What I found interesting is that there has always been this debate on who the best female rocker from the 1980s was: Joan Jett or Chrissie Hynde. Now, each lady could flat out bring it to the recording studio. Their careers speak for themselves. As for who is easier on the eyes? Well, that’s Jett without any question.
Each has their legion of followers. Of course, Hynde and The Pretenders are in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. So the random juke box gives you the opportunity to hear both.
Joan Jett
Chrissie Hynde/The Pretenders
****
Brothers and sisters, I approach this pulpit filled with the spirit. It dwells within me and I can’t shake it. I don’t want to shake it. I know it’s real.
Can I get an Amen from the Congregation? Thank ya, brothers and sisters.
I came into this world to serve not to be served. But I want to spread a message that might rock you to your very core. It may summon fear more than it will hope. At least, I want it to summon hope. You have to meet these words with great courage and passion. You have to be willing to accept these words because they’ve never been uttered around Baylor in….forever.
Do you have the courage, brothers and sisters? Can I get a hallelujah? Thank ya, brothers and sisters.
Here is my message to you….
BAYLOR WILL WIN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL FOR THE 2015 SEASON.
There, I’ve written it. I can’t take it back. It’s out there. Now many of you longstanding followers recognize that your publisher is pretty guarded or conservative when it comes to making bold and fearless forecasts. As recently as three weeks ago, I pretty much said this program was enduring rocky times and that it wasn’t going to get anywhere near sniffing a third consecutive Big 12 Championship based on the suspensions between coaches and players and Art Briles admitting he was losing his grip.
When I watched his press conference after Rice, I told you then I saw a look in Briles that said the fire was burning hot in him. It kind of reminded me of when I saw him run those Stephenville teams in the 1990s. But did it mean anything at the time? Not really. Ironically, this past Friday I ran into friend who has followed Briles and said, “This Baylor is about to go off like those Stephenville teams did.’’ I nodded my head in recognition of the statement. But I wanted to see how this all translated to Texas Tech. After all, the Red Raiders were going to serve as the first true test for the Bears.
This game was no contest at 63-35. From Shock Linwood’s opening 79-yard touchdown to the final seconds, Baylor dominated another Big 12 team in a way that you haven’t seen before. Now, if you want to split hairs about Oklahoma in Waco in 2013, that’s fine. But I’m here to tell you that when you see a team push a team around like Baylor did, you have to look at it from the standpoint that it wasn’t who Baylor did it to but how Baylor did it.
To be honest, I don’t care how Texas Tech finishes its season. I do think the Red Raiders will get to a bowl. Texas Tech’s rushing defense is porous at best. Baylor not only exploited it, it completely dismantled it for 368 yards.
Baylor carries the ingredients to win a national championship. For me there are three of them in no particular order: A great running game, a devastating defensive line and a quarterback who can make plays.
So let’s break it down.
>First, there’s a punishing game that can suck the life out of people – Remember, what Art Briles said in his postgame presser – because football is all about being physical and beating up and beating down the other guy. You want him to feel it the Monday after the game. Linwood is a battering ram who can inflict more than he takes. So far, he hasn’t needed 25 carries per game to state his case. He’s an uncommon back because his strength has not robbed him of his running skills.
>Second, the defensive line is living up to its hype. Minus defensive end Shawn Oakman taking the occasional play off here and there, this front four of Oakman, Beau Blackshear, Andrew Billings and Jamal Palmer found their niche. Maybe they weren’t interested in SMU and Lamar (Oakman was suspended for SMU). I don’t know. But I do know that this thing is based around a nose tackle. Billings is such a presence. I’m also going on record that he’s the most important player on this team. Briles has said that finding a really good defensive/nose tackle is harder than finding a great quarterback. When you find him, you better hang on to him and you better hope that he has every opportunity to succeed. I don’t need Billings to chase down running backs 30 yards down field (that was fun). I do need him to plug the A gaps, influence the tempo of the play. When I wrote my thoughts from Saturday, I said then that QB hurries are the stat to follow. Sacks have their place but not in the same context. Baylor recorded 13 of those against Tech’s Pat Mahomes. That’s a baker’s dozen times where Mahomes or Davis Webb had to something earlier than he wanted to do. Now, you’re not going to get 13 every game. If your defensive line is averaging 5-8 per game, that’s gold. Sufficed to say, the defensive line is the most important unit on a football team.
>I’m not proclaiming Seth Russell has found utopia and it’s a smooth ride from here. Russell is still going to make his interceptions. He has five. But the way this offense is set up is perfect for him to succeed. Russell needs to make his share of throws. However, the running game is going to take so much pressure off of him, he’s going to get comfortable. Now, there will be a game where the running game will struggle. Then Russell is going to have to make a play. That’s where you find out a lot more about him. Having said that, I think Russell is slowly but surely putting himself in a position where he knows where his strengths are and what he has to do to hide his weaknesses. If you’re asking Russell to throw it 20-25 times per game, that means he’s adding to the cause not leading it. That’s all that Art has asked of him when this season began – be a passenger in the back seat of the care.
Plus, the gauntlet of five is really boiling down to the treacherous two: Oklahoma and TCU. Kansas State and Oklahoma State – both road games in this stretch – will be challenges. But I fully expect those to be double digit margin victories. History in Stillwater will be history. Texas on Dec. 5 in Waco? How bad is that going to get? Baylor no longer has to worry about the stigma of beating Oklahoma. Now, I do believe the Sooners are really good this year. But the problem is that the Sooners can’t run the football very well. I don’t know why they don’t because they have a good pair between Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine. TCU is an excellent team. But this defensive line is not the kind of unit that Gary Patterson has fielded in previous seasons. As crazy as Nov. 27 at Amon Carter Stadium will get, I still believe Baylor can win this game by two touchdowns. Why? Baylor’s offensive line.
Who the Bears will face in the Final Four is such an unknown. But Baylor can handle it. Ohio State has quarterback issues. Alabama has secondary issues. Michigan State can sometimes look pedestrian.
So there you have it. I’ve made this testimony. You have to believe in what I’m telling you, brothers and sisters. You have to believe!!!
If you can’t say it, you can’t do it.
****
One basketball note: remember shooting guard Kobie Eubanks from New York? He was one who committed to Baylor but had to go to a prep school in Florida to get his test score.
Well Eubanks has his test score, has an offer from Baylor and could be coming in December. I’ll have a story up on him soon. I talked with him on Sunday. But he’s also being courted by Oregon, Georgetown and others. Baylor would like for him to take an official visit to Waco. It could be this month. That could be Oct. 17 against West Virginia or Oct. 24 against Iowa State.
We’ll keep you posted.
****
Other thoughts…
>So how cool was the final day of the Major League Baseball season on Sunday? The Rangers clinch the AL West thanks to Cole Hamels dominant performance against the Angels. The Astros find out they’re going to New York to play in the AL Wild Card game. There is nothing like postseason baseball in October in the state of Texas. With every game starting at 2:05 p.m. central time, you had to flip all over the place to find out what was going on. The Rangers are starting their AL Division I series in Toronto on Thursday. If the Astros beat New York, they will head to Kansas City on Thursday.
>I don’t know what the answer is with the Cowboys. They’re going to have to hope and pray they are still in contention when Tony Romo and Dez Bryant return. Brandon Weeden is doing fine. But this team doesn’t have a game breaker at receiver. TWill does a great job but he’s a No. 2 and the receiving corps is treated differently by the opposing secondary. Bryant just draws more attention.
>Keep a good thought for the shooting victims and their families at the college campus in Oregon last week. I know politicians feast on the gun control argument when things like this happen. They’re missing the point. People, who are this state of mind, will just find a way to secure a weapon by whatever means necessary. They just will.
****
Now, to the other Baylor sports
>The Bears volleyball program (12-4, 1-2 Big 12) fell short in four sets to the Oklahoma Sooners (7-8, 1-2 Big 12), unable to find an advantage in front of a packed house this past Saturday at McCasland Field House. Fighting against a 14-8 blocking advantage for the Sooners, the Bears dropped their second Big 12 road match, 18-25, 25-23, 18-25, 14-25. Baylor hosts No. 3 Texas on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 7 p.m. in the Ferrell Center. The match will serve as the team’s Dig Pink Match, honoring Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
>With five runners in the top 100, the Baylor men's cross country took fourth at the Chile Pepper Festival at Agri Park Saturday. Meanwhile, the BU women were 16th in the meet hosted by Arkansas.
Eric Anderson led the men’s contingent with a 22nd-place finish in 24:21.32 over the 8,000-meter course. JR Hardy was 48th in 24:51.99, while Matt League took 67th in 25:11.43. BU’s final two scoring runners, Kyle Scanlan (82nd, 25:22.32) and Jordan West (86th, 25:26.97).
On the women's side, Aubree Miller led the team for a third time this season by placing 74th in 18:04.65 over the 5,000-meter course. Leila Rhode was the next finisher for BU at 171st in 18:55.05. The men and women are both scheduled to have next weekend off, before the women's top runners return to action Friday, Oct. 16 at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational.
>Baylor soccer fought for a 1-0 win over Iowa State Friday evening at Cyclone Sports Complex. The Bears (7-4-1, 2-0-0) used a first-half goal from Lauren Piercy to get on top of the Cyclones (5-7-0, 0-3-0) for their seventh straight win -- longest streak since 2012 -- and first 2-0-0 start in Big 12 play since 1998. The Bears hit the road again for another Big 12 match next weekend at Kansas with a 7 p.m. CT tilt Oct. 9.
Let’s make it a great week!
Each has their legion of followers. Of course, Hynde and The Pretenders are in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. So the random juke box gives you the opportunity to hear both.
Joan Jett
Chrissie Hynde/The Pretenders
****
Brothers and sisters, I approach this pulpit filled with the spirit. It dwells within me and I can’t shake it. I don’t want to shake it. I know it’s real.
Can I get an Amen from the Congregation? Thank ya, brothers and sisters.
I came into this world to serve not to be served. But I want to spread a message that might rock you to your very core. It may summon fear more than it will hope. At least, I want it to summon hope. You have to meet these words with great courage and passion. You have to be willing to accept these words because they’ve never been uttered around Baylor in….forever.
Do you have the courage, brothers and sisters? Can I get a hallelujah? Thank ya, brothers and sisters.
Here is my message to you….
BAYLOR WILL WIN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL FOR THE 2015 SEASON.
There, I’ve written it. I can’t take it back. It’s out there. Now many of you longstanding followers recognize that your publisher is pretty guarded or conservative when it comes to making bold and fearless forecasts. As recently as three weeks ago, I pretty much said this program was enduring rocky times and that it wasn’t going to get anywhere near sniffing a third consecutive Big 12 Championship based on the suspensions between coaches and players and Art Briles admitting he was losing his grip.
When I watched his press conference after Rice, I told you then I saw a look in Briles that said the fire was burning hot in him. It kind of reminded me of when I saw him run those Stephenville teams in the 1990s. But did it mean anything at the time? Not really. Ironically, this past Friday I ran into friend who has followed Briles and said, “This Baylor is about to go off like those Stephenville teams did.’’ I nodded my head in recognition of the statement. But I wanted to see how this all translated to Texas Tech. After all, the Red Raiders were going to serve as the first true test for the Bears.
This game was no contest at 63-35. From Shock Linwood’s opening 79-yard touchdown to the final seconds, Baylor dominated another Big 12 team in a way that you haven’t seen before. Now, if you want to split hairs about Oklahoma in Waco in 2013, that’s fine. But I’m here to tell you that when you see a team push a team around like Baylor did, you have to look at it from the standpoint that it wasn’t who Baylor did it to but how Baylor did it.
To be honest, I don’t care how Texas Tech finishes its season. I do think the Red Raiders will get to a bowl. Texas Tech’s rushing defense is porous at best. Baylor not only exploited it, it completely dismantled it for 368 yards.
Baylor carries the ingredients to win a national championship. For me there are three of them in no particular order: A great running game, a devastating defensive line and a quarterback who can make plays.
So let’s break it down.
>First, there’s a punishing game that can suck the life out of people – Remember, what Art Briles said in his postgame presser – because football is all about being physical and beating up and beating down the other guy. You want him to feel it the Monday after the game. Linwood is a battering ram who can inflict more than he takes. So far, he hasn’t needed 25 carries per game to state his case. He’s an uncommon back because his strength has not robbed him of his running skills.
>Second, the defensive line is living up to its hype. Minus defensive end Shawn Oakman taking the occasional play off here and there, this front four of Oakman, Beau Blackshear, Andrew Billings and Jamal Palmer found their niche. Maybe they weren’t interested in SMU and Lamar (Oakman was suspended for SMU). I don’t know. But I do know that this thing is based around a nose tackle. Billings is such a presence. I’m also going on record that he’s the most important player on this team. Briles has said that finding a really good defensive/nose tackle is harder than finding a great quarterback. When you find him, you better hang on to him and you better hope that he has every opportunity to succeed. I don’t need Billings to chase down running backs 30 yards down field (that was fun). I do need him to plug the A gaps, influence the tempo of the play. When I wrote my thoughts from Saturday, I said then that QB hurries are the stat to follow. Sacks have their place but not in the same context. Baylor recorded 13 of those against Tech’s Pat Mahomes. That’s a baker’s dozen times where Mahomes or Davis Webb had to something earlier than he wanted to do. Now, you’re not going to get 13 every game. If your defensive line is averaging 5-8 per game, that’s gold. Sufficed to say, the defensive line is the most important unit on a football team.
>I’m not proclaiming Seth Russell has found utopia and it’s a smooth ride from here. Russell is still going to make his interceptions. He has five. But the way this offense is set up is perfect for him to succeed. Russell needs to make his share of throws. However, the running game is going to take so much pressure off of him, he’s going to get comfortable. Now, there will be a game where the running game will struggle. Then Russell is going to have to make a play. That’s where you find out a lot more about him. Having said that, I think Russell is slowly but surely putting himself in a position where he knows where his strengths are and what he has to do to hide his weaknesses. If you’re asking Russell to throw it 20-25 times per game, that means he’s adding to the cause not leading it. That’s all that Art has asked of him when this season began – be a passenger in the back seat of the care.
Plus, the gauntlet of five is really boiling down to the treacherous two: Oklahoma and TCU. Kansas State and Oklahoma State – both road games in this stretch – will be challenges. But I fully expect those to be double digit margin victories. History in Stillwater will be history. Texas on Dec. 5 in Waco? How bad is that going to get? Baylor no longer has to worry about the stigma of beating Oklahoma. Now, I do believe the Sooners are really good this year. But the problem is that the Sooners can’t run the football very well. I don’t know why they don’t because they have a good pair between Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine. TCU is an excellent team. But this defensive line is not the kind of unit that Gary Patterson has fielded in previous seasons. As crazy as Nov. 27 at Amon Carter Stadium will get, I still believe Baylor can win this game by two touchdowns. Why? Baylor’s offensive line.
Who the Bears will face in the Final Four is such an unknown. But Baylor can handle it. Ohio State has quarterback issues. Alabama has secondary issues. Michigan State can sometimes look pedestrian.
So there you have it. I’ve made this testimony. You have to believe in what I’m telling you, brothers and sisters. You have to believe!!!
If you can’t say it, you can’t do it.
****
One basketball note: remember shooting guard Kobie Eubanks from New York? He was one who committed to Baylor but had to go to a prep school in Florida to get his test score.
Well Eubanks has his test score, has an offer from Baylor and could be coming in December. I’ll have a story up on him soon. I talked with him on Sunday. But he’s also being courted by Oregon, Georgetown and others. Baylor would like for him to take an official visit to Waco. It could be this month. That could be Oct. 17 against West Virginia or Oct. 24 against Iowa State.
We’ll keep you posted.
****
Other thoughts…
>So how cool was the final day of the Major League Baseball season on Sunday? The Rangers clinch the AL West thanks to Cole Hamels dominant performance against the Angels. The Astros find out they’re going to New York to play in the AL Wild Card game. There is nothing like postseason baseball in October in the state of Texas. With every game starting at 2:05 p.m. central time, you had to flip all over the place to find out what was going on. The Rangers are starting their AL Division I series in Toronto on Thursday. If the Astros beat New York, they will head to Kansas City on Thursday.
>I don’t know what the answer is with the Cowboys. They’re going to have to hope and pray they are still in contention when Tony Romo and Dez Bryant return. Brandon Weeden is doing fine. But this team doesn’t have a game breaker at receiver. TWill does a great job but he’s a No. 2 and the receiving corps is treated differently by the opposing secondary. Bryant just draws more attention.
>Keep a good thought for the shooting victims and their families at the college campus in Oregon last week. I know politicians feast on the gun control argument when things like this happen. They’re missing the point. People, who are this state of mind, will just find a way to secure a weapon by whatever means necessary. They just will.
****
Now, to the other Baylor sports
>The Bears volleyball program (12-4, 1-2 Big 12) fell short in four sets to the Oklahoma Sooners (7-8, 1-2 Big 12), unable to find an advantage in front of a packed house this past Saturday at McCasland Field House. Fighting against a 14-8 blocking advantage for the Sooners, the Bears dropped their second Big 12 road match, 18-25, 25-23, 18-25, 14-25. Baylor hosts No. 3 Texas on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 7 p.m. in the Ferrell Center. The match will serve as the team’s Dig Pink Match, honoring Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
>With five runners in the top 100, the Baylor men's cross country took fourth at the Chile Pepper Festival at Agri Park Saturday. Meanwhile, the BU women were 16th in the meet hosted by Arkansas.
Eric Anderson led the men’s contingent with a 22nd-place finish in 24:21.32 over the 8,000-meter course. JR Hardy was 48th in 24:51.99, while Matt League took 67th in 25:11.43. BU’s final two scoring runners, Kyle Scanlan (82nd, 25:22.32) and Jordan West (86th, 25:26.97).
On the women's side, Aubree Miller led the team for a third time this season by placing 74th in 18:04.65 over the 5,000-meter course. Leila Rhode was the next finisher for BU at 171st in 18:55.05. The men and women are both scheduled to have next weekend off, before the women's top runners return to action Friday, Oct. 16 at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational.
>Baylor soccer fought for a 1-0 win over Iowa State Friday evening at Cyclone Sports Complex. The Bears (7-4-1, 2-0-0) used a first-half goal from Lauren Piercy to get on top of the Cyclones (5-7-0, 0-3-0) for their seventh straight win -- longest streak since 2012 -- and first 2-0-0 start in Big 12 play since 1998. The Bears hit the road again for another Big 12 match next weekend at Kansas with a 7 p.m. CT tilt Oct. 9.
Let’s make it a great week!
