here is an e-mail that i received....thought that some might find it helpful.
here is an e-mail that i received....thought that some might find it helpful.
Big 12 News and Notes
Though the Texas wide receiver position is banged up, the Longhorns will be fine offensively. But their pass defense was terrible last year, despite having their three senior starters all get drafted. In their last seven games, the Longhorns allowed 15 TD passes, averaging 32 yards apiece. A team with the speed and talent of Texas shouldn?t get burned like that. With Gene Chizik gone to the head job at Iowa State, the new co-defensive coordinator is Larry Mac Duff, the architect of the ?Desert Swarm? defenses at Arizona in the early 90?s. He?ll work with Duane Akina, who was co-DC with Chizik and works with the defensive backs.
Having a redshirt quarterback under center worked swimmingly for their archrival last year. And now, Oklahoma?s giving it a try. Sam Bradford is highly thought of, has spectacular talent around him, and after a Week 1 friendly against North Texas, lines up against the formerly fierce Miami Hurricanes in Week 2. A lot of people are back from a team that won this conference despite having to use a quarterback who was a wide receiver until last summer?s suspensions.
Guy Morriss is doing a great job at Baylor. He really is. His 8-25 conference mark is positively sparkling compared to the 4-52 mark the Bears had in Big 12 play when he took the job. But it is going to be tough in Waco this fall. The Bears are potentially entering their opener at TCU (yikes) with a redshirt freshman starting QB who was 5th string when fall practice started. With strong quarterback play unlikely, it will be tough to improve too much on last season?s putrid 2.1 yards per rush. The defense will be better, but they allowed 55 or more in 3 of their last 5 games last fall. Despite all this, Baylor was 3-5 in the Big 12 last fall and Morriss deserves respect for getting this team closer to respectability.
Texas Tech has only 9 starters back. Quarterback Graham Harrell has only a single returning wide receiver, but that might not be a bad thing, considering Coach Mike Leach?s distaste for those playing that position last fall. Maybe we?re too quick to judge coaches when their players misbehave. It is a good point by Mike Leach when he says that in the summer, `you're not allowed to have a lot of meetings or coach them, yet you're still ridiculously in charge of their behavior.''
Would Coach Fran?s fate have been sealed if Texas A&M hadn?t held on to beat Army in the closing desperate seconds last season? Their entire season seemed to be spent on the brink. For the Aggies the difference between 4-8 and 12-0 was a matter of inches. Other than a 10-point win over Baylor (which A&M led by 3 until a 64-yard TD run with 2:15 remaining), every A&M conference game was decided by 6 or less. It pretty much evened out for them but you see how the perception of a team can change drastically and immediately.
The inexperience of Oklahoma State?s defensive line will get a lot of play. On the front line you?ll see that there are four new starters. But that?s a bit misleading. Despite the apparent inexperience, defensive end may be a strength, as Marque Fountain and Nathan Peterson not only saw the field a good bit last year, but also combined for 12? sacks. The defensive players claim they are taking to the increased competition in practice and the more aggressive schemes of new coordinator Tim Beckman. But this unit that gave up between 24 and 36 points to every conference opponent must show their improvement on the field.
With a new coach there?s some excitement at Iowa State, where they?ve sold over 4,000 more season tickets than ever before. Believe it or not, the productive Iowa State Bret Meyer to Todd Blythe passing combination is still on campus. Meyer has started 36 straight games (getting beaten up behind subpar offensive lines) and the rangy Blythe is always a threat to go up and get any ball in the end zone. With 26 career TD receptions, Blythe is already the leader in ISU history in that category.
Nebraska?s excuse of having to implement a new system over the past few years was legit, but Bill Callahan now has his own players and the future is now for the Cornhuskers. Nebraska returns only 10 starters but their recruiting has been outstanding in recent years so those coming in have exhibited some talent. The offensive and defensive lines are both short on experience, but c?mon, this is Nebraska, where they always have fresh beef poised to fill the interior. A lot of highly ranked guys are looking to take over. As expected, Sam Keller has been named the Husker quarterback, and he completed over 59% of his passes with 25 TD?s and 10 INT?s in his time at Arizona State. The inexperience on the lines and some of the question marks (running back) would be more concerning if the Huskers were in another division. In fact, they?d have to play well to get 3rd in the southern division of this conference but the Big 12 North continues to be a less than stellar grouping.
You figure a coach?s son has to be savvy. And a 5-11 quarterback who wins the job as a redshirt freshman has to be making the right decisions. Colorado fans better hope that Cody Hawkins is a savvy, decision-maker, but in fact he was a top-notch recruit who was rated as one of the top quarterbacks in the country out of high school. Bernard Jackson, the Buffs quarterback last year, will be utilized in a ?slash? role to take advantage of his athleticism this fall.
Kansas was very close to a big year last year. The Jayhawks were 6-6 and lost twice in OT (at Toledo, at Nebraska), and blew double-digit 4th quarter leads to Texas A&M and Baylor. The schedule works for Kansas this year, as they miss Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas Tech. One of the bigger summer surprises in the Big 12 was 5-11 Todd Reesing beating out 6-3 prototype Kerry Meier. Meier has been hobbled with an undisclosed injury that cost him some practices during camp.
Missouri benefits from Kansas giving up home field advantage for their home game against Missouri to profit from a move to Arrowhead Stadium, a true neutral site. Chase Daniel is a terrific quarterback, but the Tigers must prove they aren?t the Minnesota of the Big 12. After starting 4-1, 5-2, and 6-0 the last three years, they?ve closed the regular season 1-3 both straight up and against the spread all three of those years.
Kansas State hasn?t had a great fall camp, with players leaving the program and 2nd leading returning receiver TE Rashaad Norwood getting arrested at 3:15AM for trying to break into an ex-girlfriends apartment and then after being released getting arrested at 6:15AM for doing the same exact thing. Norwood has been suspended from the program by Coach Ron Prince.
