Offensive Balance the key to Baylor's Big 12 Title Hopes

Close observers of the board here will recall an article I wrote in December detailing my thoughts on how Baylor's offense turned things around during the 2012 season. That article focused on offensive balance as the primary driver of Baylor's success in the second half. It was a fairly self-evident idea; when we won, we did it by grinding our opponents down and basically bludgeoning them to death, but it's not one you typically expect to see from a team running a spread offense.

SI.com's Andy Staples built on that today after spending time in Waco during Spring Practice a few weeks ago. His piece, which I highly suggest you read (it won't take long), focuses on the potential impact that returning RB starters Lache Seastrunk and Glasco Martin will have this coming season, both in helping Bryce Petty get his feet under him as a first-year starter and by setting the pace all their own. We know by now that Briles' offense at Baylor will run the football often and well, and in 2012, we'll have what is beyond a doubt our most talented duo ever. It should be quite the sight to see.

Oh, and he said this about Art Briles:

Because Mike Leach plucked Briles from the high school ranks while at Texas Tech, the prevailing assumption is that Briles, like Leach, uses the pass to (only occasionally) set up the run. But Briles -- who would be coach Eric Taylor if Taylor were A) Not a fictional character and B) Hadn't bailed on TMU and headed back to high school -- runs an offense that more closely resembles the one he ran in the late 1990s at Stephenville (Texas) High.

I don't know if Coach Briles' wife, who I'm sure is lovely, compares to Connie Britton, but I do know I love this analogy. Clear eyes, full heart, can't lose.