Baylor Line Report

Right off the bat I'll go ahead and say that I have a quiet confidence for Baylor' game against Kansas State. Not an overwhelming confidence, but something inside of me that says you shouldn't be so quick to count the Bears out of this one. I wish I could say I feel this way due to match-ups or a certain statistical loophole I found, but that's not the case here. The truth is that Baylor has played their toughest competition closer than people think they have. West Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma. All losses, all away games, all ranked opponents at the time (West Virginia being the only team no longer ranked), and all of which were a one possession game when the game clock hit triple zeroes. Each one of these games could have gone the Bears' way had they made a play here, gotten a turnover there, or for the love of God ever gotten a stop. Those games very well could have gone Baylor's way, but it wasn't in the cards for them, not then anyway. Saturday night could be the night where things finally start going Baylor's way. And what better night then 7:00 at Floyd Casey Stadium against the number one team in the nation on ESPN? Let's. Go. Baylor.

I've done what I can to instill the same confidence I have in my classmates. They are mainly more eager to be on ESPN, but, regardless, that means the fans will be there in full force hopefully having a lot of reasons to cheer, and cheer loudly. (And to get on ESPN) It should be a rowdy Baylor Line this Saturday. I expect a lot of craziness at the game on Saturday. Keep in mind, this is a group of freshmen running the line that literally broke the gate that was holding us form the field before the season/home opener against SMU. I'll admit, Baylor fans aren't exactly the best in the world as far as loudness or craziness goes, but I think everyone is aware that number one is coming to town, and if the Bears hang around then the Case will definitely be rocking come Saturday night.

What more could you want as a player and a coach? Baylor has absolutely nothing to lose this game. I fully expect Art Briles to leave nothing in his bag of tricks for this game. The playbook will be wide open, and there's a chance, just a chance, Phil Bennett may unleash some more blitzes this week as I've seen an increase in blitzing from two weeks ago to this past week. Don't read too much into that, but if the Bears do blitz, they have to maintain their gaps and their rushing lanes or else Collin Klein will tear them apart. I would love this game if I was a player. I'm just a student and I am already highly anticipating this game. As Bart Scott would say, Can't wait. I can't wait for this game. I hope the players go out there with a nothing to lose mentality. After the OU game Glasco Martin tweeted "WE WILL MAKE A BOWL GAME" I believe you can do it Dash. These are the types of games that make me wish I still played football. Maybe it's my competitive edge, but I really, really want this game. Floyd Casey Stadium is going to be rocking during prime time on ESPN for the whole world to see, and hopefully Baylor can put on a show.

So here is my logos, or factual reasoning, behind why I have a good feeling going into the game, as opposed to the paragraph of pathos I just laid in front of you. As I mentioned, the Bears just barely lost to OU, Texas, and West Virginia. In none of these games was Baylor favored. Baylor had a chance to win all of these games. Let's be honest, they just didn't show up against TCU and Iowa State. But, back to the other 3 losses, Baylor could have won each of those games. I, along with pretty much everyone else who contributes to this blog thinks they had a very legitimate chance of winning those three games. Maybe that is the difference a Robert Griffin III makes. He turned the could haves and should haves into W's as opposed to coming up just short. I believe this team has the ability to pull out a close game, they just need one or two more things in the span of a game to go their way, and I don't think that's too much to ask for.

To add to this, Kansas State is the new number one team in the land. They replace Alabama after their loss to a Texas A&M team that came into their house and flat out beat them. An A&M team no one saw coming, except, well, the Aggies and they probably think they could beat the Green Bay Packers.That, and that Manziel is actually the Messiah in their eyes, but that's a topic for a different time. The fact of the matter is, Alabama got complacent after they should have lost to LSU the week before. This caused the upset. Number one always has a giant target on their back. The other team is going to throw everything and the kitchen sink at them in order to win. Now, Alabama was used to the spotlight of being number one in the nation, but Kansas State is new to the position. New to the position from being an afterthought after Alabama to the number one team in the land. Analysts have pointed out that their biggest test of the season to protect their undefeated season will be next week when they play the Longhorns. Good. Overlook Baylor. Get complacent. That breeds upsets. Especially when the opponent gets you at their place on national television.

I'll end this by saying that I love the thunder and lightning combination the Bears have found with their running game in Glasco Martin and Lache Seastrunk. Both are great runners. Glasco hits the hole hard, and Seastrunk has the kind of hesitation moves that kept Oklahoma defenders having to re-tape their ankles throughout last week's game. And dare I say it, but the defense is improving. Not massive improvements, but just a little. Honestly, all we need is just a little. When Florence starts being the Nick Florence we saw at the beginning of the year, and not the Nick Florence of the past few games, this offense is going to start clicking on all cylinders. Which should scare all opposing defensive coordinators. We need Nick to be Nick, Tevin Reese to stop dropping passes, and Lanear Sampson to be a threat opposite Terrance Williams. (Terrence Williams) If our offense hits on all cylinders, it can keep this team in any game. That includes against number one in the land.

You said you'll make it to a bowl game, Dash, I believe this team has the capability to do that. This is the type of games that can, forgive the dramatics, save the season. All the talks about loss of recruits, people having second thoughts about the new stadium, and people thinking we're just scrubby little Baylor again go away if we win this game. This has the potential to be the success that makes you forget about, or at least reconsider, how bad the failures have been. Number one is coming to Waco and it's going to be on ESPN. What more could you want? Sic'em