Baylor has a new starting quarterback and no intention of taking a step back.
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Seth Russell, statistically the top quarterback in the country, will miss the rest of the season with a neck injury.
That is enough to encourage Baylor receiver Corey Coleman, who leads the nation in touchdown receptions (18).
Russell suffered damage to the cervical vertebra in a win over Iowa State and will require surgery.
In a statement, Baylor coach Art Briles said “We certainly have tons of confidence in Jarrett”, “He is beyond his year maturity wise”.
“It’s really not something that there’s a lot of apprehension about”, Briles said. “The guy’s good. He’s a good football player and very intelligent, very instinctive”. Last time I looked, we’re not backing up.
So does Briles, who has seen Stidham complete 24 of 28 passes for 331 yards and six touchdowns, without an interception, in limited duty this season.
“If he wasn’t ready, he wouldn’t be playing”, Briles said. Coleman said. “It’s right there, and now we just have to go out and get it”.
Earlier, Briles mentioned that much “Baylor love and trust” was with Russell during his surgical procedure. Now, the question will be whether or not Baylor is the same team with a new starting quarterback, because if it comes down to choosing between, say, a one-loss Stanford, a one-loss Notre Dame, or a one-loss Baylor, every factor will be in play. The 6-foot-2, 310-pound All-Big 12 lineman and All-America candidate should be ready to play in No. 2 Baylor’s next game on November 5 at Kansas State.
Coleman said Baylor doesn’t need Stidham to be a star in order to keep the team’s College Football Playoff hopes alive. But the defense may not have the luxury of the offense churning out 61.1 points per game like it did under Russell.
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“He’ll definitely be just as good as Seth, if not better”, Fuller said. That’s what we got. Matter of fact, you won’t hear that word come out of my mouth.
