Now we just have to hope that if the Sooners win out, they do it impressively enough that they can make the playoff as a 1 loss team.
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The Big 12 would be forgiven if it felt slighted and anxious with the release of the second College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday. Of course, Baylor does have the small task of taking care of business against Oklahoma this week and the Cowboys have to win at Iowa State.
The Sooners have matched the Bears’ regarding early explosiveness over the last month.
Kansas football is in a tough spot as the Jayhawks continue to search for the team’s first win of the season and first of the David Beaty era.
“They were having their way with us”, defensive coordinator Wally Burnham said. “What we look at is what we’ve done prior to this. You kind of look at past failures and productions, and try to pull on the productions more than the other”. His understudy, true freshman Jarrett Stidham, had tossed just 28 passes in his college career, period. He caught five of Rudolph’s aerials for 184 yards and scored three times last week. The Bears have won three of the last four meetings.
“We went in unscathed and remain unscathed (at Kansas State)”, Briles said. “That’s not happening”, Briles said. And as if it couldn’t get any worse, one OSU team bus broke down on the way to the game. “But we thank God every day we’re not still where we were”. They aren’t always there, but when I find them, it keeps me from going over the edge.
Lazard leads the Cyclones with 43 catches for 573 yards through just nine games – despite being the focus of opposing defenses. Coleman’s a top-notch playmaker, and will be the biggest factor in Baylor’s chances of continuing the season unblemished. I definitely want to play with that chip on my shoulder. “I felt fresh when I went out there, and that’s the whole plan, just keeping us corners fresh”. But with three games left in the regular season, anything is possible. He ran for 1,713 yards and 21 touchdowns previous year and has 806 rushing yards and 11 total touchdowns in 2015. Then it’s limiting the explosive big plays they get receiving the ball. You can probably get the Mustangs, Owls and maybe the Chippewas, but after that you’re firing up a Yahoo! search. No. 8 in the CFP rankings and No. 5 in the USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll – has to navigate through significant traffic to reach the top four and will likely need one of the seven teams in front of it to suffer an upset loss along the way.
What will be the biggest key in Oklahoma-Baylor?
The conference has two problems: The perception that teams like Baylor, TCU and Oklahoma State aren’t big-time programs and the league’s out-of-conference scheduling.
Remember that Ohio State was supposed to be an unstoppable juggernaut this season but they’ve been far from it. They’ve had quarterbacking issues and have had a number of close calls against far inferior opponents. Heck no. But without Russell, the Bears’ offense was brought back down to earth a little bit. The OU defense is improving, but its biggest test of the season will come on Saturday.
Boykin leads FBS with 441 total yards per game, with a TD pass in 24 consecutive games to match the nation’s longest active streak.
Now, the hitch: OU has played no one that can press its defense quite like Baylor can.
Giving up big passing plays is what broke the Sooners the last time they were in Waco and it will bury them again if they aren’t careful.
“This team is very determined and they have bounced back really well after losses and moved on”, TCU Director of Volleyball Jill Kramer said. “We’re in a good rhythm”. But what hasn’t changed, it seems, is the Big 12’s national perception. But the Horned Frogs aren’t going to allow that to happen this season.
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“They’ve got a few really good players there. It’ll be critical that offensively for sure that we cannot only run block but protect the quarterback as well”. 50 interceptions per game. There’s a case to be made that if Striker can’t get pressure and the Sooner DBs can’t cover the Baylor WRs, then the torch is passed and OU is simply out-matched. In other words, in a land of coaching copycats, why wouldn’t Oklahoma run more with talented tailbacks Semaje Perine and Joe Mixon to keep its defense off the field – and reduce Baylor’s opportunity to score? Any way you chop it, though, a ideal record will mean a Big Ten title and another trip to the playoffs for the Buckeyes.
