Week 5 Grades vs. WVU

Baylor lost the shootout in Morgantown this past weekend, and as you might expect, the grade reports from ODB's football contributors explains why.

Art Briles finally loses a game of Hyper-Efficiency Chicken

On the inevitable fall of Baylor's 9 game win streak and the epic game of Hyper-Efficiency Chicken between Art Briles and Dana Holgorsen.

Baylor vs. WVU Highlights (and injury news)

Straight from the computers of the Baylor Athletic Department to your eyes, it's the highlights from our shootout loss to West Virginia.

9.30.2012 Daily Bears Report: Moving On

Everything I can find this Sunday morning about the game yesterday in Morgantown and how Baylor moves on, regroups on defense, and continues to improve.

Thoughts on Baylor's Loss to WVU

As always, there was a lot of good and a lot of bad from the most schizophrenic team in all of college football.

WVU 70, Baylor 63; Waco, We've Got Defensive Problems

In a game rewriting the Big XII and FBS record books, Baylor's defense failed to show up entirely, allowing 8 touchdown passes, 800 yards of total offense, and 70 points.

Baylor vs. WVU Game Thread

Big XII play is finally upon us and Baylor kicks it off on the road against the #9 ranked team in the country led by the presumptive favorite for the Heisman. This should be fun!

Video: Baylor vs. WVU Preview

Yeah. Yeah. We're under 18 hours away. The team is in the godforsaken lands of District 12. Get your game faces on.

Baylor Bears vs. WVU Mountaineers Prediction Thread

It's time to put it all on the line and have your predictions heard. We're 23 hours away from kickoff; how are you feeling?

What the UL-Monroe Game Tape Foreshadows about Saturday

Charting the BU @ ULM game gives some insight as to the early strengths and weaknesses of this team..and perhaps if Briles is keeping a few things up his sleeve for WVU's first Big XII conference game.

A How-To for Baylor's Defense vs. WVU

The Bears have a chance to slow down this powerful West Virginia offense and possibly force some turnovers. Here's how.

Video: Geno Smith vs. Maryland

A collection of every passing play and/or scramble run involving Geno Smith against Maryland this past Saturday. With thoughts!

Musings over Baylor's depth chart vs. WVU

Not many changes in the depth chart going into the game on Saturday, but there are a couple on the defensive side of the ball.

Week 5 Big 12 Point Spreads

We're not saying you should bet on games ... but if you wanted to do that and it were legal ... here's what you'd be betting on.

ESPN's David Ubben says slow down on the shootout talk

In a lunchtime piece about this weekend's game, Ubben recalled the contest last season between Baylor and OSU as a cautionary tale to those expecting a track meet to break out on Saturday morning. The game last year in Stillwater carried similar expectations going in before OSU raced out to a huge halftime lead and basically just salted the game away after that. Rather than a legitimate piece of advice, Ubben's post reads more like a reminder to Baylor fans about the vulnerability of our offense to another team with similar talent, especially one with WVU's current co-DC, Joe Deforest, on the sideline. Deforest was, of course, the safeties coach for Okie State last year. There's two things that jumped out at me, though, that Ubben neglects to mention.

First, he states that the O/U in that game was 72.5. The idea of a shootout implies that the O/U will be eclipsed ... and it was. The final score was 55-28. That means people actually got what they expected in that game, it was just more one-sided than they initially believed. Second, the reason it was so one-sided was that OSU's defense last season was actually quite good, much better than people gave them credit for being. That's why it bothered me so much when people made the argument that SEC teams should be in the championship because they're the only ones that play defense. OSU ranked third in defensive FEI last season in large part due to the caliber of offense they faced every where. But you wouldn't know that from the media, who holds on to the narrative that the Big XII hates defense like a child holds on to a treasured toy.

Meet the Press: Football Travels to WVU

All the Art Briles, Ahmad Dixon, and Nick Florence sound bites you needed to finish off a Tuesday evening.

Meet the Press: Football Travels to WVU

BaylorBears.com put up the quotes and a video a few minutes ago from this week's press conference with Art Briles and a few selected players. The video is worth watching, but in case you just want to read the quotes, here are a few things I found interesting.

Head Coach Art Briles
On the quality of the running game...
"I think we've been ok, we've been averaging over 200 yards a game. There are not many teams in America that are averaging 300 [passing yards] and 200 rushing a game. We are certainly not where we think we will be, we feel like we have some energy out there that hasn't produced yet. We certainly feel like we are going to be capable of rushing the ball better than we have been."

I think he's being a little charitable saying that we've been ok to this point based on our average rushing yards per game alone. Our yards per carry the last two weeks has been really, really bad. The overall yardage, then, is a function of the number of attempts we get, not how we'll we're doing. But I think he knows that and just doesn't want to say "Yeah, these guys couldn't roll me over if I was dead."

On being ranked this early in the year...
"I think it benefits Baylor. I think it's a little bit of a carryover from the national recognition we got a year ago. We need that recognition and that respect nationally that we still don't have, that we are still trying to earn. We are peaking in a crack at the door, they don't have it open yet, but we are peaking in and then they will shut it. We just have to get it where it will stay open and we will stay respected all the time."

Typical Briles humility. Of course.

On Ahmad Dixon as a leader...
"I like the fact that he [Ahmad Dixon] plays with a lot of passion. He has been a great leader for us. Ahmad is a super individual, first and foremost, he is a good human being from a great family. He is always positive, always full of energy and always hopeful. Those are great qualities."

Swooooooooooooooooooooooooooon...

Redshirt Freshman DT Trevor Clemons-Valdez
On West Virginia...
"Louisiana-Monroe is a great team. I'm not taking anything away from them, but we gave them 21 points. It's a `we' thing, and that is what coach Bennett tells us, and that is how we are going to play it. We know West Virginia has a really explosive offense. We have our work cut out for us, but we are a great defense. We are a great team and we give great effort. I have all the faith in the world that we're going to go out there and handle business."

Wait, so does Bennett really think we gave them 21 points? Like the final score should have been 45-21? I can see 45-34 based on the last give-up drive by the defense, but 21 points seems a bit much. I don't know if I buy that as anything more than a motivational tool.

Senior QB Nick Florence
On his two interceptions against ULM...
"It was awful. But you learn from it and to be able to bounce back was a good thing for me to clear it. We talk about it all the time is clearing the last play. We can't make those mistakes. Turnovers can kill a game and we were down 14-0 early because of turnovers. We can't do that this week. We've got to protect the football and execute well."

You have to respect a QB willing to stand up and describe his own game as "awful" like that. You don't often see such a frank self-evaluation from a position that basically demands egotistical players. I'm impressed. Good show, Nick. And it sounds like he knows exactly what Baylor has to do this week to win.

Anyway, watch the video I linked above. Seriously.

Baylor Bears Game Day: West Virginia Mountaineers

Big XII action is upon us in 2012. Find out everything you need to know about the WVU game right here.

Monday Morning Notes: WVU Week Schedule

Everything I plan to do in Week 5 of CFB to prepare for Baylor's Big XII opener.