The calendar shows you’re running out of time to finish that Christmas shopping. The stress of the malls, the traffic, finding a parking spot, batteries not included and such are making this a time where maybe the most important reason why this season exists is forgotten. So take a couple of moments each day to reflect and to give thanks. And maybe while you’re en route to your shopping or Christmas location of choice, you can pop in the Random Juke Box for this classic from Leroy Anderson.
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Baylor is eight days away from playing in the Russell Athletic Bowl against North Carolina. I’m sensing a major MEH from the rank and file. Honestly, I understand it. With a season that had so many high hopes and then to see it unravel in the final five weeks, I can get how the enthusiasm for this game doesn’t carry the day.
It’s natural. We were talking about this being the best team in the history of Baylor football preparing to make a run at its first national championship. Now, Dec. 29 will feature a Bears team that doesn’t have its No. 1 or No. 2 quarterback (Seth Russell or Jarrett Stidham), it’s No. 1 wide receiver (Corey Coleman) and its No. 1 running back (Shock Linwood).
When Art Briles told the media Saturday Stidham, Coleman and Linwood weren’t going to play, you could hear the air out of the balloon. Sometimes the season you dream of versus the one you get don’t match up. That’s the game. It’s a rough game. Players get hurt for a long time. And while we use football as our getaway from our day-to-day problem, the game does mirror life – to borrow a coaching philosophy. You have to adjust to whatever comes and make the best of it.
What I find fascinating about this season is that the standard of Baylor’s football program has reached championship levels. Qualifying for bowl games (still important because you want to maintain a string of success for a program) is no longer what people are striving for at the Simpson Athletics Center. The Big 12 championship hardware from 2013 and 2014 that’s sitting in the trophy cases are the goal.
As Baylor finished a magical 2011 season at 10-3, a 67-56 victory over Washington in the Alamo Bowl – that score still blows me away – and RGIII’s Heisman Trophy it nearly shut down greater Waco. The 2012 season appeared to be in trouble until the Bears steam rolled No. 1 Kansas State and then beat UCLA in the Holiday Bowl. That Baylor team played hungry. When 2013 and 2014 produced conference championships, the only disappointment was not being able to finish on New Year’s Day.
So you can see how the trajectory for 2015 emerged. Obviously, the loss to Texas changed all of the dynamics because the Bears lost a chance to play in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day against Ole Miss. Personally, if they had made it to this game, I think Coleman would have found a way to gut it -- no pun intended -- through and play. Linwood and Stidham’s availability likely would not have changed. In that sense, maybe this appearance in Russell Athletic Bowl is a blessing in disguise. If Baylor had made it to the Sugar Bowl with these injuries, it would have been a hold-your-breath attitude because this team is going into the postseason with one hand tied behind its back.
And that’s what we’ll see against the Tar Heels. But this game presents opportunities for the younger players. I don’t mean this to be disrespectful against Larry Fedora’s team. I expect Baylor to compete and play as hard as it possibly can play to try and win this game because this program doesn’t want to have a three-game bowl losing streak. That said, this game be viewed as an exhibition game that counts because there is the chance to see the younger wide receivers in Chris Platt and Ishmael Zamora get some serious reps. You might see Terence Williams in the backfield a lot more. There were some really good players that Baylor recruited. They got some time during the season. Put them out there and see what they can offer as spring football 2016 approaches. What do you have to lose other than the game?
Another compelling element we should watch for is what kind of leadership does sophomore wide receiver K.D. Cannon reveal for the rest of the corps. Jay Lee is playing his final game at Baylor so the torch isn’t passed from Coleman to him. It’s passed to Cannon. We all know that Cannon is a great talent. What we don’t know is if he ready to be the guy to set the tone for the rest of the group. There were times during the season when he got mouthy with defensive backs and showed some immaturity. There appeared to be a change in that toward the latter half of the season when teams focused on Coleman and gave Cannon a little more freedom. I saw a little more of a calmer Cannon. A little more focused Cannon. Perhaps he and Coleman talked about this because Coleman told him he was done after this season and it was up to Cannon to take the lead and to start showing it.
Now, it’s still going to be a situation where what the Baylor coaches can and will do with Chris Johnson is going to be limited. If you look at the three games he played in at quarterback, there was really nothing to evaluate. He played the second half at Oklahoma State on adrenaline (great start but not a very good finish to that game), had a miserable performance against TCU because the weather was impossible to deal with and then was knocked out early against Texas. There just wasn’t one full game to honestly know what Johnson is and isn’t capable of doing. Regardless, the Baylor coaching staff won’t ask Johnson to win this game. The staff can’t. It’s not fair to Johnson. It’s not fair to the roster. And it’s not fair to the staff. I still think we’re going to see an approach where Baylor will rely on Devin Chafin, Johnny Jefferson and Williams to lean on an up-and-down UNC defense and see if can impose its will. Johnson should be viewed as a game manager.
What will be crucial in this game is how the Baylor coaches get this team’s attention to be focused and ready to play it. I’m still wondering about that aspect. Briles and senior defensive end Jamal Palmer said all of the right things Saturday.
But I think this might be one of the most challenging weeks for this coaching staff because of what was expected and what happened. A lot of these bowl games feature teams who will play like they don’t want to be there. It’s like the NIT in college basketball. I think we’re going to find out real early in this game if the Bears are interested. I hope they are. Winning 10 games in a season is still a pretty big deal. Baylor can say it will have accomplished that in four of the last five seasons. This program has been criticized for not stepping up and beating other quality programs when it’s mattered – see the Fiesta Bowl in 2014 and the meltdown in the Cotton Bowl against Michigan State on Jan. 1. I’m sure everybody is tired of hearing about it.
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There’s really not much to say about what happened to Scott Drew’s team on Saturday in College Station against Texas A&M. They were beaten soundly, 80-61. They didn’t play well. And the program has to put it behind it and move on.
The Bears are probably going to start Big 12 play at Kansas at 10-2. Obviously, this team needs to rebound the ball really well to give itself a chance to win. There are times when this group looks like a good jump shooting team. There are times when it doesn’t. The streak of holding opposing teams under 75 points ended at 54.
Obviously, this team needs to go back to the drawing board because that was a mess. It’s disappointing too because I really thought they would play well at Reed Arena and give themselves a chance to win it. They were out of it five minutes after tip off.
I’m not a believer that a coach’s demeanor on the sideline is going to have an impact on his or her team. The way a coach constantly communicates with his or her team does. I know Kim Mulkey is praised for her fiery approach. Well, yeah, her team is winning a lot. But that’s not the reason why her team is winning. She recruited really good players. And she coaches them really well. If she didn’t have good players and was up and down as a tactician, then people would view her fiery approach as someone who needs to tone it down.
Drew isn’t going to change. I’ve seen him get after players on the bench. But he is who he is. Yes, he hasn’t won a Big 12 championship. But Baylor track record in basketball under him is the best it’s ever been. Maybe there is a continued disconnect between great Waco, the Baylor students and basketball. I’ve long said that football casts. That’s been going on decades. I’m not even sure if John Calipari was brought in as the new coach if that would change much. I really don’t.
****
Other thoughts...
Congratulations to the 29 Baylor Student-Athletes who graduated on Saturday. For football (8): Troy Baker (masters), Trevor Clemons-Valdez, Lynx Hawthorne, Patrick Levels, LaQuan McGowan, Blake Muir, Shawn Oakman, Patrick Levels and Anthony Webb. Basketball had two in Deng Deng and Chad Rykhoek.
>The Lady Bears (12-0) play James Madison in Winter Haven, FL today in the Florida Sunshine Classic. They should be 13-0. Big 12 play is next Dec. 30 at Oklahoma State.
>Steve Harvey and Southwest Airlines should come to terms on a new ad for, “Wanna get away?”. I felt so bad for him after he completely misfired on the winner at Sunday’s Miss Universe pageant. Jokes about him ran endlessly. But to his credit, he owned up to it and apologized.
>I like how Cowboys coach Jason Garrett wouldn’t commit to Kellen Moore as this team’s QB for the final two game against Buffalo and Washington. Maybe he shouldn't since that position has been such a disaster this year. I think I read the Cowboys are on their fourth QB in a season for the first time since 2001. Maybe now the owner can put Tony Romo on the IR. I’m also wondering if Dez Bryant has more receptions or drops this year.
>First place Houston Texans? Yessir. They’re 7-7 and in control of the AFC South and can win it. They’re at 3-11 Tennessee and play host to 5-9 Jacksonville to end the season. It’s right there. Will Brandon Weeden lead them to the promised land?
>If Robert Griffin III is released by the Redskins – admittedly it looks like Jay Gruden made the right choice going to Kirk Cousins – you hope that he uses the new destination as an opportunity to salvage his NFL career. I don’t know if it will be in Dallas or not – that would smell like a Jerry Jones move – but this might be his last chance to save his career.
>OK, I made my college playoff picks. I did it on the KTBB in Tyler on Friday. I have Oklahoma over Michigan State in the championship game. For me, I think the Sooners defense is really playing well and can find a way to limit Clemson and QB DeShaun Watson. I know most experts believe Alabama-Michigan State is a bad matchup for the Spartans. And yes, Michigan State’s secondary is a concern. But I think the Spartans defense will get after Derrick Henry and force Jake Coker to beat them. I’ll go with the team that has the better QB (MSU’s Connor Cook) and always finds a way to win late. Plus, I think there is still a faction of Michigan State fans who want to stick it to their former coach Nick Saban.
>We’ll keep you posted on everything throughout the week. But it’s a light week for recruiting. We’ll see if the Bears can get Nacogdoches safety Brandon Jones to take an official visit. That same goes for Trophy Club Byron Nelson defensive end Brandon Bowen. I’ll ask around to see if Baylor would have any interest in Kyler Murray, who just left Texas A&M.
>Skol Vikings! Hopefully, they can beat the New York Giants and clinch a playoff spot. It's really been fun to watch Teddy Bridgewater grow. Still has a ways to go.
>I’m getting out of town for a couple of days (will still be active on the site).
Let's make it a great week!
****
Baylor is eight days away from playing in the Russell Athletic Bowl against North Carolina. I’m sensing a major MEH from the rank and file. Honestly, I understand it. With a season that had so many high hopes and then to see it unravel in the final five weeks, I can get how the enthusiasm for this game doesn’t carry the day.
It’s natural. We were talking about this being the best team in the history of Baylor football preparing to make a run at its first national championship. Now, Dec. 29 will feature a Bears team that doesn’t have its No. 1 or No. 2 quarterback (Seth Russell or Jarrett Stidham), it’s No. 1 wide receiver (Corey Coleman) and its No. 1 running back (Shock Linwood).
When Art Briles told the media Saturday Stidham, Coleman and Linwood weren’t going to play, you could hear the air out of the balloon. Sometimes the season you dream of versus the one you get don’t match up. That’s the game. It’s a rough game. Players get hurt for a long time. And while we use football as our getaway from our day-to-day problem, the game does mirror life – to borrow a coaching philosophy. You have to adjust to whatever comes and make the best of it.
What I find fascinating about this season is that the standard of Baylor’s football program has reached championship levels. Qualifying for bowl games (still important because you want to maintain a string of success for a program) is no longer what people are striving for at the Simpson Athletics Center. The Big 12 championship hardware from 2013 and 2014 that’s sitting in the trophy cases are the goal.
As Baylor finished a magical 2011 season at 10-3, a 67-56 victory over Washington in the Alamo Bowl – that score still blows me away – and RGIII’s Heisman Trophy it nearly shut down greater Waco. The 2012 season appeared to be in trouble until the Bears steam rolled No. 1 Kansas State and then beat UCLA in the Holiday Bowl. That Baylor team played hungry. When 2013 and 2014 produced conference championships, the only disappointment was not being able to finish on New Year’s Day.
So you can see how the trajectory for 2015 emerged. Obviously, the loss to Texas changed all of the dynamics because the Bears lost a chance to play in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day against Ole Miss. Personally, if they had made it to this game, I think Coleman would have found a way to gut it -- no pun intended -- through and play. Linwood and Stidham’s availability likely would not have changed. In that sense, maybe this appearance in Russell Athletic Bowl is a blessing in disguise. If Baylor had made it to the Sugar Bowl with these injuries, it would have been a hold-your-breath attitude because this team is going into the postseason with one hand tied behind its back.
And that’s what we’ll see against the Tar Heels. But this game presents opportunities for the younger players. I don’t mean this to be disrespectful against Larry Fedora’s team. I expect Baylor to compete and play as hard as it possibly can play to try and win this game because this program doesn’t want to have a three-game bowl losing streak. That said, this game be viewed as an exhibition game that counts because there is the chance to see the younger wide receivers in Chris Platt and Ishmael Zamora get some serious reps. You might see Terence Williams in the backfield a lot more. There were some really good players that Baylor recruited. They got some time during the season. Put them out there and see what they can offer as spring football 2016 approaches. What do you have to lose other than the game?
Another compelling element we should watch for is what kind of leadership does sophomore wide receiver K.D. Cannon reveal for the rest of the corps. Jay Lee is playing his final game at Baylor so the torch isn’t passed from Coleman to him. It’s passed to Cannon. We all know that Cannon is a great talent. What we don’t know is if he ready to be the guy to set the tone for the rest of the group. There were times during the season when he got mouthy with defensive backs and showed some immaturity. There appeared to be a change in that toward the latter half of the season when teams focused on Coleman and gave Cannon a little more freedom. I saw a little more of a calmer Cannon. A little more focused Cannon. Perhaps he and Coleman talked about this because Coleman told him he was done after this season and it was up to Cannon to take the lead and to start showing it.
Now, it’s still going to be a situation where what the Baylor coaches can and will do with Chris Johnson is going to be limited. If you look at the three games he played in at quarterback, there was really nothing to evaluate. He played the second half at Oklahoma State on adrenaline (great start but not a very good finish to that game), had a miserable performance against TCU because the weather was impossible to deal with and then was knocked out early against Texas. There just wasn’t one full game to honestly know what Johnson is and isn’t capable of doing. Regardless, the Baylor coaching staff won’t ask Johnson to win this game. The staff can’t. It’s not fair to Johnson. It’s not fair to the roster. And it’s not fair to the staff. I still think we’re going to see an approach where Baylor will rely on Devin Chafin, Johnny Jefferson and Williams to lean on an up-and-down UNC defense and see if can impose its will. Johnson should be viewed as a game manager.
What will be crucial in this game is how the Baylor coaches get this team’s attention to be focused and ready to play it. I’m still wondering about that aspect. Briles and senior defensive end Jamal Palmer said all of the right things Saturday.
But I think this might be one of the most challenging weeks for this coaching staff because of what was expected and what happened. A lot of these bowl games feature teams who will play like they don’t want to be there. It’s like the NIT in college basketball. I think we’re going to find out real early in this game if the Bears are interested. I hope they are. Winning 10 games in a season is still a pretty big deal. Baylor can say it will have accomplished that in four of the last five seasons. This program has been criticized for not stepping up and beating other quality programs when it’s mattered – see the Fiesta Bowl in 2014 and the meltdown in the Cotton Bowl against Michigan State on Jan. 1. I’m sure everybody is tired of hearing about it.
****
There’s really not much to say about what happened to Scott Drew’s team on Saturday in College Station against Texas A&M. They were beaten soundly, 80-61. They didn’t play well. And the program has to put it behind it and move on.
The Bears are probably going to start Big 12 play at Kansas at 10-2. Obviously, this team needs to rebound the ball really well to give itself a chance to win. There are times when this group looks like a good jump shooting team. There are times when it doesn’t. The streak of holding opposing teams under 75 points ended at 54.
Obviously, this team needs to go back to the drawing board because that was a mess. It’s disappointing too because I really thought they would play well at Reed Arena and give themselves a chance to win it. They were out of it five minutes after tip off.
I’m not a believer that a coach’s demeanor on the sideline is going to have an impact on his or her team. The way a coach constantly communicates with his or her team does. I know Kim Mulkey is praised for her fiery approach. Well, yeah, her team is winning a lot. But that’s not the reason why her team is winning. She recruited really good players. And she coaches them really well. If she didn’t have good players and was up and down as a tactician, then people would view her fiery approach as someone who needs to tone it down.
Drew isn’t going to change. I’ve seen him get after players on the bench. But he is who he is. Yes, he hasn’t won a Big 12 championship. But Baylor track record in basketball under him is the best it’s ever been. Maybe there is a continued disconnect between great Waco, the Baylor students and basketball. I’ve long said that football casts. That’s been going on decades. I’m not even sure if John Calipari was brought in as the new coach if that would change much. I really don’t.
****
Other thoughts...
Congratulations to the 29 Baylor Student-Athletes who graduated on Saturday. For football (8): Troy Baker (masters), Trevor Clemons-Valdez, Lynx Hawthorne, Patrick Levels, LaQuan McGowan, Blake Muir, Shawn Oakman, Patrick Levels and Anthony Webb. Basketball had two in Deng Deng and Chad Rykhoek.
>The Lady Bears (12-0) play James Madison in Winter Haven, FL today in the Florida Sunshine Classic. They should be 13-0. Big 12 play is next Dec. 30 at Oklahoma State.
>Steve Harvey and Southwest Airlines should come to terms on a new ad for, “Wanna get away?”. I felt so bad for him after he completely misfired on the winner at Sunday’s Miss Universe pageant. Jokes about him ran endlessly. But to his credit, he owned up to it and apologized.
>I like how Cowboys coach Jason Garrett wouldn’t commit to Kellen Moore as this team’s QB for the final two game against Buffalo and Washington. Maybe he shouldn't since that position has been such a disaster this year. I think I read the Cowboys are on their fourth QB in a season for the first time since 2001. Maybe now the owner can put Tony Romo on the IR. I’m also wondering if Dez Bryant has more receptions or drops this year.
>First place Houston Texans? Yessir. They’re 7-7 and in control of the AFC South and can win it. They’re at 3-11 Tennessee and play host to 5-9 Jacksonville to end the season. It’s right there. Will Brandon Weeden lead them to the promised land?
>If Robert Griffin III is released by the Redskins – admittedly it looks like Jay Gruden made the right choice going to Kirk Cousins – you hope that he uses the new destination as an opportunity to salvage his NFL career. I don’t know if it will be in Dallas or not – that would smell like a Jerry Jones move – but this might be his last chance to save his career.
>OK, I made my college playoff picks. I did it on the KTBB in Tyler on Friday. I have Oklahoma over Michigan State in the championship game. For me, I think the Sooners defense is really playing well and can find a way to limit Clemson and QB DeShaun Watson. I know most experts believe Alabama-Michigan State is a bad matchup for the Spartans. And yes, Michigan State’s secondary is a concern. But I think the Spartans defense will get after Derrick Henry and force Jake Coker to beat them. I’ll go with the team that has the better QB (MSU’s Connor Cook) and always finds a way to win late. Plus, I think there is still a faction of Michigan State fans who want to stick it to their former coach Nick Saban.
>We’ll keep you posted on everything throughout the week. But it’s a light week for recruiting. We’ll see if the Bears can get Nacogdoches safety Brandon Jones to take an official visit. That same goes for Trophy Club Byron Nelson defensive end Brandon Bowen. I’ll ask around to see if Baylor would have any interest in Kyler Murray, who just left Texas A&M.
>Skol Vikings! Hopefully, they can beat the New York Giants and clinch a playoff spot. It's really been fun to watch Teddy Bridgewater grow. Still has a ways to go.
>I’m getting out of town for a couple of days (will still be active on the site).
Let's make it a great week!
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