difference in how you guys are working together up front) Yeah, I feel like the main thing is working together, because it’s not always just the d-line making a good move, it’s the linebackers helping show disguise and our defense disguising so they get confused and allow us to have a one-on-one or confuse the o-line or confuse the quarterback so it gives us time to get back there.
We did all of this last year, we’re just in our third year now. We haven’t perfected it, but we’ve gotten a lot better at it and we’re a lot more confident. So, I feel like you’re seeing it on the field. We’re showing ourselves that we can play and every week it’s showing up, so we’ve got to keep doing it.
(Bravvion impact) For me and Lock (James Lockhart), that’s what makes the three-man front work is if you have a dominant nose like B-Roy or if you have someone who can come in like Gabe (Hall) or somebody that can help do that, too. When you have someone who can take on maybe three blockers, or even whenever they put a running back in there, it makes us have a one-on-one or a linebacker be able to run free, which makes our defense work very well and makes it easier for a lot of people. So having him is very pivotal for our defense.
(Roy against K-State) That was the most impressive game I’ve seen from him, ever. If you watch, every play on film he’s basically just blowing up the play. If you have a noseguard that can knock the center back, which he can every play, then it disrupts everything. And that’s what he was doing, so it made it a lot easier for all of us.
(confidence with the defense) We have a lot of confidence, but I think the main thing is we’re having fun. We’re having fun just playing together. Like Coach (Joey) McGuire, if you were on the field, we just enjoy being out there. Like if our offense turns the ball over, it’s not a bad thing, it’s another chance for us to show the world what we can do. So, we’re just having fun showing the world that we can play defense and we’re having fun with each other.
(on Clay Johnston’s leadership) Clay is obviously another pivotal guy. You’ve got to have him in the middle just making sure we all know what we’re doing. He’s making the calls for our DBs and our d-line and just making sure we’re everybody’s on the same page. And he’s one of those guys, too, that’s like, ‘Come on, guys, we can show people what we’re capable of, let’s go do it every week, play-in and play-out.’ And he’s one of those guys that after a sack or a pick, he’s always around people celebrating. So, it’s fun having him out there with us.
(Tech’s quick game) It is more difficult. It’s kind of weird, you go from K-State where they have six-inch splits on the o-line to now like three-foot splits, and the offense is totally different, it’s very difficult. They have a lot of playmakers, their o-line is athletic, so it’s going to be tough for us this week, but we’re going to be ready for them.
(stopping them on the early downs) As a defense, the best way to stop an offense is first down. If you can make it second-and-10 or second-and-long, it makes it a whole lot easier for the defense because then the offense can’t do what they want to do. So, every down is key obviously, but stopping them early makes it easier for us.
(Tech QB Jett Duffey) He got Player of the Week last week, I’m pretty sure. You watch him play, and he’s a playmaker, he wants to win. They came into that game and I’m pretty sure they were underdogs and they wanted to play and show the world what they could do. And they played well, so we’re going to have our hands full this week.
(how do you contain him) You just have to make sure you rush the right way and make sure you keep him in the pocket because we can’t let him run around and make plays and make extended plays, because that’s when our defense might break down. So, we have to make sure we’re on our P’s and Q’s and make sure we do what our defense is supposed to do.
(killer instinct to end games) Yeah, I feel like it’s our strength staff a lot, actually, just our conditioning and being able to be tougher in the fourth quarter and be stronger in the fourth quarter and try to end the game and not let it continue and become close when it shouldn’t be, or end the game whenever it is close. So as a defense, it’s our job is to make sure nothing gets out of hand or they can’t come back. Whenever we have the chance, we have to make the most of it.
We’ve always said since fall camp and even spring ball that turnovers are addictive. And when you get one, you want to get more. So, we’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing and keep getting more and more because it’s not enough yet.
(being ranked) No, it’s nice to have people tell you, ‘Good job’ and all that, but what really matters is what we put on tape. And what we put on tape has to be good enough. If it’s not good enough, then we’re going to have problems and we’ll lose to somebody like Texas Tech or anybody in this conference. So, we’re going to make sure we do what we’re supposed to do. It doesn’t matter what number we are, it’s just a number.
(when you look at last week’s tape, do you still see mistakes) On every play, there’s somebody messing something up or anybody messing something up. So whenever you see it on tape and you see it in a game where we won and we should have won by more and we should have played this play better and that play better, it’s frustrating to see, but it’s good because we know we can get better and we will get better.
John Lovett, RB, Jr.
(Confidence level) I didn’t know we were ranked, we just go day by day, step by step. So I didn’t know we were ranked pretty sure a lot of the team didn’t know we were ranked. We’ll go into practice today just fly around competing, we love competing that’s what we do best. That builds our confidence level really.
(1-0 each week) Most definitely, a lot of people, like outsiders might think were focusing Texas, Oklahoma but were just worried about what’s next which is 1-0 against Texas Tech.
(Run game vs. KSU) I honestly couldn’t tell you because every week we just go out and try and do the same thing and just rush as best as we can and we have plenty of running backs def quarterbacks that can run I don’t think that’s a problem.
(46-yard TD run) It was really good, JaMycal Hasty had an amazing block I don’t think he’s getting praised enough for it. If you ask me, the block was better than the touchdown. I couldn’t of done it without his block.
(Blocking) Yeah, no doubt. Sacrifices we’ll lay our bodies on the line for our teammates just to win and go out there and have fun. We make memories with each other
(More on blocking) Practicing with JaMycal every day, just ask him a question it helped me as a player all around especially blocking as you mentioned. I think JaMycal might be one of the best blocking running backs we have I ask him a lot of questions he gives me feedback and just go out there and practice.
(Running vs. TT) I see opportunity, but like I said we just gotta get out there and get better. Texas tech is a good team they fly around on defense, so it’ll be fun this weekend.
(Watching the defense) It excites us to see our defense go out there and fly around I mean we practice against them every single day so to see a team go out there and compete and just really fly around other teams it gives us a really good confidence level.
(Working since August) Yeah, they work they do extra work they stay in the film room. I’m pretty sure Clay [Johnston) lives in the film room with Coach Snow so I don’t know if he goes home he has a sleeping bag in there.
R.J. Sneed, WR, RSSO
(Finally playing Tech at McLane) I look forward to playing every game at Mclane, you know I only played at AT&T one year so I guess I don’t have much to say about that. But it was a cool experience but I guess its kinda cool to bring it home and home away. So next year we can go up to Lubbock.
(The play when Bohanon found him at KSU) Yeah so Charlie went down, and Gerry came in and he stepped up and we ran a little play for me to go to the flat and he didn’t like what he saw down deep so he checked down me and I saw a guy come so I ran into him and next thing I know I was on the 2 yard line. So it was a cool play, I liked it because next play Gerry scored and I like how Gerry came in and took care of business for Charlie.
(The thinking on that play) It was more of a the play called for more of a whatever we can get cause I think we were going to do a two and down play so I think on fourth down we were going to go for it so it was more of a get whatever we can get.
(Gerry coming in at 17-6) Yeah it just goes back to preparation. Gerry prepares like he’s number one quarter back, and he’s here before majority of us and here late after all of us have left he studies film just like Charlie does he prepares himself very well.
(Confidence and not be stopped) I feel like at our best no, but at the same time we can’t get too complacent. You know, there’s a lot of good defense out there, week in week out we got to put the work in. But I feel like as a group, we can be one of the best in the country.
(Watching Tyquan Thornton) Yeah, he stepped up big. Well Iowa state was his first start, and you know he had about 141, and that’s very big and it just takes off pressure for Denzell, so me Tyquan come in and get one on one and (2:36 no idea) that’s good for the team.
(Being ranked matter) Not really, cause you know we still got a long season to go you know. I’m just worried about going 1-0 this week.
(Watching Texas Tech’s defense) They play hot guy kinda like Iowa states you know, it’s a good defense to run the ball in and you gotta find the seams to throw it. You know, they’re a valid defense and I felt like they did very well last week against Oklahoma state. On certain downs you’ll see some man you’ll see some zone they give you a mixture of both.
(Tech’s defense creating turnovers) We got to make sure we attack the ball you know, gotta run our routes with the right depth gotta make sure were looking and excepting the ball to come our way.
Big 12 Power Rankings
Each week, SicEmSports ranks the Big 12 based on how the season is progressing. Agree or disagree, here they are.
1. Oklahoma – Sooners can become clear favorites with win over Big 12 rival
2. Texas – Hoping for health in the secondary against Hurts
3. Baylor – Trusting the process means blocking out Homecoming distractions
4. Iowa State – Because it’s hard to decide who is actually the No. 4 team
5. Texas Tech – Left for dead, the Red Raiders get huge outing from QB Jett Duffey
6. Oklahoma State – Cowboys get a week to think about what happened at TT
7. TCU – QB problems surface for this program
8. Kansas State – Averaging 12.5 points in league games isn’t a winning formula
9. West Virginia – Austin Kendall must put a 4-INT performance behind him
10. Kansas – Changing offensive coordinators
Big 12 Weekend
A look at the action from the opening week of the conference. Rankings are from the AP andcoaches polls. All games are Saturday. TV is listed. Kansas, Kansas State, TCU and Oklahoma State have byes.
No. 6/5 Oklahoma (5-0, 2-0) vs. No. 11/11 Texas (4-1, 2-0); 11:00 a.m., Cotton Bowl, Fair Park, Dallas (FOX)
Series: Texas leads, 62-47-5
Notable: The battle for the Golden Hat. Bragging rights are secondary as these two push toward the Big 12 championship. But since there is a championship game in December, the loser isn’t out of it. Texas QB Sam Ehlinger leads the conference with 17 touchdown passes. Sooners’ QB Jalen Hurts is second with 14. These are two of the highest scoring teams in college football. Oklahoma is nearly at 54. Texas is at 41.
Iowa State (3-2, 1-1) at West Virginia (3-2, 1-1); 3:00 p.m., Milan Puskar Stadium, Morgantown, WV (ESPN)
Series: West Virginia leads, 5-2
Notable: A very interesting meeting because the Mountaineers struggled against Texas and the Cyclones apparently found their offense against TCU. Iowa State QB Brock Purdy leads the conference in passing yards per game at 315. Because of the four INTs he threw last week against Texas, WVU’s Austin Kendall has thrown the most miscues with seven. The Mountaineers are last in the Big 12 in total offense at 353.
Texas Tech (3-2, 1-1) at No. 22/23 Baylor (5-0, 2-0); 3:00 p.m., McLane Stadium, Waco (FS1)
Series: Baylor leads, 39-37-1
Notable: This will be the Red Raiders first appearance at McLane Stadium as the series has shifted back to home and home. Protecting the QB is going to be even more key in this contest. Yes, Baylor leads the Big 12 in sacks with 18. But Texas Tech is tied with West Virginia for second with 14. Both have also been very good in the turnover ratio. They are each +4.
Emptying the Notebook
>Shadow Creek 2020 WR and Baylor commit Seth Jones' injury (knee) isn’t considered serious. From what we understand he’s probably going to not play for a couple of weeks. At the very least, he should be ready for the playoffs.
>What was thought to be a huge lead for China Springs 2021 WR/DE D’Marion Alexander for Baylor may no longer be the case. Alexander has seen a huge push from the TCU staff to the point where he considers it pretty tight between the Bears and Horned Frogs at this point. Still have a long way to go here.
Last edited:
