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.
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VIDEO: Ed Oliver
Courtney Roland caught up with the Rivals250 DT from Houston Westfield to see what programs like Baylor can do to pry him away from his commitment to Houston.
2016 defensive line recruit quick hits
Be advised that a lot of these guys are either not responding or just not giving you much to work with. Of course, that’s their choice. But we’ve worked other channels.
>Duncanville DT Marcel Southall: Duncanville coaches tell us that they are not aware of Southall naming any finalists or setting any official visits.
>Flower Mound Marcus DE, Andrew Fitzgerald: Fitzgerald has really gone dark here. However, the word we’re getting is that there may be a difference in Baylor’s expectations of Fitzgerald and Fitzgerald’s expectations of Baylor. It sounds like Baylor would like for him to consider playing defensive tackle. Fitzgerald prefers defensive end. And since you follow what Baylor wants in its defensive ends, Fitzgerald is not that.
>Jordan Elliott, DT, Houston Westside: The rule about de-commitments is that once they leave their original program, they hardly ever return. Elliott has not commented on anything regarding his interest in Baylor.
>Justin Madubuike, DE, McKinney North: There doesn’t seem to be any movement from him about naming any finalists or taking any official visits. McKinney North coach Mike Fecci said Madubuike has been mum. Madubuike was recently at Texas A&M and last visited Baylor at its June 7 camp.
>Brandon Bowen, DE, Trophy Club Byron Nelson: As we reported Thursday, he’s taking an official visit to Oregon this weekend. No official visit to Baylor has been scheduled. It’s unclear if there will be one because Bowen has said that once he made his official visit, he would announce his decision. Of course, he said in August, he wanted to visit USC. The only trouble is appears USC never offered and probably wasn’t as much as factor in this as he suggested or seemed to believe.
>Levi Onwuzurike, DE, Allen: Really nothing going on here. Those are his words to me.
-Kevin Lonnquist
The Bears: What they’re saying
Some of the quotes from the Bears as they are going through their bye week.
Head coach Art Briles
On where his team is: “We have a lot of work to do. That's pretty evident. It's evident we have to bring a lot more energy to the table both sides of the ball and special teams. We've just got to match other people's desire and expectations with our own. That's something we've always been real good at but we've kind of fallen into and everything's all right category and you can't do that.
"That's my job and that's something we're going to really stress for the next 10 days to make sure we're still the hunter and not the hunted and that we're hungry and not satisfied.
"It's always frustrating. You want to shut everybody out and you want to score numerous points. It's stuff we've got to get better at it. [Lamar] had a long drive and a couple of big plays. You've got to correct them and get better and find ways to minimize them without question. When you get the ball on offense you have to score.
On Seth Russell - “Seth will get better. He's got a lot of pride and is a good football player. That part of it. If there is any positive out of it he will be a lot more cognizant of every situation he's involved in. A couple of those [interceptions] the other night they were scheme deals. A couple of them were inexcusable. It's part of the growing process. We knew that going in. As we figure out how to treat every situation hopefully we can improve as the season goes along.”
Early read on Rice - “They have won a bunch of games over the last 3 years. David (Baliff) has done a great job. Good coaches, good people, players play hard. Their guys play with kind of an attitude, a lot of confidence.
I think they've done a tremendous job there. In-state opponents are always tough.
It's important to play better and be a little more predictable. Confidence and momentum that changes. You've got to be good and that's what we're working on.”
Defensive Coordinator Phil Bennett
Overall view of the team - “Last week there was some good but just the consistency factor. It wasn't third downs, our demise was in the red zone on second and long when they got the ball down there on turnovers. Two passes close to the goal line we didn't play well.
“We're fighting inconsistency right now.As a team we just haven't gotten in a groove yet. There have been a few things going on but no excuses we've got to get our rhythm down…We've got some young guys who are getting better – Grant Campbell, Travon Blanchard, Aiavion Edwards.
"Other than the bootlegs and the throws in the red zone, I think our secondary played good. Orion (Stewart) really placed nice. I think shortly we'll really be hitting our groove.”
On Chance Waz challenging for the starting safety position - “Absolutely. I'm disappointed in that position. It's going to be a battle. If Chance plays well and practices well, there's a chance. [Terrell] Burt has had some health issues.”
Cornerback Ryan Reid
“That's Baylor, we're trying to start fast every time. Football season coming back around we have to get back into it. We should already be in motion because we had fall camp. Seeing the other jersey we just can't fall to their level. We have to play Baylor football.
“It seems like we're clicking in all areas once everything gets going. We know the competition is going to get better and we've got to up our game.”
Wide receiver Corey Coleman
“We have to start faster. The good thing about football is you have two halves and we picked it up the second half. If we start faster it would be really good and get on a roll. Some of our guys have to start hot. We have to get better on penalties and small stuff. Our offense goes so fast and you got to make sure you get your play call in.”
Wide receiver KD Cannon
“We just have to stay healthy and focused. That's the main goal. There's always some things we can work on. We've got to work on our start against Rice. We've been losing focus lately, That's the main thing. I feel like we're thinking ahead. Instead of thinking of the game right now, we're thinking ahead.
“Just trying to win every game because every team is going to bring their best against us. There's no time to slack. You don't want to lose going into conference. We've got to take care of Rice.”
Quarterback Seth Russell
“It's early. It's all decision making. We messed up on a couple of things. I messed up on a couple of things. All those things can be avoided by making better decisions. If I have to eat it instead of throwing an interception that's what I've got to do. You need good ball control and move on to the next play.
“Coach Briles said this is something I have to learn from. We came out on top. But he said to stay confident, you're the best guy out there and the best guy in America. He said this is your third game starting and it's something you can learn from.”
-SicEmSports
What would the 2020 opener look like?
While Incarnate Word was moved to the 2020 season opener, Baylor continues to look for an SEC opponent that would serve as an opponent at NRG Stadium in Houston. The early leader is Arkansas. However, Baylor AD Ian McCaw did not limit the choices to just the Razorbacks.
There really isn’t favorite coming out of either the eastern or western division. So let’s give you a rundown of the SEC teams which could be candidates:
SEC East
Florida – The only OOC opponent is Florida State over Thanksgiving weekend
Georgia – The only OOC opponent is Georgia Tech over Thanksgiving weekend
Kentucky – The Wildcats play Eastern Michigan on Sept. 5; probably not attractive enough
Missouri – The Tigers have a game with Eastern Michigan on Sept 5 and BYU on Nov. 7
South Carolina – Clemson is set for Thanksgiving weekend. There’s no date for East Carolina
Tennessee – Nothing scheduled for any OOC
Vanderbilt – Game scheduled with Kansas State on Sept. 19
SEC West
Alabama – The only OOC opponent scheduled is Georgia State on Sept. 12
Arkansas – Already mentioned
Auburn – The only OOC opponent scheduled is California on Sept. 19
LSU – Tigers playing Texas on Sept. 12
Mississippi State – Playing NC State on Sept. 12 and UMass on Oct. 17
Ole Miss – Nothing scheduled
Texas A&M – Playing North Texas on Sept. 12 and Colorado Sept. 19
Most attractive candidates if not Arkansas: Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss and Tennessee
Least attractive candidates if not Arkansas: Vanderbilt and South Carolina
Unrealistic because of their OOC schedule: LSU, Mississippi State, Auburn and Texas A&M
-Kevin Lonnquist
Big 12 Power Rankings
Each week, SicEmSports ranks the Big 12 teams based on their performance from the previous week. Agree or disagree, it does make for interesting conversation.
1. TCU – Horned Frogs leading rusher (Aaron Green) is barely over 100 yards
2. Oklahoma – The Sooners sending signals they may be for real
3. Baylor – For now, the Bears are not being the standard
4. Oklahoma State – Nothing special, but the Cowboys are 2-0
5. Kansas State – Perhaps the QB issue has been settled
6. Texas Tech – QB Pat Mahomes off to a tremendous start
7. West Virginia – Mountaineers haven’t been tested yet
8. Texas – The dark cloud of Steve Patterson has been lifted
9. Iowa State – Difficult assignment at Toledo Saturday
10. Kansas – Junior Ke’Aun Kinner leads the Big 12 in rushing (270 yards)
-Kevin Lonnquist
Big 12 Weekend
A look at games involving the Big 12 for Saturday Sept. 19. All times are Central. Baylor, Kansas and West Virginia all have byes.
Tulsa (2-0) at No. 16/17 Oklahoma (2-0), 11:00 a.m., Gaylord Memorial Stadium, Norman, OK. (FS1): Former Baylor offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery faces his biggest challenge. The Sooners offense has found some energy with new starting quarterback Baker Mayfield. He’s led a dramatic double overtime comeback win at Tennessee. The Golden Hurricane has one of the top six offenses in the country.
Louisiana Tech (0-1) at Kansas State (2-0), 2:00 p.m., Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Manhattan, KS. (FSN): The Wildcats are still trying to find some consistency with their offense. However, they seem to have settled in with junior QB Joe Hubener. By allowing three or fewer points in its first two games, it’s the third time KSU has done this. The other two were 1936 and 2002.
UTSA (0-2) at No. 25 Oklahoma State (2-0), 2:30 p.m., Boone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater, OK. (FS1): Sophomore starting quarterback Mason Rudolph is coming off a career-high 401-yard performance in last week’s win over Central Arkansas. The Road Runners are coming through a grueling start to their season where they have also played Arizona and Kansas State.
Texas Tech (2-0) at Arkansas (1-1), 6:00 p.m., Reynolds Stadium, Fayetteville, AR. (ESPN2): This is the 37th all-time meeting between these former Southwest Conference foes. The Razorbacks lead 29-7. What Arkansas has to do is re-establish its running game. It struggled last week. The Red Raiders are No. 2 in the nation in offense at 642.5 yards per game.
California (2-0) at Texas (1-1), 6:30 p.m. Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin (FOX): A change in starting quarterbacks and play callers and feasting on five Rice turnovers propelled the Longhorns to a 42-28 victory. Cal QB Jared Goff has thrown for better than 600 yards in his first two games as the Bears have started quickly. Texas is 5-0-0 all-time against Cal.
SMU (1-1) at No. 3/3 TCU (2-0), 7:00 p.m. Amon Carter Stadium, Fort Worth (FSN): TCU’s pass defense has been pretty solid to start to year allowing 109 yards per game. But the Horned Frogs haven’t played a pass happy team either. SMU really isn’t one as well with its spread basing itself off the run. The Mustangs last win in this series was in 2011 in Fort Worth, a 40-33, overtime victory.
Iowa State (1-1) at Toledo (1-0), 7:00 p.m. Glass Bowl, Toledo (ESPNEWS): Two teams who feel very different about themselves. The Cyclones melted down to Iowa in the fourth quarter in a 31-17 loss. The Rockets shocked college football last week with a 16-12 upset at Arkansas. This is a must win for the Cyclones who lost last year’s meeting in Ames.
-SicEmSports
Emptying the Notebook
>Richland 2017 PG C.J. Roberts knows that Baylor is seriously interested. With the coaches allowed to travel to schools, the entire staff came to see him recently. Baylor has offered him.
>While parts of the Baylor defensive line have looked ordinary, junior NT Andrew Billings and senior DE Jamal Palmer have not. Each has collected four solo tackles for loss. That’s tied for second in the Big 12.
>Baylor has gone for it on fourth down (seven) more than any other team in the Big 12. The Bears have converted five of those attempts.
>Caught up with Waco DB Eric Cuffee briefly. He said he remains interested in Baylor. But as this time, he said he doesn't plan to release a Top 5.
-Kevin Lonnquist
