Baylor Kool Aid

Baylor-Wake Forest Thoughts

2009-09-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

The short version is that what happened on Saturday was big time. Season opener on the road against a decent team with a ton of recent success. I know we won by 3 but anyone who saw that knows it wasn't that close. The defesne was nails only allowing one long scoring drive. The other two were 50 yards and 34 yards. Offensively we seemed to take our foot off the gas when we got up big but for the most part I was very please. The scary thing was that Griffin didn't even have a huge game, or a "good" game. He was just so/so.

The follwing are just some random thoughts about the game:

Phil Taylor was as advertised. He absolutely makes a difference. Notice that now that we're good up front, on the line and the backers, Jordan Lake was nowhere to be seen on the stat sheet.
We need to get Jay Finley the ball more. All the guy does is get yards. I know we have playmakers at various positions but he can control the game if you give him a chance.
Kicking game is going to lose us a game this year. You just know it. Saturday's game would have been iced early in the 4th if we take care of business kicking field goals.
The offensive line did an excellent job. The Wake defense was depleted but we didn't make them look better than they were.
Points to Jason Lamb for beating a tackle and getting a big time sack. I honestly didn't think he had it in him after the past 3 seasons. Let's hope this year's version is here to stay.
We can still improve the passing game. You can just tell that the passing game is servicable at this point but it hasn't come close to reaching its potential.

Here are some thoughts about our conference bretheren:

Oklahoma's biggest problem is their offensive line. They'll lose 4 games (maybe one to us) if they don't get better up front. They have a first class defense but it won't take many points to beat them this year. We'll see.
aggie fans are beating their chest about pounding a 4-7 team last year. I bet UAB exposes the ags in a couple of weeks.
OSU looked good but I just know we'll see a "Poke Choke" sometime. Let's hope our number is up when that happens.
Tech was also not impressive. As always, we'll see after a few more games. I think Texas destroys them at this point.
We'll find out a little more about ISU after their game with equally horrible looking Iowa this weekend.
We can't get Colorado and Kansas State on the schedule soon enough.

I'll post shortly after the UCONN game next Saturday. I'll be paying attention to how the fan base responds to the positive end of last season and the good start this season.

Coming Out of the Wilderness?

2009-07-31T12:07:00.000-07:00

There has been a ton of talk this off season about us finally posting a non-losing record and making a bowl for the first time since I was in the 9th grade. No doubt we have enough talent to make this happen. We have an explosive offense and a serviceable defense that should be slightly improved from last year. I think (conservatively) we can expect a 3 point improvement on offense (again, conservative) and a 3 point improvement on scoring defense. Compared to last season that means we'd score 31 and give up 26 on average. The 6 point swing also tips two games our way from last year and gets us to 6 wins.

So who can we beat to get to that magic 6 win total? I like to break the schedule down into three sections: Must Wins, Coin Flip Games, and Gravy. If my math is right (double check it anyway), our must wins are: NW State, Kent State, UConn, and Iowa State. We cannot lose any of these. If we do, we are forced to win more than our share of 50/50 games or get an upset somewhere else. The gravy games are against Oklahoma, Texas, and OSU. Any win against these teams (however unlikely) will just be gravy on top of our main goal this year of getting to a bowl.

The coin flip games are ones in which the winner of the game will not be a surprised. The spreads in these games will be less than 10 points so each are winnable but very losable. Below, let's talk about these games. We need to win at least 2 and maybe 3 to guarantee us a bowl spot.

Wake Forest

This article was posted on baylorfans earlier today detailing the Deacon's depeleted defense. Their offense really struggled for most of the season but I still have reservations about this game. The fact that it is the opener on the road really bothers me. Coach Grobe's program is also pretty impressive. Despite thier losses from last season, scrubs won't exactly be taking their place. WF redshirts practically everyone so the guys coming up to take the reigns are most likely going to be 3rd year sophmores or 4th year juniors. They'll have a little experience and won't be fooled easily. Last year that team was so disciplined on defense it looked like they had 13 guys out there.

Nebraska

Lost their QB, and various other important positions from last season. I think their offense takes a small step back from last season but their defense will be better. I'm glad this one will be at home. I think this is going to be a close one just like last season. Hopefully, our kicking game will be better and we'll be able to get off the field on defense. Let's hope we can get some good Halloween mojo for this one.

Missouri

Again, the loss of Maclin, Daniel, Coffman, and some starters on defense have people wrongly thinking we can just walk into Columbia and win this one. Mizzou had the #25 rated recuiting class two years ago according to Rivals so it's not like they have no talent. That class included a 5-Star QB who has no had one year in the system. If you remember from last year, the Tigers shot ahead of us 14-0 early in the game. We faught back and finally tied the game late in the 2nd half but came up short. Another game I wish we had at home, Pinkle for all he's messed up in his tenure has been pretty solid in Columbia.

aggie

You don't get points for what was done before all of the players on the field were born but sometimes it seems like you do. We haven't won in College Station in forever. Everything on paper says we should be favored and win this game but I don't even come close to putting this one in ink yet. They'll be better on offense and marginally better on defense. This is one of those games that we need to prove that we can win where we traditionally haven't. A win at the big concrete tackle box will be a nice skin on the wall and will spare us from the "haven't won there in x years" talk every season.

Tech

There's been some speculation that we could very well be 5-6 heading into this game at Jerryworld. Like Mizzou, people are seeing the close loss last year, plus losses due to graduation/draft and assuming we will win easily. Not so fast my friend. This being game number 12 for the season for both teams means that Taylor Potts won't exactly be a new starter by the time we tee it up in late November. Also, remember that Crabtree was hurt early in our game and was a non-factor and they still beat us. Tech's defense will be a little better as well. I also have a feeling that since Tech's whole alumni base is in DFW, it will be like a home game for them.

So there you have it. We need at least 2 of these coin flip games and most likely 3 to guarantee a bowl berth. My order of these from most winnable to least is: aggie, WF, Tech, Nebraska, Mizzou. Ironically, the top three are away from Waco. Go figure. Let's hope Art and boys get it done this season. I'll throw this out there as well: If we win our opener at WF, it brings 8 wins into play.

That's all I got for this week kids. I'll be back with another off season topic next week.

Murph

...And We're Back: New Baylor Uniforms

2009-07-17T08:08:00.000-07:00

With it being July and all, Baylor fans are chomping at the bit to see and discuss anything football related. With the Athletic Department debuting the new uniform combinations yesterday (Pics), a predictable eruption has come from message boarders.

The story on the Baylor Athletic site showcased five of the possible helmet/jersey/pant combinations. Among the more "radical" ideas was a white helmet and and all gold combination.

Before I give my thoughts on these, let me say this: I was a fan of the uniforms last year. They looked good. I liked the simple style and that we changed up the gold and white pants occasionally. That being said, generally speaking, I like what I see out of these new ones.

The only ones I'm not really a fan of is the all gold and the white jersey/gold pant combination. We had heard rumors about the all gold combo earlier and I was excited about it but the actual execution fell short. I think they should have either gone darker on the gold with lighter/brighter numbers and letters or outlined the numbers/letters with white instead of the solid forrest green with black outline. The white jersey/gold pant combo doesn't work for me because the gold is too light. Nothing pops. It would look better with last year's stripes.

I know the "purists" will hate the white helmets but I think they look awesome with the white jersey and pants. The all white look always looks good to me no matter what team is wearing them. I also like the white helmet with the green jersey/white pant combo. Again, it just pops.

There's been plenty of grumbling as I mentioned earlier and I'm seeing a ton of negative reaction to some of these with horrible facts/logic being used to support the reaction. Let's go over a few:

We're abandoning our "traditional" look.

We don't really have a traditional look. Check out this site. In the 80 years we've got documented photos of just our helmets, we've only had the interlocking BU for half of it. The helmet alone has been tweaked a dozen times. We've had numbers on the side of the helmet, nothing on the side of the helmet, three different colors of face masks, stripes/no stripes, outlined BU/non-outlined BU. The helmet that I have in my office has 6 "performance" stars on the front and 4 winged stickers on the back.

The jersey/pant combination is similar. True, we've had green and gold as part of our uniform forever and the tradition pretty much ends there. Wikipedia tells me that the color green has a wavelength of 520 to 570 nanometres. I don't even know what that means but I've bet we've used almost every shade of green in our jerseys since I started going to games in the 80's. We've also played with "Baylor" on the front/no "Baylor" on the front, bear paws on the shoulder, numbers on the sleeve, BU on the sleeve, fuzzy bear paw on the sleeve. Don't pretend that we've had a traditional look. It's always changed, and probably always will.

We are going the "Oregon" route.

Are you nuts? Unless you are defining "going Oregon" as having more than one home and away combination, you can't even come close to Oregon. They have 36 possible combinations. They have had diamond plating graphics in the past, they'll have wings on their shoulders this year. Please. The Oregon football department openly says that they tell recruits that they play with a different uniform combination every game. They will not wear the same combo twice in a season. Are we anywhere near that? Didn't think so.

Big time programs don't mess with their uniforms.

Really? Fist of all, we're not big time..yet. While there are programs like Texas, Alabama, Penn State, and Oklahoma that don't change at all, a little research shows that there are plenty of big time programs that tweak, change, and overhaul their look.

Is Joe Montana playing for Notre Dame or Green Bay?

The Wolverines appear to be updating their uniforms.

Even 5 time Champ and winners of 800 games Ohio State is not immune. From the late 1960's.

Is this what Spurrier wore when he played? Is Emmitt's look "traditional" or not?

As you can see, we're not alone in doing this. When it comes to uniforms, all that matters is that it looks good. If you're whining about this, you probably haven't experienced enough in your life to realize what is important and what's not. Just my $0.02 people.

I'll try to start posting again now that the season is creeping up on us. Until practice starts, I'll put together some good off season topics.

Later Kids,

Murph

Asleep At The Wheel

2009-04-07T06:58:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while since I last posted. Our Bears fell to Penn State last Thursday. We just didn't play our best game and that's all you can really say about it. Yes, the officiating was questionable in parts, but I don't think anyone can say that if we played the same with different referees, we'd win.

In the meantime, the blog is probably going to slow down a bit. I don't think I'm going to get to see a baseball game this season because my weekends are filling up fast. I'll still follow them and post occasionally but the days of seeing a post per day out of me will not be back until football reports in August. I'll be showing up about once a week to ponder a Baylor related topic or something completely random to keep you guessing.

If you want a topic discussed or a question answered, feel free to leave it in the comment section and I'll attend to it quickly.

Until then, have a good time kids.

Murph

Big Time!

2009-04-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

It's hard to even explain how the guys are playing these days. One of my life motto's is: "Better late than never." That's about how I feel about this team. We've now won 7 of our last 8 including wins over Big East, ACC, SEC, and now a good Mountain West team.

Obviously Jerrells and Dunn had big games. That was as good as I've ever seen CJ play when you look at scoring, assists, rebounding, and defense. Dunn came out hot but I think he still tries to dribble through too much traffic at times.

Kevin Rodgers has played like a different person the past 3 weeks. I can't explain it. He went from being VERY soft to taking it strong to the rim when he gets an opportunity. It makes all the difference in the world for his game as well as opens up stuff for the guards.

The only concerning thing about last night's game was our bench. 0 points, 0 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 turnover. Ouch. Our bench guys played a total of 36 minutes and that was their production. This has to change to win on Thursday.

I've never seen Penn State play this season so again, no scouting report or keys to the game although one of my buddies insists that Dou's minutes is a direct correlation to our chances of winning. Being a Big 10 (11) team makes me think they are going to play super ugly and try to get us to come down to them. We'll see I guess. The reality is that if we're making our shots, we're not going to lose (how 'bout that analysis). I just think we're a team of destiny now. Maybe not the destiny we hoped for two months ago, but we'll take it now.

Murph

New York, New York!

2009-03-25T06:21:00.000-07:00

Another solid outing from the Bears. I don't really have much to say about it that hasn't already been said. This has been a great run for us and takes a little sting off of the season. Let's just be real for a second here: A NIT Championship would be nice but no one will feel it outside of Baylor nation. Question: who won the NIT last year? No googling either. Answer below (I did have to check the old google machine on the interweb). Answer below. Now let's beat SDSU/St. Marys.

Answer: Ohio State

They Did It Again

2009-03-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

We'd never lose if we played like we did in the 1st half in every game. I've never seen a Baylor basketball team just come out on fire like that and simultaneously shut another team down. Some of that was VT not hitting shots. They had some open ones but for the most part we were playing with a ton of energy on defense.

Like many of you, I got a little nervous in the 2nd half. It would just seem so "Baylor" for us to find a way to choke that game away. Fortunately, we held on. In truth, I'm not that worried about the run the Hokies went on. We were up by 28 and you could tell the guys mentally let up. They just weren't the same after that.

Like Virginia Tech, I haven't the slightest idea what Auburn's team is like. I know that if we keep playing like we're capable, it's Hello NY.

Girls Beat UTSA in OT
Now that made me nervous. I don't even want to know what it did to Coach Mulkey. I pictured her in her hospital bed with a radio and going nuts jumping on the bed like Shooter from Hoosiers. Let's hope she's back on the sidelines for Tuesday.

Baseball Sweeps Tech
Elite teams sweep non-elite conference opponents. Good to see that we did that over the weekend. We now find ourselves in a 5 team logjam in 3rd place. The 1st and 2nd place teams (KU and OU) have only played one series. I like where we're at now considering we started conference on the bad end of a split with the aggies. We'll start covering baseball a little more when basketball winds down.

Edit: Baseball lost on Sunday so they didn't sweep afterall and now have an overall conference record of 3-3

Murph

I'll Have Whatever It Is That They're Having

2009-03-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

I don't know where this team came from but they are sure fun to watch these days. We've got a nice little 4 out of 5 streak going now as we head for Blacksburg on Saturday. I'll refrain from going into detail on how disappointing it is that we are just now seeing this instead of getting really revved up for today's festivities. Better late than never.

Coach Drew got another skin on the wall, that of a well known Big East team. We also broke through in the post-season for the first time since the Truman administration. Think about that for a second. The football team not being in a bowl game since '94 all of a sudden doesn't seem that bad. It's been a roller-coaster with Drew this season. We were good early, terrible in conference, and now we've turned it on again. Add to this the whole Barnes thing last week and Scott seems pretty questionable (not in a bad way). His recruiting is not debatable. Just about every published record that follows it says he's doing a good job.

Look, I know the real knock on Drew when it comes to recruiting is that he does it by going negative on other schools and hiring AAU coaches. I'm not in the living room with potential players so I won't say for certain that it happens but there is a ton of smoke there if you catch my meaning. It's not a secret that other coaches in the conference don't like him. I think the apologists will say that they don't like him because he has started winning. While this may be partly true, you don't read or hear about bad blood between Mike Anderson and other coaches. Mizzou was worse than we were two seasons ago and they passed us this year. Where is the anger there? On the AAU coaching front, let's just say that I hope we get to a point that we don't need to do that in the near future.

On the coaching side, I think he's grown a little this year but still has a way to go. Discovering that playing a zone defense protects his immobile bigs in the middle and ditching the smurf line-up improved the team greatly. Unfortunately he didn't figure it out until after an at large bid was out of reach.

All this being said, I know that I had said earlier that his seat should get warm if next year looks like this year, but I think he's made enough headway in the past two weeks to put that to rest barring a total collapse or a dead hooker found in his trunk.

So onto Virginia Tech. I haven't seen them play at all this season so no scouting report from me. I think we'll need to get more out of Dugat (0 points last night) if we are going to keep going. We might also consider playing defense in the first half to prevent an opponent from shooting damn near 80% from the field. Just a suggestion.

That's all kids,
Murph

Back From The Dead

2009-03-16T06:45:00.000-07:00

When I last left you Kool Aid Drinkers, we had just beaten Kansas and were gearing up for the game against the Great Satan, Rick Barnes. We finally broke through on those guys and were headed to the Championship Game. Like Lazarus, we had been raised from the dead, and like Lazarus, we would die again eventually.

I'm proud of our guys, we simply ran out of gas. It was painfully obvious around the 10-12 minute mark in the 2nd half. Shots became flat, passes lost their zip, the defense was a step slower. I'm in my 20s and work out nearly every day. If I run on the treadmill 3 days straight, there is no way I can get through a similar session on the 4th. I know our guys are Division I athletes, and so their in a better physical state than me, but I can understand getting tired.

Good for Drew as well this week. He accumulated more skins in one week than he has in his entire tenure at Baylor. He beat Kansas for the first time, Texas for the first time, and made it two straight post-season appearances. Not bad considering a first round loss in OKC this past week would have ended our season. Like many other things, the first time to do something is often the hardest. I have a feeling we'll be beating the Texas' of the world with a little more frequency now. Maybe like once every three years instead of 11 now.

Wednesday it looks like we'll be hosting the Artist Formerly Known as Hoya Paranoia. Like us, Georgetown had very high hopes this season and was ranked in the top 15 for part of the season. I'll admit, I have yet to watch a game of theirs this year so I won't give a scouting report. I only know that our guys are finally playing like they don't want their season to end. I think it's a close game either way. I hope our students will fill the FC. There are no more distractions like Sing or pledging to keep people from going.

An NIT Championship would be an unexpected but still a very positive note to end this era in Baylor Basketball. I hope it happens.

Murph

Well We Did It

2009-03-13T07:30:00.001-07:00

I didn't believe it could happen but it did. I'm officially getting excited. This usually precludes the heartless collapse but that won't stop me from watching tonight.

We shot lights out and had some help from KU who obviously was sleepwalking the first 15 minutes of the game. I'll give our guys credit though, when KU finally started playing, we traded punches with them and even came back after the Jayhawks took a 5 point lead. When that happened a buddy of mine and I basically simultaneously texted each other saying we were about to fold. Good for the team for bowing their necks and playing.

This was also a big win for Coach Drew. When you think about it, he really hadn't had any big skins on the wall when it comes to conference wins. Most of our numbers this year and last came against the bottom half of the standings. Yesterday's game was one where he can show recruits that they can compete with the best and win as opposed to racking up wins against the Colorados of the world and coming in 4th or 5th in conference.

So what now? Well, we play the great Satan, Rick Barnes. As mentioned on a prior thread, Barnes absolutely owns us. Never lost to the Bears and he's been there for 11 seasons. So that's 22 plus the couple of times when we've seen the Horns in the conference tourney. Texas seemed down this year but that never translated into any kind of success against them this season. Dexter Pittman has been the MVP of the tournament so far being the dominant force in Texas' first two games. Texas fans were concerned about his stamina playing in back to back days but he apparently had enough in his tank to do it. We'll see what happens in the 3rd game in 3 days.

I'm guessing we'll stick with our dinky little 2-3 zone we've been running out there. It's kept our bigs out of foul trouble and our opponents have foolishly settled for long range jump shots. Abrams might have a career night against us, but if he's off, we'll have a chance. Texas doesn't have another guy who can just kill you consistently shooting out there. Let's hope one doesn't just go off.

Also, big ups to Dugat for playing solid in the 2nd half and also to Dou who my buddy believes is the key to our team.

Baylorfans Never Let Me Down

2009-03-12T06:44:00.000-07:00

You knew these posts were coming. It was only a matter of time. I won't get excited until after we miracle ourselves past Kansas.

I have a meeting today from 10 to 1. I'm planning on getting sick around 11:30.

Last night the traffic picked up around 4 am Texas time. SiteMeter informs me that we now have hits from Poland and Spain. I'm sure it's an accident or they stumbled upon a picture or something but we'll take it.

"I'm Not Dead Yet"

2009-03-11T12:59:00.000-07:00

If you've never seen that scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, shame on you. Who knew we would actually put together a complete game. It's like we exchanged jerseys with the team we played on Saturday. Today, they were the ones making dumb decisions and shooting bad shots early in the shot clock.

CJ, Dunn, and Rogers all played well. Don't get too excited over the rebound numbers. I would estimate that we didn't have to battle for approximately half of them. Nebraska would heave and leave much like we normally do.

To put this in perspective, a team that would allow Lomers to go double figures in points is obviously weak on the inside.

(Lomers or Juggernaut?)

Anyway, I have promised myself that I will not get my hopes up unless we somehow beat Kansas. Only then will I allow hope to filter into my mind. If we try that dinky 2-3 zone against KU, they might score 100 on us. We're going to need special games out of 3 or 4 of our guys for us to win tomorrow.

Finally the End

2009-03-11T07:43:00.000-07:00

As we all know, today at 11:30 will most likely close the books on this era of Baylor Basketball. Not the Drew era but I'll get to that in a minute. I just mean with the 4 seniors that seem to have been at Baylor for 10 years. It's been a dissapointing ride this season (as I've documented) but I'll always at the least appreciate them coming here when they did.

Is anyone else thinking that we may win today which would give some hope? I can kind of see that happening followed by a strong 1st half against Kansas. For that breif 20 minutes of play, Baylor nation will get its hopes up. There will be 12 threads on Baylorfans with titles like "Can We?" and "The Field is Falling Like We Need It To!" Of course then Bill Self will wake up and call a play on offense and change defenses and show how unprepared our team is. This will ultimately crush the souls of those mentioned above.

Speaking of being prepared: I know I've been hard on Drew but I've never called for his job. If today's game looks like a carbon copy of Saturday's where we are just flatly out-prepared, out-coached tactically, and unmotivated, then maybe I'll change my stance on that.

By the way, the picture above is from Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey which was a terrible movie but one of those that I can't turn away from when I see it. You also see that Keanu Reeve's ability to use the same 60% of his lines in every movie he does goes way back.

That's all folks. After the impending Baylor loss, we'll draw our attention to the chicks and baseball. We need a dose of winning to cleanse our pallet every once in a while right?

Murph

Is it Over Yet?

2009-03-09T06:26:00.000-07:00

The regular season for basketball mercifully came to an end on Saturday. No word on survivors as first response personnel are still trying to pull bodies from the wreckage. Rolling over on Senior Day; wish I didn't see that coming. Perhaps this team will finally be put out of its misery on Wednesday to the mediocre team that beat them on Saturday. Of course what will probably happen is the team will beat Nebraska and give everyone a little hope before folding against Kansas on Thursday. Has there ever been a so evident mismatch tactically than what we saw against Nebraska? We had better guards AND inside players and they still handle us.

For the rest of the spring we'll follow the increasingly interesting baseball team which swept its games over the weekend. A Baylor team that doesn't choke and thus wins close games? Much like the unicorn or a mermaid, you've heard of the legend but never seen it for yourself. We'll also follow what the Girls Basketball team does in the tournament. I don't follow chick ball that much but I can appreciate a winner.

That's all folks, keep the comments coming or if you want a topic analyzed for you, just let me know.

Murph

No New Baylor News = Productive Week at Work

2009-03-05T06:58:00.001-08:00

If anyone has any football practice reports or anything else they'd like to say, send it to me and I'll give full credit. Basketball playing on Monday makes the week go by slowly.

Murph

Sing 2009 Results

2009-03-03T06:16:00.000-08:00

Your Sing 2009 Winners are:

1st- Tri Delt
2nd- KOT
3rd- Sing Alliance (Is this the Twilight Zone?)

Sing Invitees
ATO
Chi-O
Kappa
ADPi
Kappa Sig

My opinion only comes from the one night that I watched but the rags got robbed. There is no way Tri Delt's Veggie Tale act was better than KOT's. Other than that, the only problem I have with the results is Pi Phi being left out. I thought they were just as good as Sing Alliance, ATO, and ADPi. Again, this is just based on what I saw on one night. For all I know Pi Phi was terrible the other nights.

In my first Sing post, I mentioned that there was no really good one or two acts like there usually is. Instead of 2 front runners, there was a group of 10 that could have concievably been fighting for the 8 spots.

I was quite humbled yesterday seeing the traffic to this blog spike. I thought word had gotten around about my wit and wisdom and people were flocking here to get the expert analysis the regular readers have enjoyed for the past 3 months. Instead, I checked the sitemeter and realized most people were googling "Baylor Sing" and accidentally finding my post running down the acts. I'm guessing traffic will go back to normal levels this week.

However, for those of you who came for Sing analysis, stay for all things Baylor analysis. We're glad you're here.

Murph

Baylor Basketball

2009-03-03T06:13:00.000-08:00

If they only had a heart.......

The Curse of Rick Barnes

2009-03-02T12:51:00.001-08:00

There's no way to talk around it. Rick Barnes has absolutely owned the Baylor Bears since he landed in Austin. How have we not beat this guy? Lord knows we've had chances. Even a couple of Drew's worst teams have caught Barnes' teams on a bad night or looking past to the next game. Every time, the Horns come through.

Sometimes its been purely talent. Having Kevin Durant take over a game in the conference tournament is one thing, getting tactically undressed is quite another. In the game in Waco, Texas' second half game plan absolutely destroyed us. They got Abrams going with designed plays for him. Baylor's version of designed plays for someone involves inbounding the ball to that player after a made opponent basket and letting him heave it on the other end.

Drew has to beat Texas. Plain and simple. Coach has gotten a ton of slack for racking up wins against teams below us in the standings the past couple of seasons. Even as bad as Texas has been this season, it's still big. It shows Baylor fandom that there is hope for this team and staff. It's always a big deal when Texas goes down. Goal posts have come down celebrating a win over a very bad Mack II team in football. I'd rush the court purely for breaking this awful streak we have going against them.

Just an aside, how has Barnes cornered the market in Texas for 7 foot white kids that can shoot from the outside? Boddicker, Buckman, Atchley (I think I'm missing one other). How has he cultivated this pipeline?

Back to the game tonight. This is our last game on a semi-national scale until the conference tournament. Even with Texas down, it would be a big win. It would give some confidence heading into Saturday/Conference tourney and it might knock the horns into the NIT. That would take the edge off of what had been a really disappointing season for us.

Complete analysis tomorrow
Murph

Signs of Life?

2009-03-02T08:20:00.001-08:00

As mentioned earlier, I've already proclaimed the Baylor Basketball season dead. However, I can appreciate that they gave some effort in the last part of the 2nd half and pulled away from an absolutely awful opponent. Please, don't tell me how they played KU tough or this and that. They are a horrible team. The win pretty much locks up the 9th spot in the standings unless Iowa State wins out. There is a chance we climb to the 8th as well. I know I was crowing about absolutely needing to be out of the 8/9 spots due to having to play OU in the 2nd round of the tournament. Now that the Sooners have fallen to the 2nd spot, you want to stay out of the 7/10 slots. I don't care if they are the 2nd seed, the Sooners are the best team in the conference and a nightmare match up for us.

Since the name of this blog is Baylor Kool Aid, I'll give the ideal scenario of how our team could find its way into the tournament (however unlikely). We win our first game (likely against Nebraska again), then we need to beat KU (obviously easier said than done). Now the tricky part: We need to be pulling for upsets of the other 3 top seeds. If this happens, it opens the door (more liked cracked).

All of this is moot if we play like we have the past few weeks of course. I'm just trying to give the sunshine pumpers hope.

It was also good to see Drew pull the cliched stunt of removing the players names on the back of the jersey. Bravo. I always smirk when coaches do this kind of thing. As if the players are going to consciously play more unselfishly during the game because his name isn't on the back. That kind of attitude is built through the season and during practice. I think we all know the staff failed on this point this season. Next thing you know they'll pull a coach K and remove all the chairs in the locker room. The team will surely play better to "earn" their chairs back. Good grief.

Murph

It's That Time Again...

2009-02-27T07:33:00.000-08:00

Since the basketball team has mailed it in the last two weeks, let's turn to our next hope for Baylor sports relevance: Football. Did I really just type that? Spring ball starts in March so let's talk about what we should be looking as the team starts drills.

Position Changes
It was reported yesterday that Jeremy Sanders and TJ Scranton had been moved to safety, Krys Buerck back to receiver, and Romie Blaylock to corner. I think each of these moves made sense. Buerck improved throughout the season but was never good one on one with a decent receiver. The plays he made were when he was playing zone and the quarterback made a mistake. Receiver is a much better fit for him and his skill set. I think he'll contribute more there. Also, the emergence of Trenston Hill probably made this switch easier for the coaching staff.

The move to corner will allow Blaylock to see the field earlier. In 2008, he pretty much just got in on a handful of plays and backed up Kendall Wright. Like Buerck switching back to receiver, the move to corner fits Blaylock's skills better and will allow him to contribute more.

I think the move of Sanders to safety will have the biggest impact of any. He was too good an athlete to not have on the field. He wasn't going to play QB, and running back never really fit him. The only plays the coaches let him run were the toss to each side. I think he takes Williams' spot. Williams was often burned in coverage last season. He did have a very good game against Missouri but I can't think of another game where he stood out. Sanders, with the addition of Landor at the safety spot hopefully improve the backfield productivity some. We need more pass break-ups and interceptions out of this group. On top of this, due to the offenses that are being played, we need a guy who can quickly come up and make a tackle on the quick screen to the WR.

Also,
Tim Griffin's blog on ESPN's web page took a break from talking Longhorns non-top to have Phil Taylor as one of his impact newcomers for next year. I think Taylor makes a difference but as I've said before, it's not like he's going to be in on every down. DT is still a weakness of this team. His presence, if he's as advertised, will draw a double team from the opposing O-line and hopefully open an opportunity for another lineman to get in the backfield.

If anyone can get to Waco to take in a practice this spring I'll open up this blog to put up a practice report. Full credit will be given to the contributor(s).

Thanks again kids,
Murph

You'll Never Believe This But Baylor Lost to a School with Inferior Talent

2009-02-25T06:41:00.000-08:00

This post will be short and sweet because let's be real here, I could just cut/paste any recap of a game the past 6 weeks and be pretty close to what happened. I think Drew finally lost the team. They don't care and won't play hard any more. Hopefully, next season can be an addition by subtraction kind of situation. We'll see.

Good for Drew finally getting a technical however he did it in the worst way. Didn't get his money's worth so to speak. Also, if you're going to get T'd up, do it at home and get the crowd behind you. In Ames, it just got the Iowa State fans more to feed off of.

Should we be worried about being "snubbed" out of the NIT? With the Bears playing the way they are, we're going down that path.

Murph

Sing 2009 Condensed

2009-02-24T07:32:00.000-08:00

Allow me to first to say that I never even made it to Sing while I was an undergrad until I had to either work one of the shows or Mrs. Murph was a Sing Chair of her sorority. It's not my thing. However, there are times when one must go see the show due to spouse pressure. I'm sure you can all relate to this. So without further delay, Murph's thoughts on the acts:

Tri Delt

Typical Tri Delt routine: lots of costumes, group dances, finish with what seems like a thousand girls on stage doing their "move." Solid overall. Not as good as what I've seen before but good enough for Pigskin

Phi Chi

If I die and dudes with gold sequined vests come out singing, I'm going to think I'm in hell. Traditionally, Phi Chi scores well with the judges but I just didn't think this act was as good as what they've done before. Just me.

Kappa

You will never believe this but Kappa's act involved having a ton of girls on stage doing the same move together. Question: Did the Sing authorities finally tell Kappa that doing a 20's, 30's, 40's era theme with flapper dancing was starting to feel like the same thing every year? Again, good act but wasn't very sharp.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon

I've known approximately 3 SAEs in my life and if I had known they had this in them, I would have hung out with those guys some more. Look, SAE isn't trying to get into Pigskin but I think their act was the most entertaining. They knew they couldn't sing or dance so they made me laugh. Plus, if that guy who did the rap wrote it and mixed the music himself, then that guy is just flat out nails. He shouldn't even be in school. Creativity like that makes money in the real world.

KOT

The same authorities that got onto Kappa must have gotten to the Rags as well. I can't imagine what the Sing chairs did when their 4 ideas (Cattle Drive, Cowboys and Indians, Old West, and Chisholm Trail) all got rejected for being like every other Sing act they do. In reality, this was one of the better acts. Good singing, good dancing, just solid. They may win the top spot this year.

Kappa Sigma

You didn't think a group could do a rodeo act and not get this picture did you? I honestly don't recall all that much about it. I'm sure it was typical Kappa Sig and was solid all around. Although I thought they were much better when they highlighted their 5 best dancers and had them break dance or something.

Pi Beta Phi

When I was in school, Pi Phi was never a real force when it came to Sing, which seems weird because you'd think a sorority like that would have enough talent to put together a good act. Anyways, this year they did pretty good. I didn't get some of the costumes but they were creative. This year, with no group being really good, Pi Phi might sneak into Pigskin.

Sigma Chi

Question: What do you get when about 25 guys sit around drinking beer for an hour thinking of a Sing act? The answer is this act. Like SAE, they aren't trying to get into Pigskin. They're just having fun. That's why I was somewhat entertained by the act. There were some laugh out loud moments for sure but no one thinks that they're winning anything.

Theta-Fiji

I don't remember a damn thing about this act other than it had a Barbie-Ken theme.

That's really all I can recall about Sing this year. I know I only covered about half the acts (maybe). If the group wasn't mentioned here then I can't recall a thing about it and thus deemed it boring. Overall, there was not an obviously dominant group or two like there normally seems to be which makes me think that Pigskin is wide open this year. Feel free to discuss any acts in the comments section below.

Murph

Obituary for 2008-2009 Season

2009-02-23T11:17:00.000-08:00

The Baylor Men's Basketball season passed away Saturday the 21st of February in Stillwater, OK. The deceased appeared to show signs of life just a week earlier but in the seven days after a win against Texas A&M, the season's deadly symptoms came back to finish the team off. The autopsy report showed that a total lack of defense, predictable offense, and no inside game ultimately led to the season's demise. While the season is survived by its players and coaching staff, it will ultimately be put to rest for eternity the second week of March in Oklahoma City, OK. The team will pay its respects the next two weeks by going through the motions that it started in mid-January when its weakness was first diagnosed. A final viewing will be available on March 7th at the Ferrell Center.

In all honesty, I can't get over how disappointing this season was. We were picked 3rd by the very same coaches that had seen this group the past few seasons. We had 3 seniors that were going to contribute heavily (1 might have been a 1st round NBA pick). We had two other players that gained heavy experience last season and were only going to be better. The conference is even down this year. Texas has lost 5 conference games already. Kansas lost 4 starters from the prior season. So what happened?

As the obituary stated, defense, no consistent offense and non-existent inside game killed us this year. I was talking to someone on Saturday who is pretty close to the team and he had some disturbing information for me. He pretty much stated that it is well known in the locker room that Drew is not a strong coach when it comes to Xs and Os. I know I'm not really breaking news with that revelation but how would you like to play for a guy that you know is going to get undressed tactically every night? He went on to say that the players still like him and all that but coach just gets too in the moment and lets his emotions override any sane decision that needs to be made.

The example he gave was during the Wake Forest game. If you recall, we were hanging with the Deacons in the first half. The refs were calling things pretty tight which negated Wake's ability to manhandle us under the rim. Then, one of the refs got injured. Baylor was the "home" team in this game and had the option of playing with just two refs or having the reserve come out. Drew was so fired up mentioning that "we beat A&M in 5 OT with only 2 refs and we can do it here too." We all know what happened next. We got destroyed on the block and got run out of the gym in the 2nd half.

As you dozens of readers know, I have never called for Drew's job. I think he needs to show something in 09-10 and really show we're on the right track in 10-11. But does this disturb anyone else? Recruits aren't going to keep coming if we can't offer the playing time that was offered to CJ, KR, and HD AND never come close to the tournament on a semi-regular basis. I know next year's team will look very different and I'm looking forward to seeing what Drew can do with a team that isn't so guard heavy. As my favorite saying goes: We'll see.

As it stands now, even winning out and then a couple in the conference tournament won't get us in the dance. I think we still end up in the NIT. That isn't so bad when you look at it but it is devastating considering the expectations going into the season.

I'm going to try to post something everyday this week to appease the growing masses checking in here. Tomorrow, I'll have a full Sing report for those who would rather not watch it (like me).

Murph

Who to Root for this Weekend

2009-02-19T11:21:00.000-08:00

All 12 conference teams will be in action this weekend. In keeping with the two prior posts about our position in the standings and what needs to happen for Baylor to have a shot in the conference tournament and build a NCAA tournament resume, here's what needs to happen this weekend:

Baylor wins over OK-State
Kansas beats Nebraska
Tech beats aggy
Iowa State over K-State
OU beats Texas
Colorado vs. Mizzou is inconsequential

It would have been nice if Tech or Colorado could have come through for us last night. Saturday's game with the Safety Orange team from Stillwater is huge because if we win, we'll hold the tiebreaker if we're tied at the end of the season (very possible).

Like I said before, I'll be in Waco this weekend for personal reasons (nothing dire) so I won't get to see the basketball game. I'll try to get my first look at Baylor baseball in a couple of seasons. Skipping class to see a baseball game was one of my favorite pastimes during my time in Waco. In those days, they would let you bring in food so my buddies and I would Gut-Pack up and head to the ballpark. Greatness.

Pictures and Commentary after the weekend.
Murph

Baylor Basketball Coming Down the Stretch

2009-02-17T09:53:00.001-08:00

As I mentioned before, the Bears have 5 games left to put together a tournament resume or at the very least, position themselves better for the conference tournament. The goal for conference position should be to stay out of the 8 and 9 seeds. These seeds lead to seeing OU in the 2nd round of the conference tournament. This is crucial when we will probably need a 2nd conference tourney win to enhance the resume. Right now, there are 5 teams ahead of us that we could conceivably (not probably) catch: Texas, Nebraska, OK State, aggie, K-State.

Here's what each of these teams face during this home stretch:
Texas- OU, Tech, @OK State, Baylor, @Kansas
Nebraska- Colorado, @Kansas, aggie, @K-State, Iowa State, @Baylor
OK State- @Tech, Baylor, @Colorado, Texas, K-State, @OU
aggie- @Tech, @Nebraska, Iowa State, @Colorado, Missouri
K-State- @Iowa State, @Missouri, Nebraska, @Oklahoma State, Colorado

Baylor finished with: @OK State, @Iowa State, Colorado, @Texas, Nebraska

Given the nature of this season so far, I wouldn't put any games in ink yet. The league is basically the top 3 teams (OU, KU, MU) followed by 6 mediocre teams and then the bottom 3. You can look at the schedules differently. The aggies get to play all 3 bottom-feeders but must also play one of the top teams (That MU game would look good on a tournament resume). Texas has to play 2 of the top teams and only 1 bottom team. Your Baylor Bears have games against 2 bottom teams and no top teams. However, OK State, Texas, and Nebraska aren't going to roll over for us. Our recent history against the Longhorns needs to change course for us to have a real shot making a move up the standings.

The bottom line here is that if we find a way to win out and finish 9-7, things get real interesting for the Baylor Nation. Finish 8-8 and I think we're NIT bound barring a conference tourney championship game appearance. I hope our Athletic Department sees this season at what can happen when you don't schedule at least one good true road game (not tournament or neutral site). We might finish 9-7 and not beat one of the top 4 teams in our conference. I think we'll be on the outside looking in. Hope I'm wrong.

Murph

Baylor Kool Aid is World-Wide

2009-02-16T08:17:00.001-08:00

I was checking the SiteMeter last week and noticed we are starting to attract some international traffic. Our first visitor was from Tel Aviv, Israel. So Shalom to you sir/madam.

As always, please please please leave a comment every once in a while to say hi or to tell my how much the site sucks. I can take it.

Who Were Those Guys?

2009-02-16T07:52:00.000-08:00

Far be it for me to complain about a win. I hope those guys show up for the rest of the games this season. We played something that resembled defense and basically executed what my plan to beat OU was. Fast start? Check. Other team in foul trouble? Check. Production from an unusual source? Anthony Jones Check.

Now we get a week off to get ready for OSU in Stillwater. That game and Texas are the two toughest games left on the schedule. Hypotheticaly, if we find a way to win out, things could get real interesting. I think as of now, we are still on the outside looking in for the big dance. Finish the conference at 8-8 and then win a couple in the tournament and we at least give ourselves a shot.

If the season ended today we would be the 8th seed playing A&M again in the first round. A win there and we have a date with OU in Oklahoma City. That is obviously not what we want. Despite what happened Saturday, the aggies are still a match up problem for us. The good news is that with the schedule, we have a real shot at the 5th seed. That gets us a rematch with Colorado in all likelihood. A win there and we play someone like Texas or K-State who we match up better with. I think we are capable of winning out and go 9-7 but it much more probable we end at 8-8. I just don't trust this team yet.

All of these match ups in the conference tournament are purely speculative at this point. There are 5 games to play and there are 8 teams within 4 games of each other. We'll obviously know more at the end of this week about who might get slotted where and what match ups are likely.

Other than that, it is a slow week in Baylor sportsdom. I'll be back in Waco this weekend for a wedding and catching a baseball game. Reports will come after the weekend. I may even throw in some random stuff this week as well.

Later kids,
Murph

A Plea to Coach Drew

2009-02-13T11:25:00.000-08:00

I think we can all agree that Coach Drew has been an outstanding representative of our University in his 6 seasons here (coaching ability aside). He has conducted himself with class and I have never heard anything bad about him personally. On the sidelines, he may not agree with every call. He usually gives a "Come On!" to a referee running by down the sideline after a blown call. While I appreciate his civility, I do have a plea for Coach tonight and the rest of the season: Please lose it for once on the sideline.

Now, I'm not calling for Drew to throw a chair across the floor. That's stupid. It also is totally out of his personality range. If he did something like that, people would think he's had a mental breakdown as opposed to being upset. That's why Bob Knight could do that and be effective. People don't think he's exceeded his personality range until he's about to murder someone.

Let me explain. I believe that every player and coach in the conference has a reputation. If a clumsy post player fouls out every other game, the refs aren't going to have any reservations about blowing the whistle on plays that for others they may let go. I'm not saying it's right. It's just human nature. Bob Knight would get T'd up when he didn't always deserve it. Refs did it as almost a rite of passage. Another example is a baseball player that almost never strikes out. If he takes a close pitch on a full count, 9 times out of 10 he's jogging down the line.

I think what's now happened to Coach Drew is that refs don't have any reservations about blowing the whistle on us. Let me be real clear here: The refs have yet to lose a game for us. I don't think it has anything to do with a conspiracy or the conference wanting to make sure certain teams win based on revenues or fan bases. However, I think a ref subconsciously makes decisions based on reputations. Rick Barnes teams get the benefit of the doubt because refs don't want to get an ear-full from him. The same can be said for a handful of coaches in the league. When a call can go either way, it's easier to screw Coach Drew's team because he won't question it very strongly.

Coach needs to get a technical. I'm asking for it. I don't care if it costs us a couple of points. We leave so many points on the floor as it is anyway so it won't matter. It doesn't need to be spontaneous, just pick the first close one that doesn't go our way. Demand that the official come over and explain himself. When he comes over, just start screaming until he obliges with a Tech. You don't even have to cuss or anything. If you just make enough noise for long enough, it will happen. Think Coach Norman Dale in Hoosiers.

This will do a few things. First, and most importantly, it sends a message to your team that you will protect them. There's been some talk about if the team respects Coach. Get a technical defending one of your players, and you move up a few notches. Guaran-Teed (see what I did there). Second, because of the undeniable truth that most Baylor fans that will be present love Drew, this will enrage them. They will blame it on the refs. Old ladies who usually only scream at the person two rows in front of them to sit down will start directing their wails at the officials. Any intimidation that can be put on the zebras should be when you are at home. Finally, the action itself tells the officials that the days of you being "Aw shucks, you need glasses ref?" when we get the bad end of a call that could go either way are over. I wholeheartedly think this will make a difference.

So let's do it Scott. It's just a hunch but I believe if you do this in the right spot of the game on Saturday, it will change the complexion of your team. They will play with more passion and the crowd will feed them energy.

Pre aggie Thoughts

2009-02-13T08:53:00.000-08:00

With Valentines happening, I'm not entirely sure if I'll get to watch this one live tomorrow night. I'll DVR it for sure but the dead-on analysis that I usually bring may be delayed.

First off about the game, let's all acknowledge that A&M is a match-up nightmare for us. It's not that they have better talent because they don't. Their strength in the front court has a bigger advantage than ours in the backcourt. It's that simple. They have a stable of forwards they can throw out there, we are ecstatic when Lomers scores 4 and pulls 3 rebounds. We should also remember that our guards haven't exactly been setting the world on fire lately either.

I think what we need to do is to really put our foot on the gas in this game. We need to make their big fellas run up and down the court and then hope Turgeon is stupid enough to go small with us to keep up, negating his size advantage up front. This could very well backfire on us. I think in the OU game on Wednesday we slowed it down and was methodical about working for a decent shot and it kept us in the game. If we get going up and down again, we may revert to heaving contested 3s with 23 seconds on the shot clock.

Outside of this, the formula that I laid out for the OU game still holds true, especially the part about starting strong. I think of this aggie team like a heavy run oriented football team. They are very strong when ahead or in an even game, but do not have the offensive firepower to come from behind.

It would partially redeem the season if we beat them on Saturday. I know it wouldn't be all that big in the big picture of conference rankings and so forth. Let me tell you a story: I was a freshman at Baylor in the fall of 1998. The aggies came to Floyd Casey that fall and quickly established themselves as the better team. They were in control of the game in the 2nd half and Slocum then faked a punt with the aggies scoring another touchdown a few plays later. I get an uncontrollable rage when I think of that time and sincerely hope we beat those guys by 100 points in every sport.

I don't hate all aggie fans. Many of my good friends ended up in College Station. I almost went there myself. My buddies are good fans, they aren't in your face about it, they respect their opponents. It's the others that make me homicidal. I will never fell sorry for these aggie fans. If we find ourselves up 90-45 or something ridiculous Saturday, I hope our fans in the FC are chanting that they want 100.

That's all I got to say about it. For those who are dateless or have the most understanding wives/girlfriend(s)/bootycall/whatever, my spirit will be with you.

Murph

The Good, Bad, and Ugly of the OU Game

2009-02-12T08:07:00.001-08:00

What I Liked About the Game
First of all, we finally came with some effort last night. This makes the loss somewhat palatable. Our guys had energy and played with a little passion for a change. Also, for all the crap I give Drew about his coaching, his substitution pattern last night was a quantum leap forward. He "stole" minutes for his quality players on the bench. I think the guys looked much fresher late in the 2nd half compared to the other games during this horrendous streak. I also rag on Lomers relentlessly on here but last night might have been his best game yet. Not statistically, but he fought hard for rebounds and didn't blow at least 2 scoring opportunities like he normally does.

We did a good job on Blake Griffin. Looking at the final box score he still had 18 and 10 but I don't feel like he was THE difference maker last night. A third of those 18 came on free throws so it wasn't like he was just scoring at will.

Having only 11 turnovers for the entire game was also a nice change of pace. I believe that this directly led us to be in the game until the end.

The Bad
The guy who killed us was Austin Johnson, and I'm not even talking about his shot-clock beating prayer that went in and effectively took the heart out of our team last night. He went 6 of 8 from the field (4 of 5 from distance) and had 5 assists versus 1 turnover. Johnson basically played about as perfect of a game as a guard can play.

Converse Johnson's play with that of 3 of our starters: Dugat, Acy, and Carter. Those three guys scored a combined 18 points (versus Johnson's 17) and combined for 7 assists and 4 turnovers. We need more production out of these three starters. I drive the Quincy Acy bandwagon but he needs to score more than 4 (I wasn't expecting a huge game from him given OU's frontcourt). I wouldn't say Tweety had a bad game (8 points, 4 assists, 1 TO) but he needs to be more efficient with his shots. His FG and 3PT% were 33% and 25% respectively. I don't even know what to think about Dugat anymore. He's a fantastic athlete and could probably play at a college level at just about any sport. The problem is that he's not a high level college athlete consistently. He's capable of going for 20 on a given night but too often it comes as often as leap year. I call it Dugat Roulette.

The Ugly
The ugly stuff is all going to be a reach because I think we played one of our better games as a whole last night. First off, the crowd was pathetic. The number 2 team in the country is in town and you can't get over 8K in the FC (Please don't quote me the announced attendance, there's no way it was what the athletic department said)? I had the pleasure of sitting in front of possibly the most uneducated fan in all of the land. Why are these people always the most vocal? I loved the passion, just wish it could have been used for good. I thought the refs were bad in the first half but were better in the 2nd. They didn't cost us the game.

Overview
All in all, it's like I said. We played better but not near the level we needed (and were capable of) to beat a team like we saw last night. The real problem with our team is that we cannot put real game changing runs together. When we get hot on the offensive end, we almost always end up just trading baskets with the other team. So instead of going on a 12-2 run, it ends up being a 12-8 stretch. While that's a net positive, it doesn't change the game and when we cool off, our opponent goes on their own 12-3 or so run. That's what happened last night. We'd go on a 5 possession (3 offensive, 2 defensive) run where we were productive and then made stops. This is when we whittled the OU lead down to 3 in the 2nd half. However, we always followed up by allowing an OU run and then basically traded baskets for the rest of the game.

Bottom line as always, we need our guys to put their hard hat on while on defense and keep working on that end until we make an offensive run. Otherwise, it cheapens our offensive efforts. I know I'm not breaking news with any of this but it's been the story of the season. Hopefully, now that the schedule gets considerably easier, we can put together a run for the NIT.

Later Kids,
Murph

Baylor +3. Really, Vegas?

2009-02-11T11:21:00.000-08:00

Before I talk about the game tonight, I'd like to get some stuff off my mind. I'm getting a double-dip of basketball this week because I was at the Dallas Mavericks game last night while the weather apocalypse was occurring outside. My piece of advice for anyone who wants to bring a significant other to a basketball game or any other sporting event: make for damn sure your girl half-way is interested in said game.

To set up, Mrs. Murph and I went to the Mav game with another Baylor couple. Neither girl could care less about basketball. The wife likes football and during those games she can give reasoned responses to questions about what's going on. This is not the case for basketball. Both girls spent the entire game gabbing while planning our next 8 vacations, talking about babies, and dishing gossip. Josh Howard could have pulled a gun out of his shorts and started shooting people on the court and neither one would have noticed. Add to this the obligatory Baylor "it's picture time" segment of the night which always coincides with the most exciting part of the game. Take one with your camera, then theirs, then a picture of them with their camera, then yours and then GOOD LORD WHY CAN'T YOU PEOPLE WAIT FOR A TIMEOUT OR SOMETHING. BASKETBALL STOPS EVERY 3 MINUTES, IT WON'T KILL YOU TO SIT THERE UNTIL THE ACTION STOPS. Whew. That felt better.

I'd like to start a movement where couples take one picture of themselves at some athletic venue and just use it over and over again but tell people it's from different places. The background is always the row behind you so no one will know. The truth is that no one really cares enough to notice. I know this is a blow to scrapbookers and obsessive compulsive facebookers everywhere, but I think it's a good suggestion.

Now on to the game tonight. As mentioned before, I'll be in attendance tonight to witness the carnage myself. With me, I bring Mrs. Murph, the couple from last night (whoopiee!) and a 3 game Baylor winning streak with me in attendance. Oddly, the last time the Bears dropped a game while I was there was against OU.

So, outside of Nancy Kerrigan-ing Blake Griffin on his way into the arena tonight, how does Baylor win? I haven't any idea. I'd feel better if we'd shown some testicular fortitude in the past 3 weeks but we know that hasn't happened. While the odds are stacked against us, there is a formula to pull upsets in college basketball:

Get Opponent in Foul Trouble
Tough to do given our style of play but if Blake Griffin is on the bench early with fouls, it makes things interesting. OU still has a stronger front court even without him, but it opens up things up for us on defense (a stretch given our guys probably can't spell defense). The other side to this is us getting in the bonus early. This allows those cheap fouls away from the basket to turn into points. Converting these chances is an absolute must.

Start Fast
Think the 2001 Kansas upset here. Our guys came out making shots and turning turnovers into layups. We were up by double digits before Kansas knew what had even happened. This also gets the crowd involved.

Huge Game from Someone Unexpected
This is in all likelihood going to come from a bench player. Think someone like Ellis/Lomers/Diene/Jones here. Nobody in their right mind expects anything from these guys in this game but if one of the 7 footers has a 8 point-6 rebound game, that is a huge lift for our offense. Guys like Tweety and Dunn need to score when Jerrells is on the bench. I think part of what is making CJ more and more ineffective is that he is playing massive minutes carrying the scoring load. Watch the tape of his shot late in the 2nd half of recent games. Almost no arc on his shot. I think he gets tired. If we can keep the scoring clip up reasonably well with him on the bench, he can use his skills better to close the game.

That's the formula to pull off the upset. It won't hurt if OU can't hit jump shots as well. I'll try to have a report up sometime tomorrow. I would say tonight but I'm going to watch LOST when I get home. Priorities people.

As always, I'd love to hear from anyone who finds themselves here. I've been tracking the traffic and it looks like a handful of folks log on at some point during the day. For that I am very grateful.

Here's to seeing an upset tonight,
Murph

It's Over (Tech Post Mortem)

2009-02-09T07:36:00.001-08:00

That's the season kids. We don't deserve any kind of post-season play this year unless we miracle ourselves past OU, Texas, aggie, and others, plus at least two wins in the conference tournament.

As I mentioned before, I missed watching the game because of a prior engagement. It was at an Italian place where you sit down at 7 and not get your food until 9. I checked the score on my iphone and saw we were down by 3 with a little over a minute left. I knew it was already over. I hadn't watched a second and I knew we didn't have what Bill Raferty would describe as the "onions" to win that game. I don't take pleasure in this. I'd rather be proven wrong than being able to say "told you so."

I called my dad, who played basketball in college and is a college basketball junkie, what happened. He described what he had seen and then just said: "It was every Baylor game you've seen this year. Just a different place and opponent." I think we all know what this means.

This season's collapse has put the spotlight square on Coach Drew and for good reason. When your team is picked 3rd in the conference and you end up being lucky to be 9th, you will have criticism sent your way. Let me be clear, I'm not calling for his job this season or even next season. We were sold on the talent he had coming in and that talent has not met expectations this season. It was also evident that coaches that had inferior talent on their roster have learned to absolutely undress our team and Drew can't do a thing about it.

I've read some say that what needs to happen is for Drew to hire a really good X's and O's type guy. This won't happen and let me tell you why. If you think that Coach has lost his voice with this team, just watch what happens if you bring in a guy like people are describing. Players aren't stupid, they know who knows more about the game. In crunch time, is Drew going to hand the board to Coach Gameplan and say "draw up a winner"? I think everyone knows the answer. Drew will lose his voice in the locker room and it will be painfully obvious. Just like how Tony Romo waved the punt team off the field on 4th down in that abortion of a game in Philly. He publicly neutered his head coach. Players will tune out and ignore Drew if he brings in a real assistant.

Looking at the current recruiting, it appears that next year will be a completely different team. That's a good thing. I think we'll be less guard oriented and more forward oriented. We will still lack a true center but the added strength at the 3 and 4 will help. How sad is it that the best center of the Drew era is RT Guinn? He was a Bliss recruit/transfer. Put him on this team and we have 3 more wins in conference. RT wasn't Wilt by any stretch but he rebounded and could score about 8 a game. Think about what that would do for a guy like Quincy Acy to play against another power forward and not a center.

I feel like I could type for days about this team. It looks like Drew has become Guy Morriss-like on the message boards. I say that only in that there are some that are demanding accountability and another camp that says that criticism should be withheld because of a situation that was inherited. Like I said before, I'm not calling for Drew's head yet. 2010-2011 is when we need to see consistent results on the court and have a good sense of where the program is going. By then, kids would have been in middle school when the scandal hit. That's more than enough time to get your guys in the program and producing results.

I may tackle all of this again in the next month or so. Of course, much will be determined by how the team finishes out the season. I'll be in Waco on Wednesday for the OU game. I'll report back on Thursday.

Murph

Pre Tech Thoughts

2009-02-06T13:28:00.000-08:00

First of all, I will not be watching this game. My wife, whom I love (gritting teeth), has set up a triple date with two couples I have never met on Saturday night. Of course I'm thrilled by this. Then again, if what the past two weeks has shown us continues, I'm better off dying a slow death of forced conversation and feigned interest than watching the stomach punch that is Baylor basketball at this point.

This needs to be the game that Curtis gets out of whatever he's in. This team cannot win unless he fills the stat sheet with points and assists. He also contributes because he is one of the few players we have that actually goes to the rim and draws fouls. We've got more offense than Tech but they seem to always be dangerous, especially at home. Tech doesn't have anybody that just jumps out on the scouting report so this could be a game where we try to get our defense together. Let me say that again: The defense must show up in this game or the future or there will be no point in even lacing them up from here on out.

I'm tired of seeing the same damn game over and over where we start out and make shots and even get a stop or two on defense. Then we totally regress and stop moving around and look like 5 guys who have never met each other. This is my wish.

I'll be making a triumphant return to Waco on Wednesday night for the OU game. That should be awesome. 6,500 crazy....er....awake fans supporting our team. I'll have a full report when I come back.

For those who keep finding themselves over here, please leave a comment telling me how much I suck or if you are just indifferent to what is going on here. I'd like to know.

Murph

Signing Day 2009

2009-02-04T13:05:00.000-08:00

It appears that everyone who we were expecting to sign today has and so it is finally time to asses what the team will be looking like this year and beyond. For simplicity sake, I'm going to reference Rivals. I know there are other recruiting services and they are all different with rankings, bias, and slants.

What I like about this class
First of all, we addressed a major need in the offensive line. We are replacing a top 10 draft pick and a 2 year starter on the line. Ideally, the JUCOs will fill these spots without much of a drop-off. Luckily, with as much zone read as we use on offense, the center and guard positions are more important. I see next year's line maybe not as having a higher ceiling than last year's but will definitely be better when the bench linemen rotate in.

Second, we add play makers on the offensive side. Outside of Griffin, Finley, and Wright last year, we didn't have anybody who is a threat to take it to the house every time he touches the ball. The additions of Glasco Martin and Darius Jones will hopefully fix this. There is no bigger Thomas White fan than I but most of his plays were the quick read pass off the snap. He was incredibly reliable about getting 4-6 yards a pop. Now we might have someone that is capable of making someone miss and going 12-20 a play.

Third, we have incredible size in this class. I believe only 3 players are listed below 6 feet. You don't get any points for how you look getting off the bus but it helps if you are as big or bigger than your opponent. For the past decade outside of the Jason Smiths of the world, how many of our guys could you see in a fellow Big 12 team uniform? I think that is starting to change. The wide receivers in this class are giants. Hopefully, one of them will turn into a Dez Bryant type player that our QB can just throw it high to on 3rd down and he'll go get it.

What Concerns me
Our bottom 5 recruits all play or are projected to play defense. Try to remember what we saw during the bowl season as Big 12 teams that were scoring like crazy all of a sudden sputtered when faced with teams that could tackle. Offensive improvement will help the defense but only marginally. Landor will probably step into the Williams/Lamar safety spot and that will hopefully be an upgrade to the secondary. I'm guessing Lloyd will play if he's as advertised. We absolutely need someone who can get to the quarterback from the end position. He was also a more highly rated player than Robertson was last year and played. Also, if Chance Casey is starting at corner this season, it means we've improved our secondary.

Next year's class needs a DT or three in it. I know people point to Phil Taylor, the Penn State transfer but even if he is as good as we hope he is, we are still weak there. He won't play every down. Taylor might be the first Baylor linemen in forever to get double-teamed. That's great and all but it means that someone needs to be able to win their one-on-one battle with the lineman across from them. No one has shown they can do that yet. Maybe Lloyd or Mason can be that guy in the fall.

Overall Thoughts
I've seen it said that this is a "great" class. Slow down. It's great compared to classes in the past but we don't play the Baylor 2006 team next season. Recruiting is all about two things: upgrading your current talent and bringing your overall talent base higher than your opponents. I think in 4 years you will be able to look at this class and say this was largely the group that jump-started the Baylor resurgence. Compared to other teams, Baylor still is behind but the talent gap is starting to shrink. All you need to do is get the talent close enough to your opponent that coaching and execution on the field can get you a win. Hopefully, the days of us losing purely on talent are ending. If Briles gets us into a bowl game this season, look for the 2010 class to be "great." Remember: College football is a zero sum game. Our increased success comes at a cost to another program. A Baylor team on the rise directly hurts TCU, Tech, OSU, and aggie. Those are the teams we are competing with for players right now.

The traffic on this site has picked up recently. Thanks to all of you who have stopped by. Please leave your thoughts in the comment section. I'd like to get a more interactive thing going here.

Thanks,
Murph

A Recruiting Trip to Aggieland

2009-02-03T09:15:00.000-08:00

Howdy! Welcome to Aggieland. It's good to see you made it here using my directions. Most athletes we recruit cannot read and thus, need a personal driver to get to campus. Speaking of campus, how do you like our little piece of paradise? We like to call the architecture style here "Modern Concrete."

I know that living here in College Station could possibly be a little culture shock from where you are from inner city Houston, but rest assured that you will find many folks like yourself here.

(Recruit unknowingly steps one foot onto the grass)

For God's sake get off the grass!!!!!!!!! Sorry to yell at you like that but it was for your own protection. The grass here is a memorial but even for people new to campus, there can be consequences. "They" might show up. Texas A&M is not a military school. However, we do give preferential admissions treatment and scholarships to those in the Corps. And let them register for classes before everyone else. And give them priority seating at the games....Nevermind. All you need to know about them is they will always be behind you at the games.

I mean, when it's 4th and Goal at the 1 yard line, you'll be amazed how inspired you get when you look over and see a couple hundred guys with shaved heads practicing genital mutilation on themselves.

(Listeater walks by, recruit recoils at the sight)

I see you've noticed some of the talent we have here on campus. Good pull. Statistically speaking, there's 2 guys for every girl here. There are a couple of advantages to this. One, it lets you hang out with your bro's more. Second, Aggies like to do everything together so it's totally win-win.

That's the campus tour. I hope you liked it. Let's walk over to the student guidance office and discuss your major of agrilcultural management.

Rock Chalked

2009-02-03T07:41:00.000-08:00

Another frustrating game for the Bears last night. KU does not have a huge talent gap on us for once and we can't handle it. The difference in the two teams became very clear in the final four minutes. We were down about 6 or 7 and Kansas went into a style of play that we could not contend with. They spread the floor and basically put the ball in their best player's hands. He was either going to score or get fouled and come away with points either way. On offense, we had 4 straight possessions where we came away with one shot and done. KU came away with points after each of these possessions.

This obviously isn't an experience thing. KU turned over most of it's contributing roster this season. They just play well as a team and know what each of their roles are and execute. Contrast that with our team in which the whole somehow is less than the sum of its parts. When was the last time we grinded out a win against a good team? I won't pretend to know what the root of this problem is. Could be coaching, could be a player issue. I just know that when our core group of guys was struggling 3 seasons ago, we were told that it was because they were inexperienced. Now, we are desperately looking for answers with 3 4-year starters on the court.

I'll be back later with some other stuff. I'll try not to touch basketball until the weekend.

BU-KU 2nd Half

2009-02-02T19:11:00.000-08:00

18:55- Tweety starts the scoring with a 3 then promptly gives up a layup. Ugh.

18:20- We have apparently left the defense and the rebounding in the locker room. KU up by 5. We need Jerrells to get out of his funk. Why can't we get him and Dugat on at the same time?

17:40- Beautiful rebound and put back by Rogers. Offensive rebounds are huge in games like these.

15:52- KU on a run and is up by 10. All runs against Baylor look the same: defensive breakdowns and then contested shots early in the shotclock while on offense.

1st TV Timeout- Bears down by 8. We need to start giving up the easy baskets. With our offense, it wouldn't take much to swing most games to our advantage.

15:25- Do you think that most opponent gameplans just say: give it to whoever is guarded by Dunn.

14:30- As bad as he is on defense, we need Dunn to start raining 3s.

13:52- Dugat makes 3 of 3 to cut the lead to 7. Come on Defense!

13:06- Another Tweety 3 to cut the lead to 4.

12:25- And another Tweety 3. Come on Bears. Just kidding, gave up a bucket.

TV Timeout- At least Jerrells is getting others looks while he's struggling. He's still dangerous going to the bucket.

11:18- Baylor forces a shot clock violation. Where can I get my ski lift ticket in hell?

9:45- Jerrells is having trouble even hitting the rim.

8:50- We need a better offense than that.

8:16- Jerrells draws Aldrich's 4th. That's huge.

TV Timeout- We absolutely needs some stops on defense. We also need some actual offense to get a good look on offense. This is the kind of game that can help us shed the "soft" label if we pull it out. That's what she said.

6:50- Too many layups on defense. That's the difference.

5:06- Collins draws one on Dugat. We can't let that guy beat us.

4:09- 3 straight empty posessions for the bears with Kansas scoring to answer.

TV Timeout- looking like choke city.....again. This is getting old.

3:31- Does Jerrells not believe in arc on shots?

3:18- ESPN shows a horrific stat about points in the paint.

3:10- KU white guys on the free throw line are always automatic

2:21- What does our NIT resume look like?

1:45- Baylor hard core fans filing out.

If the team is mailing it in at this point, then so am I. Catch you guys later kids.

Bears-Jayhawks 1st Half

2009-02-02T17:48:00.000-08:00

First, I'd like to give a shout out to all of those who stumbled upon my little corner of the interweb via Baylorfans today. Thank also to DixieCC for posting the link. I had been wondering who that one person who was visiting this site was. Now, onto the game:

19:15- Phantom rebound by Rogers. Luckily KU bricks the 3 and we get the ball back.

18:44- Dugat with the turnover. Not a good start.

18:27- Dugat redeems himself with a steal/layup. We need him to get out of his funk desperately.

17:17- Another bucket by Dugat, please let this mean he's on tonight.

15:30- Finally we got KRog the ball on the block. 12 or more points for him and we're in it.

1st TV Timeout- So far so good. We're doing this thing when we don't have the ball. I think it's called "defense." I'm not sure, I haven't seen anything like that out of our team in years. By the way, does KU's Morningstar about 80 pounds. He looks like that kid in church league who wore the undershirt because he didn't want anyone to know he hasn't gotten his underarm hair yet.

14:50- We still don't have a foul yet. There's probably someone on Baylorfans taking credit for this because of a bitching campaign to the Big 12 offices.

14:05- That's not Roger's shot.

13:40- There's a Lomers sighting. Prepare for pain.

12:43- Aldrich wearing the mask. Anyone else think that players with those things should be wheeled out before each half like Hannibal Lector?

2nd TV Timeout- Bears up 11-9. Rogers just got double-teamed by Lomers' man and did not pass it to him even though Josh was by himself under the basket. That tells you all you need to know about how his teammates trust him.

11:10- Big dunk for Acy. Do that a couple of more times and KU will back off the press.

10:42- KU player pancakes Dugat to free up a man for a shot. Mangino would be pleased. And then eat him.

9:15- Dunn denied his first assist of league play. Rogers fouled on the dunk attmept. You could call Dunn a black hole. Once something gets to him, it never leaves.

8:05- Dunn shoots and hits from Bellmead.

3rd TV Timeout- Bears up 18-15. I like the way we've played so far. Let's keep it up. Commercial note: If I ever think Pizza Hut lasagna is good, I hope someone jabs a fork in my neck.

7:11- Tweety commits 2 turnovers in 12 seconds.

6:48- CJ just abused a double team and creates a dunk for Acy.

5:51- Lomers! An emotional explosion with the intensity on the rebound.

5:11- Dugat with another 3. Good, good sign.

4:04- We don't have an answer for Aldrich. We need to find a way to deny him the ball.

2:35- Jerrells doesn't give it up on a fastbreak and misses. Leads to a KU layup.

Halftime- we let Collins dribble down the court for an easy shot to take a 2 point lead at half. I like the way we've played. I feel like we've got a run left in us, same as Kansas. I hope the crowd can carry our guys the rest of the way.

Big Week in Baylor Sports

2009-02-02T11:01:00.000-08:00

I'll be blogging tonight's must win versus Rock Chalk tonight as well as doing some analysis on the recruiting class being signed on Wednesday. I would have loved to have discussed the Texas and Mizzou games but I can't type while throwing up all over my keyboard. I'd like to think that if I didn't write about it, it didn't really happen.

See you tonight kids,
Murph

Baylor Basketball Drinking Game

2009-01-26T12:13:00.000-08:00

We all know that Baptists don't drink but hypothetically.....

Baylor takes a contested 3 with more than 20 seconds on the shot clock- take 1 shot
Ball ricochets off Lomers/Diene hands out of bounds- take 1 shot
Retaliatory foul by Lomers- 1 shot
Opponent gets in the bonus before the halfway mark of a half- 2 shots
Opponent drives to the basket with no one helping on the way to a layup out of the half court- 2 shots
Baylor players with a size advantage on defender opts for a fade-away jumper- 2 shots
Baylor guard gets a rebound on defense, walks the ball up the court, doesn't pass, and takes a highly contested shot with over 12 seconds on the shot clock- finish the bottle

This should get you started. Of course there could be more and I encourage all two of you to leave your ideas in the comment section.

-Murph

Bitching About Referees is the Mating Call of Losers

2009-01-25T15:23:00.000-08:00

As I was watching the "game" on Saturday, I wandered over to Baylorfans to get multiple perspectives on what was happening. I came across one thread where the driving force behind our ineptitude was apparently the officiating. The zebras were "taking us out of our game" and "making sure we are in our place."

Let me say this. I have followed and watched sports since before I actually knew what I was watching. There are bad calls in virtually every game. Sometimes, the bad calls CAN change a game. This is not what happened on Saturday in Norman.

What happened was a total and complete ass kicking. We played scared. Outside of CJ, our team wet their collective pants anytime they came down the lane and a Griffin brother was standing there. Did the referees play horrible defense for us? Did the referees alter our shots when we drove the lane? Did the refs make us take bad shot?

We are better than what we showed yesterday. When we let a team shoot 67% in a half then I don't know how anyone could possibly think that the game was "stolen" in any way. When you whine about officiating in a game like that it basically screams that our fanbase isn't used to winning. I guess we'll have to wait till that happens.

Later kids, quit whining.

Murph

Kansas State Post Game Thoughts

2009-01-22T11:50:00.000-08:00

Lace was the big star of the game obviously but I'll say it again: Quincy Acy makes a huge difference when he's out there vs the two 7 footers. Teams actually have to guard Quincy and not leave him to help on our guards because he can catch the ball and score.
During commercials, I switched over to the OU-Nebraska game. OU, like a&m is going to be a match up nightmare for us. It's not that they are that much better than us either. The problem is thier inside game has more of an advantage over our inside than we have an advantage over their perimeter players.
K-State needs to learn a box and 1 defense and use the 1 to just stand on the wind Dunn was. It was unbelievable how Lace would come down the court and just stand in the same place waiting for the ball. He could have had his mail forwarded there.
Dugat is getting due for a huge game, wish it is going to happen on Saturday
Did anyone notice how we drove to the basket consistently and that opened up Dunn on the wing as well as got us in the bonus early in the half? The moral of the story is that much, much more often than not, the aggressor will get calls and will control the game in general. We have to remember this when the Griffin brothers are standing in the lane and we revert to our "25 feet from the basket" offense.

A site note: My computer is having issues making posting on here a herculean effort. I've been working diligently to upgrade so all will be well in the world again. I don't know if I'll get the chance to comment on the OU game. My fascist wife is having me attend a wedding shower in Waco on Saturday. Perhaps I can at least get her to tour the new practice facility or something.

Later peeps,

Murph

Post OSU Game Thoughts

2009-01-19T06:39:00.000-08:00

Quincy Acy was the difference. With Lomers and Dou on the court, we essentially play with 4 people on offense. This means that our opponent can use their center to help when our guards drive. How many times have you seen one of our guards penetrate and then dish to one of our 7 footers only to see the ball fly through their hands out of bounds? He also brought some rebounding to the game. For some perspective, the Lomers/Diene combo is averaging 5.2 points and 2.8 rebounds combined counting our sta-puff non-conference schedule. Acy delivered 17 and 12 against OSU.
Does the OSU coaching staff offer Byron Eaton a cheeseburger every time he scores a basket? He sure looks/plays like it.
Speaking of Eaton, the game was effectively over when he fouled out and we went to overtime. I was more worried at the end when any random player can make a shot. During a sustained period of time, they weren't going to be able to score with us without Eaton.
We need to be 3-1 in conference going into the game in Norman. Can't look past KSU on Wednesday night.
Shot selection was much better on Saturday compared to the aggie game.
Is it too much to ask to get out to a lead early and keep it throughout the game?

On a site news note, I'll try to bring in a little more football stuff this week as well as recaps of the KSU basketball game. Later kids.

Murph.

Blogging Baylor vs. Aggy 2nd Half

2009-01-14T19:41:00.000-08:00

19:45- Dou starts the half continuing his quest of having 5 fouls and nothing else in the stat book.

17:42- Defense Optional Wednesday!

16:00- Two Bears fight for a rebound, falls into the hands of an Aggie. (Sigh)

14:00- Basically trading baskets for the last two minutes. Waiting for a run.....

13:55- Just kidding, we'd rather given up offensive rebounds and scores.

11:15- Can't seem to get it under 11.

8:47- Phantom elbow. Good Lord.

7:39- We absolutely need some defense right now. Our offense is finally starting to get going. We needs stops!!

6:42- Aggies aren't missing. One part being hot, the other is the paper mache defense.

5:15- Getting a little late to start a run....

4:09- We're going to try one anyway following the missed dunk and Dugat 3.

1:50- You have to make shots....

1:16- Looks like too little, too late

0:25- It's over baby. No Defense, no winning. Of course, if this team doesn't know that now they never will.

Blogging Baylor vs. Aggy

2009-01-14T18:28:00.000-08:00

Pregame- Crowd shot showing aggie students looking at newspapers while Baylor players are being introduced. Not as effective when everyone knows they can't read.

18:50- Baylor defense forces a shot clock violation. I'll take a three day lift pass in hell please.

17:45- Looks like the zebras are going to let 'em play tonight.

17:11- Dou gets tied up with Davis. Old official gets knocked to the deck.

16:20- Tweety with the answer!

15:57- Lomers! Flagrant Foul Watch 2009 is on!

15:10- No hustle on the botched in-bound play. I would think they would be up for this game.

13:04- Acy forgets to dribble. Don't sweat it kid, you're only a division 1 athlete.

12:23- Dunn with the tried and true method of going to the basket. Good things happen.

11:58- Are we aware it's ok to get the ball after a missed shot? My head hurts watching this.

10:26- Dugat with a great move to draw the and 1. It looks like we might have a game plan.

10:15- Game plan doesn't include defense.

8:45- Lace with 2 turnovers in consecutive trips down the floor. Ugh.

8:00- Apparently Alanu has more rebounds than the entire Baylor team. That's just terrible.

5:48- TV Timeout with aggies up by 6. Our defense has been ok but our rebounding has been horrible. We fix that and we win. The absolutely cannot shoot with us.

4:26- Aggies want this game more than we do and it's blatantly obvious. Aggies up by 7. (Looking for a bucket to puke in).

3:28- Aggies have taken 12 more shots than us. That's the difference at this point.

1:58- Stripes miss an obvious goal tending. We end up turning it over and letting them scores. It's weird how that always happens.

1:24- AnM on a mini-run. We need to keep it under 6 till halftime.

Halftime- Aggies finish on a 9-2 run to finish up 11. Our rebounding is terrible. We need to find some rebounding and energy or we'll get run out of the building. The good news is that we haven't gone on a run yet. We usually have one or two a game. We'll see what happens.

Pre a&m Thoughts

2009-01-14T09:05:00.000-08:00

I'll be blogging during the game tonight so all 6 of you (Thanks Sitemeters.com!) can hear Murph's wit and wisdom when it comes to the game. This game is a big deal because with aggy's schedule, if we win, could send our friends to the south on their way to a possible 0-5 conference record. Anytime you get the chance to start shoveling dirt on the enemy, you do it.

I don't think Josh Carter is going to lay another egg for us tonight so the defense is going to have to remember to get off the bus in College Station tonight. We also must absolutely get some kind of production from from our center position. No, I'm not talking about 15 fouls either.

See you kids tonight.

Live Blogging the Baylor-Tech Game 2nd Half

2009-01-10T11:54:00.000-08:00

Pre-Tip- Bryndon Manzer analysis. Manzer is one of only 4 former OK State players who can speak in complete sentences.

19:40- Lomers with a move and a score. Someone is skiing in hell as I type this.

18:35- Lomers, obviously in the zone, tries another shot. Misses and then retaliates against the world with a foul.

15:57- TV Timeout. Bears can't separate from the Red Raiders. Lead still 4.

14:47- Tech takes lead with a 3. I've seen this game before. Baylor takes a time out so Coach Drew can remind his players that the game didn't end with the 1st half.

13:45- Jerrells for 3 and the Bears take a 1 point lead. It looks like he might have to take over for us to have a chance.

13:35- Tech in the bonus 6 minutes and change into the half. Someday we're going to get an opponent in the bonus before the 15 minute mark.

11:05- We're trading leads with Tech now. Dunn hits another 3.

10:36- Baylor always seems to make Alan Voskul look like an NBA prospect.

9:25- Dunn is on fire. You'd think after the South Carolina game, a coach would figure out how to guard him.

8:30- Pace picks up and announcers say: "This is the style of play we expected to see today" in consecutive sentences.

Commercial Break- If I see the fat guy try to shoot free throws again, my head will explode.

5:42- Jerrells dribble penetration creates a shot attempt/foul for Rogers. Why we don't do this for an entire game I'll never know.

4:50- Tech bunches around the 3 point line and dares us to take a long shot. Tweety obliges and misses.

4:12- Rogers with a huge offensive rebound and put back drawing a foul.

2:38- Alley Oop to Rogers to go up by 11. Finally some separation on the scoreboard. If we could play like this the whole game we would be a force in the conference.

1:42- In the understatement of the year, announcer describes Dunn as "not an assist guy."

0:45- Garbage time as we've finally put this one away. It was great to see the defense step up a little bit but they need to take it to another level to beat the better teams in this conference.

Live Blogging the Baylor-Tech Game 1st Half

2009-01-10T10:40:00.000-08:00

PreGame- Not to be outdone by FOX's treatment of Tim Tebow on Thursday, Big 12 Network has declared Blake Griffin our new Lord and Savior.

Tip Off- Ego booster for Dou with the announcer saying he's only in there to win the tip

18:51- Two Offensive rebounds for Tech before drawing a foul. Never seen this before (sigh). Baylor down 4-0.

18:14- Timeout Baylor after a 3 by Tech. This followed a 5 second call on KR.

17:55- Dugat with a nice dribble drive basket.

17:32- Baylor finally gets off the bus and scores 4 straight. Time out Tech.

16:50- Announcers call the officiating crew "excellent." I'm waiting for someone to call a crew terrible.

14:13- Lomers checks in. I'm predicting 2 fouls in the next three minutes.

13:17- Fantastic move by Tweety to draw a foul in transition. Has anyone not heard about him playing 6 years of high school basketball.

12:51- Lomers draws a foul and looks like he needs oxygen just to get to the foul line.

12:33- Vlade Divac's illegitimate son apparently plays for Tech. Nice neck beard.

12:14- Dunn makes a 3 point shot from Bellmead.

11:04- Pat Knight uses the "Motion Offense." Drew counters with his own "Stand around offense."

10:22- Dunn hits a 3 off an inbound play. Bears up by 5. Tech timeout.

10:01- Baylor opponent in the bonus halfway through the half? Surely you're joking.

7:56- Bears somehow botch a 3 on 1 break. Bears still up by 8.

Commercial Break- Are insurance companies the only ones that can afford commercial time these days?

5:32- We can't handle prosperity, Tech gets an easy bucket off an offensive rebound. Baylor up by 5.

5:18- We finally go down to Rogers and he draws a foul. I'm glad we finally discovered this strategy.

Back from the Break- Spotlight on the Bear Pit, Baylor admissions inquiries decline simultaneously.

2:15- Lomers finds a wide open person in the first row.

1:23- Has Alan Voskl played for Tech the past 9 seasons?

Halftime- Baylor leads by 4 at halftime. I feel like we played better than that but we really need to beat this team by like 15. We'll see if the Bears step up some.

Big 12 Coaches Meeting Episode I: Where to go for lunch?

2009-01-09T12:09:00.001-08:00

Briles: Thanks for having me here guys. Man, I am starving. How do we decide where to go for lunch?

Stoops: The coach who's team comes in last during the season typically gets to pick. Your predesessor always chose Hooters because he thought it would be funny to have that place on his expense report. However, it looks like Coach Sherman is going to be choosing restaurants this season and for the foreseable future. What do you think Mike?

Sherman: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Stoops: Not again. Somebody wake him up.

Gundy: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE UUUUUUUUUUUPPP!

Sherman: Huh? Who's that? What's going on?

Leach (hung over): Stop Yelling! Some of us do not spend all our time thinking about football and would rather enjoy the exploits of alcohol. This is expecially true when you realize you are destined to be Pirate Captain in the middle of the damn West Texas desert. (Pulls out flask) God I hate Lubbock.

Briles: Ok. Ok. We're not getting anywhere. Mack, do you have a preference?

Brown: I don't know. I don't do decisions very well.

Stoops: I knew we should have invited Muschamp instead.

Brown: Shut up! 45-35 Bitch!

Stoops: Does Vince ever let you look at his National Championship Trophy?

Gundy: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Briles: Why are you yelling?

Gundy: THAT'S ALL I KNOW HOW TO DO!

Leach: Stop yelling! (stumbles)

Briles: Forget it, I'm ordering a pizza.

Prophet?

2009-01-09T07:09:00.000-08:00

Question: Who said in a previous post that if Florida scores 24 they win the game? Answer: me. This blog is free to all of those who find their way here. For stock tips, career training, and relationship advice, that will cost you.

On a totally different note, ever Google "prophet"? When trying to find a picture for this post, all I got was a bunch of portrayals of the prophet Muhammad. I had to use some more google-fu to find this random, nameless prophet that you folks who paid attention in Old Testament can think of as either Elijah or Elisha.

Site News of the Day: Since conference basketball starts Saturday, I'll finally get into that some for those of you who keep e-mailing me asking for it.

My Peace Plan

2009-01-08T12:15:00.000-08:00

You think Palestinians and Jews hate each other? Put college football fans of different views on the post-season in a room and it will take four coats of paint to cover the blood stains on the wall. The crux of the problem is that Universities/Conferences/Media/Sponsors make more money than anyone can conceivably count on the bowls and don't want to change it. The bowls of course, do not provide the finality and closure that we as fans want at the end of a sports season. Both sides have legitimate gripes on why their way is best. Before I get into how I will make both sides happy and bring a time of peace and prosperity, let's look at who and why fall into each category.

Pro Bowl System
The people who like the system the way it is are the same people who profit greatly from it. The conferences make a ton of money with their sponsors off of this. Also included in this are media members. What? you might ask. It's true. Do you not think media talking heads enjoy having a ready made controversy to bitch about from Mid-November through early January? There's hundreds of hours on TV and an infinite amount of print that gets filled every year off of this. Also, fans of schools that win 6 games but are not in the championship picture want some kind of post-season experience. As Baylor fans, we have been waiting for this for longer than I care to say.

Playoff System
These people are purists who think the NCAA Basketball tournament is the end all be all in sports (It's not, unless you really believe that the best 64 teams are really in the bracket). The real backers of this system are fan bases of teams that get screwed by the BCS system (Texas, Utah, USC). They typically don't say anything if they're on the other side (you get a head coach that says: "Well, it's the system we have so we just have to go with it").

Other peace plans have been offered and rejected. Let's look at a couple and explain why they don't make the cut:

Plus One Plan
This one is stupid because it doesn't really fix anything. Take this season for example. Who plays the OU-Florida winner? USC? Texas? You are just creating more controversy.

Bowl involved in the Playoff Plan
This plan has each bowl as a different round in the playoffs. For example: the winners of the Peach and Cotton Bowl play in the Orange Bowl and the winner of that game plays the winner of the Sugar Bowl. This is dumb and would never happen because Bowl Committees would never allow their bowls to be diminished like that. This would also drive down attendance due to the frequent travel. This also leaves the teams that don't make the tournament but won 6-7 games with nothing.

My Plan
My plan calls for the season to be over the Saturday after Thanksgiving. All conference title games must be played before this date. Then, the top 8 teams are selected by the BCS or whatever else would govern this stuff. The teams play each other the first weekend in December and the winners play the week after, leaving the final two teams. These teams will meet in the designated championship bowl game (Sugar, Orange, Fiesta, Rose) that is rotated every year. The two losing teams in the second round play in another bowl, and the four teams that lost in the first round of the playoffs fill out the last two bowls. All other bowls would pick teams and play their games as normal.

This gives teams that are out of the tournament a post-season and gives the legit contenders a shot at the title. My plan is not without controversy. There will always be issues with who fills out the 6-8 seeds. Hopefully, there won't be any undefeated teams that get left out. If this plan is adopted with my previous BCS conditions outlined in a prior post, this won't happen. Another issue might be that it would be 4 months between knowing who was in the championship game and the game actually being played. To me, this is what happens every year so it shouldn't be a big deal.

That's my plan people. If we can make this work, we can stop any war on the planet. Who's with me?

BCS Suggestions for the Future

2009-01-07T11:47:00.000-08:00

I know everyone hates the BCS and that's fine. I'm not that enamoured with it either. I've heard Collin Cowherd compare the BCS to flying commercial airlines. Is it perfect? No. Does it get it wrong sometimes (losing a bag)? Yes. But for the most part does it do the job? Yes. The BCS was created to get what should be the overwhelmingly two best teams on the same field for a championship game. If you look back in the past decade or so its been used, that's what it has done with a couple of obvious exceptions.

I think part of the problem is that there are seasons when we never really get an idea of how good a team really is until the end of the season. This is because teams have figured out that the way to play the game is to get victories and that means scheduling cupcakes the first four weeks of the season. Going hand in hand with this is scheduling said cupcakes at home so some teams get 8-9 home games a season. Some people justify this by saying that the conference is so strong, a lighter schedule in pre-conference should be accepted.

The problem with this line of thinking is that some teams can absolutely get to a 10-11 win season without being the kind of great team you would expect to be in a championship game. You schedule 4 patsies to start the season, you'll have probably 2 games against teams in conference that will not even get to 5 wins, 4 games against teams that will win 6-9 wins, and then 2 really tough games against conference opponents. If you've got a team that has championship hopes, all you have to do is eat the cupcakes, put up 50 on the cellar dwellers, win at least 3 of the games against teams that will be playing in Alamo and Holiday Bowl type games, and then split your two tough ones and you will at least be in the conversation at the end of the year.

What I would propose is to for teams to qualify to be in a BCS bowl, they must:

Play at least one BCS conference school in their out of conference schedule
To be considered for the championship game, they must play a BCS conference school on the road in non-conference play
No wins may come from a Championship Subdivision (Formerly I-AA)
Non-BCS teams must play 2 BCS conference schools (1 on the road)

This is a preliminary list. I think this would result in more losses but we'd expose the pretenders easily. Not everyone can schedule Washington, Washington State, and Texas A&M (snickering) every season so we'd get some good match ups early in the sometimes unwatchable first month of the season.

Like I said, this is just to get started. I'd love to hear some comments and ideas about this. Later, I'll unveil my playoff plan for major college football (everyone else has one).

Overrated?

2009-01-06T06:39:00.001-08:00

For all the talk this year about how good the Big 12 South was, the bowl games have shown that the strength may have been a myth. OK State got it handed to them by a PAC-10 team (we were sold all year that the PAC-10 was USC and 9 other random teams), Tech completed their end of season collapse that OU put them on, and Texas had to score with 16 seconds left to beat an Ohio State team that could not throw the ball. The Texas game was interesting because even though they won, it seemed like a struggle for their offense to move the ball except for maybe a couple of series.

So what does this mean for OU? This will be the best defense they've seen this season. I wonder what will happened when they play in a game where they have to trade blows with their opponent. The Sooners seem to score more than 60 every game and that's not happening. The key to this game will be Florida O versus Oklahoma D. I think the magic number is 24. Florida scores more than this and they win, otherwise it's the Sooners' title (which should be shared with Utah).

To make this Baylor related, I don't know how you could look at what has happened to the Big 12 South teams and not immediately do what you can to upgrade your defense. While I think our defense in 2009 will be better than this past season, it will probably be only about 6-8 points better. Let's hope that the Offense can increase their output in 2009 and turn some of those close losses into wins.

New Bracketology

2009-01-06T06:36:00.000-08:00

Lunardi has us a an 8 seed facing Michigan with the winner playing North Carolina. Whoo Hooo!

Basketball Loses to South Carolina

2009-01-04T18:45:00.000-08:00

I know I said earlier that I don't really get into basketball until conference play begins but the most amazing thing happened on Friday. My office closed at 2:30 since nobody was there anyways. So I found myself at the house and my options on TV were watching Tech finish off its end of season collapse or the Baylor Basketball team play what should have been a "semi-test."

As all you (again, the 2 of you) know by now, another quality opponent found a way to schedule us on defense optional day, which we all know is Monday through Saturday. Tell me if you've heard this before: we don't drive to the basket, opponent is in the bonus early in both halves, paper thin defense, and no production at all from our 5 position. What? You think you see that in virtually every game?

If the game wasn't bad enough, I had to go onto Baylorfans and read this idiot's opinion on how he was glad we lost because this will cause our team to regroup and learn from this game what it is going to take to win in conference. When the core of this team (Jerrells, Dugat, Rogers, Dou) are seniors and have played close to 100 games for Baylor, the time to "learn how to win" is over. If they haven't gotten it by now, they never will. You would think that by now they would have lost in the same manner so many times they might start considering changing the way they play just a little. Doesn't look like they will.

So what do we have to look forward to this season? We'll beat bad to average teams and may upset one team if we get hot from beyond they arc. Any team with a warm body at the 4 and 5 positions will give us fits. 2009 will be a carbon copy of the end of 2008. Virtually nothing has changed. We might actually win a game in the conference tourney and make the dance only to get run out of the gym by a complete team.

Put the Kool Aid down and tell me I'm wrong.

Vince Young or Brad Smith?

2009-01-02T11:43:00.000-08:00

Like many other Baylor fans, I've had the problem of explaining Robert Griffin to people who don't watch much Baylor sports. The two players that I think get brought up the most when trying to find a reference to compare Griffin to are Vince Young and Brad Smith. Both were athletic college quarterbacks who had very different career paths both in college and now in the NFL. Smith, broke onto the scene his freshman year and was the face of the program only to start to share time with Chase Daniel his senior year. Smith is now a WR for the NY Jets. Young, as most of us know, split time with Chance Mock in the beginning before leading Texas to a national championship his junior year.

Below are some stats comparing Griffin's freshman year with the other two's yearly averages. These stats are slightly skewed due to Young splitting time early and Smith late in his career. While Young was the unquestioned reason the Longhorns won the title that year, it's not a stretch to say that he had an enormous advantage with his surrounding talent compared to Smith and Griffin.

Griffin 2008 Season
59.9% Completions on 267 attempts. 15 TD 3 INT
4.9 YPC on 173 attempts, 13 TD

Young 2003-2005
61% Completions on 288 attempts. 15 TD 7 INT
6.8 YPC on 152 attempts, 12.3 TD

Smith
56.3% Completions on 200 attempts. 14 TD 8 INT
5.4 YPC on 200 attempts, 11.3 TD

When looking at passing stats, Griffin is closer to Vince with the completion percentage and attempts. This tells me that Griffin and Young were on the whole asked to do about the same thing. Young had an established running back and the usual Texas offensive line. Both offenses used safe, 1-2 read passes to keep interceptions at a minimum. On the rushing side, Smith was asked to do much more. I remember Smith running a QB draw on almost every 3rd and between 6-10 play. I think this season Griffin had a similar role. He was by far the most explosive player Baylor had and thus was used more than Briles would probably like.

I would say that right now Griffin plays more like Brad Smith but will eventually evolve into more of a Vince Young type of player. Of course all of this depends on his development as well as the talent around him. I think Briles would like Griffin's carries to go down but his yards per carry to increase. This will keep defenses honest and force them to key on him which will open up other players like Kendall Wright and Jay Finley.

Would love your comments or thoughts on this. All two of you.

Random Stuff

2009-01-02T11:20:00.000-08:00

It's been a while so I thought I'd dump some links to keep people up to date on what is happening in the Baylor Athletic universe.

Lunardi has us as a 6 seed as of about a week and a half ago.

Tim Griffin usual Big 12 Blog

It's been about 3 weeks since my last post so I thought I'd throw this stuff out. When basketball gets into conference play and on TV more I'm sure I'll get into that some more.

Back to the Future: Examining 2005 and 2006 Recruiting Classes

2008-12-15T07:36:00.000-08:00

It's hard to win in college football without upper-classmen leadership. Unlike the NFL, you don't just plug in a few guys and the team is instantly better. In college, players must be developed. Very few 18 year olds just walk on campus and contribute (Robert Griffin a notable exception).

Today let's look back at Baylor's 2005/2006 classes to see what might have been and also to trace some potential struggles back to this time.

2005
The Bears were coming off a 3 win season, the most notable was the overtime upset of the aggies in Waco. That win was the game Coach Morris was going to see to recruits as a sign Baylor was on the rise.

The Hits:
Joe Pawelek, Antonio Jones, Jordan Lake, Jason Lamb, Jordan Hearvy, Trey Bryant

These were the guys who came in and are now contributing heavily. These guys have all started significant amounts of games. Pawelek and Lake have both garnered All-Conference honors of some kind.

The Misses:
Carl Sims, Shon Brown, Lequantum McDonald, Queito Teasley

The first three on this list absolutely destroyed what could have been a decent class. Sims got playing time as a true freshman but left the program early. Shon Brown never made it to campus due to grades and McDonald played one series before a questionable chop block ended his season and left the program. All three of these guys were Waco High products and was a sign that Morriss was finally tapping the local talent pool (a huge criticism of Steele was that he couldn't do this). In the long run, the loss of Sims and Brown were partially offset by depth at the WR and LB positions but McDonald leaving left Baylor with depth issues at an already weak position.

Also Noted:
Blake Szymanski, Mikail Baker, Jeremy Williams, Justin Akers

Blake obviously started almost every game in 2007 and holds several Baylor passing records (throwing up in my mouth). He was considered a "steal" in this class. He's turned out to be a failed starter but in Briles' system has looked better and can be a decent back-up. The other three played heavily this year and should be contributing a ton next season.

There were other players in the class that either didn't make it to campus or didn't contribute or last long if they did. Now let's take a look at the 2006 class..

2006
This was Morriss' most successful season. Baylor had just won 5 games and more than one conference games since the inception of the Big 12. During the season the Bears had lost two heart breakers in overtime to aggie and Oklahoma both on the road. This was the kind of tangible success Morriss was selling going into the recruiting season.

As it turned out, this class turned out to be his worst due to kids not making it to campus or showing up and then leaving due to injury or disciplinary reasons.

The Hits
Jay Finley, Antareis Bryan, Ernest Smith
Yup, that's the list. Finley showed this year that he's going to be a force the next two seasons and Bryan started some games as a true freshman and played well this year before getting hampered with injuries. Smith emerged as a really good receiver and better than more heralded David Gettis.

The Misses
Greg Carlson, Dylan Hagans, Adrian Johnson, Jeremy Michel, Reid Prince, Ben Randle
Notice that this list includes 3 OL that are not on campus right now. Hagans and Prince left due to career ending injuries and Michel transferred before this season. Adrian Johnson went the junior college rout and will be suiting up in College Station next season. He is a DT, so his never being here really hurt this past season and will hurt on the D-Line next season. Carlson made it to campus and found a way to get kicked off the team before August practice begun. Randle stayed two season before leaving Waco.

Also noted:
Tim Atchison, Justin Fenty, Brad Taylor, Jeremy Sanders, David Gettis
I'm putting Gettis in this group because of his clearinghouse issues. He's on track to be one of the most disappointing recruits in Baylor history. He's got all the physical tools you could want but just hasn't been the monster down the field we hoped he'd be. Fenty and Taylor both have contributed and provide depth at the receiver position. Sanders signed and then went to junior college. He returned this season and saw limited action as a running back. Atchison got stuck behind Lake and before him, Dwain Crawford. He showed some things this year as a CB when depth was an issue.

The real problem was guys not getting to campus or then leaving before they could make an impact. Names like Roman James, James "Garfield" Hicks, and Tyler Beatty come to mind. These to classes led ultimately to the demise of Morriss. He couldn't keep players around long enough to help. He had particularly bad luck with offensive linemen, having two quit due to injury.

At the end of the day, Briles is having to build depth due to the 2005/2006 classes being decimated. Let's all hope he does a better job of keeping and developing his guys.

Texas Tech Analysis

2008-12-03T07:31:00.000-08:00

First off, I thought that the game would be ugly. Tech's passing game against our anemic pass rush and patchwork secondary was not going to be pretty. Instead we were all treated to watching a Baylor team that has improved every week and left us wanting more (while counting the days to next year's kick off).

I feel like the story of the game was the defense holding the Raiders to below their season norms. Norwood did this by taking away everything deep and forcing Harrell to check down. This caused Tech problems because the ego of both the coach and quarterback would not allow the offense to just take what was given.

On offense, we did what we do well, which was run the ball. Who would have guessed after last year that the real strength of our team would be running it 25 times a game? I think what ultimately killed us was our inability to pass consistently. Tech's defense wasn't going to allow us to just sling it to a receiver at the snap and get an easy 4 yards like Mizzou did. Griffin, with all that he brings to the table in physical skills is obviously not comfortable going through more than 2 reads before looking to run. I was really proud of our gameplan. We did exactly what you have to do against Tech to give yourself a chance in the game. We limited posessions and kept Harrell and company on the sideline.

In the next week, I'll put a bow on the season and look to what we need as far as recruiting to get over the hump. Then, we'll wade into hoops a bit. I might take on a guest blogger who follows college basketball a little more.

Until then kids

So How Do You Beat Tech?

2008-11-26T07:33:00.000-08:00

That's an excellent question.

There are those that believe that Oklahoma provided a blueprint on how to beat the Red Raiders last Saturday. Those people are out of their minds. If Tech comes out ready to play and is focused, we lose. We need to play our best game and Tech needs to be down for us to have a chance on Saturday.

As far as Tech not being ready to play, the stars seem to be aligning for that to happen. The loss to Tech virtually locks them into the Cotton Bowl win or lose, a weird week with Thanksgiving, and they are playing Baylor who has won 4 games this year. Tech also generally has a "WTF" game every year where they lay an egg to a vastly inferior opponent.

There are two ways in my opinion to beat Leach's offense. The first is what Oklahoma did on Saturday and what Missouri has done the past two time the Tigers have beaten Tech. That is to bring pressure with the front four and rush the decision making of the quarterback. Much easier said than done obviously. Baylor doesn't have the personnel to do that kind of thing and even if they had a good pass rush, the secondary is being held together with fishing line and scotch tape. The second possible way to slow that offense down is to confuse it. The best job I've ever seen a Baylor team do this was in 2005 in what I think was Bill Bradley's best scheme ever. You'll remember that game as the one that Baylor lost to the Red Raiders 22-0 but was 6-0 at halftime (Side note about this game: it would have been totally different if the Bears had not had a touchdown taken off the board for being out of bounds when the replay showed otherwise). Bradley basically had the front 7 or 8 guys standing up at the line of scrimmage before the snap. Between 3 and 5 would rush and the rest drop into coverage. Cody Hodges had a tough time making his pre-snap reads. He completed only 50% of his passes and threw two picks.

Given the Baylor personnel, the confusion method is our only chance. I'm guessing we'll see more of Lamb moving in to the tackle spot and Antonio Johnson coming down to end for more pass rush. We shouldn't care if we are basically asking for Tech to run for 8 yards a pop. I think Leach has too much of an ego to run the ball 12 times in a row even if we give it to him. Hopefully, Norwood and company have come up with something to slow this offense down. For us to have a chance, we need to keep them in the 30s. I think Griffin and the offense will be able to score. If by some miracle we get a two score lead at some point I believe the Tech offense becomes more predictable and their defense has shown that it has a tough time stopping teams with strong running games. We'll see how this plays out.

But like I said, if Tech is ready to play......

Trap Game?

2008-11-25T07:56:00.000-08:00

I think the biggest unknown going into the game on Saturday is how Tech responds to the beating that Oklahoma put on them last weekend. If they come out fired up, it could get ugly real fast for Baylor fans. In my mind, it has to be a huge let down to be in the National Championship conversation and then be relegated to 3rd in your own division while still having the same record as the top two teams (and beating one of them).

From the look at the Red Raider fan sites, the folks from Lubbock are much more concerned about where the BCS ratings have them than Saturday's game. Even coach Leach is talking about it.

Let's be real here. Baylor is 22 point dogs. Tech is going to have to play another really bad game and we're going to have to play above our heads to win (especially on defense). Later, I'll outline the formula to win on Saturday.

Am I Late to the Party?

2008-11-24T07:14:00.000-08:00

I know I'm jumping into this with one game left in the season but my life motto is "better late than never." I'll try to bring a perspective that you don't get when it comes to Baylor sports and any other topic of my chooing.

This week we'll look at the game to end the season versus Tech and analyze the season. After that, we'll start following recruiting and get into some basketball stuff.

Until then, just ignore the fact that the Pirates of the Plains are 22 point favorites for Saturday and start believing we can pull the upset. This week, I'll tell you how it's possible.....or how it's impossible.