Baylor Spring Game - QB Petty Shines

Baylor Bears 2013 ... Head Coach: Art Briles

Baylor Bears

2013 Schedule
8/31 OPEN DATE
9/7 Buffalo
9/14 at SMU
9/21 ULM
9/28 OPEN DATE
10/5 West Virginia
10/12 at Kansas State
10/19 Iowa State
10/26 at Kansas
11/2 OPEN DATE
11/9 Oklahoma
11/16 Texas Tech
11/23 at Oklahoma State
11/30 at TCU
12/7 Texas

What Happened In The Spring Game?
Is Bryce Petty really ready to be the next Baylor quarterback star? Despite a gusty wind, he still managed to hit on a razor-sharp 13-of-15 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns with Clay Fuller catching four passes for 72 yards and a score and Jay Lee catching just two passes for 60 yards and a touchdown in the scrimmage. Petty drove the ball well through the wind with the two misfires coming on out plays that simply didn’t connect; he threw well and made big plays happen.
- The Baylor ground game keeps on humming. It might not have been the most physical of practices, but Glasco Martin was unstoppable running for 114 yards and three scores on 12 carries, while Lache Seastrunk ripped off 90 yards and a score on ten carries.
- No. 2 quarterback option Seth Russell completed 9-of-22 passes for 42 yards and two picks.

Why To Be Excited Expect the train to keep rolling. While the pressure will be on Bryce Petty and other options to try to be another Nick Florence, much less an RGIII, a good bulk of the starters are back on the nation’s second-ranked offense with tackles Troy Baker and Spencer Drango two rising blockers on the outside and Cyril Richardson one of the best guards in the Big 12. The defense might still need a LOT of work and improvement, but enough key players in the back seven are back to hope for a big of an improvement. Top pass rusher Chris McAllister is back on the outside and leading tacklers Bryce Hager and Eddie Lackey return. Ahmad Dixon will be an all-star safety, and as he mentioned at the end of last season, running back Lache Seastrunk really might be a Heisman candidate.

Why To Be Grouchy The team was able to move on after losing Robert Griffin III and top receiver Kendall Wright, but it might still take a little while to find the right pieces after losing Florence and the nation’s top receiver in yards, Terrance Williams. There are plenty of receivers in place with Tevin Reese and Levi Norwood likely to step up, but replacing Florence won’t be as easy. Petty has a little bit of mop up work under his belt, but he’s hardly experienced like Florence was when he took over. Tackles Nick Johnson and Gary Mason Jr. are gone from a defense that can’t afford to lose any production.

What Needs Working On The defense is going to be the defense, but there has to be something that works. It’s the Big 12, and opponents are going to bomb away in shootouts, but the Bear D has to find one thing it can do at a high level. The 4-2-5 alignment hasn’t helped against the pass, and the run defense gets blasted by anyone who wants to commit to the ground attack. On the plus side, the defense was good at taking the ball away and improved its ball-hawking capability over the second half of the year with 12 picks in the final six regular season games, but it has to come up with more third down stops to get off the field.

Non-Conference Games: Buffalo, at SMU, ULM
Realistic Best Case Record: 9-3
Worst Case Record: 4-8
Likely Finish: 8-4

Pre-Preseason Projected Wins: Buffalo, at SMU, ULM, West Virginia, Iowa State, Oklahoma, at Kansas, Texas Tech

Pre-Preseason Projected Losses: at Kansas State, at Oklahoma State, at TCU, Texas

Schedule Analysis: The Bears kick things off with three winnable, but interesting games that look like cupcakes, but probably won’t be. Buffalo should have a decent defense, SMU in Dallas will be a fight, and the ULM team that gave Baylor such a fight last year should be just as potent offensively. But it’s still Buffalo, SMU and ULM – BU has to be 3-0 going into the bye week.

There can’t be too many complaints with the conference schedule that has Oklahoma and Texas at home and with just four league road dates and a neutral site game against Texas Tech in Cowboys Stadium. West Virginia comes to Waco for what should be a fun and wild shootout before going to Kansas State. Iowa State and at Kansas in back-to-back weeks are must wins before an off week to get ready for Oklahoma. Closing out with the Sooners, Red Raiders, at Oklahoma State, at TCU and Texas will be trying.

Team Concerns For 2013: The Bears would be deadly if they ever had a defense. The focus has been solely on the offense for the last few seasons under Art Briles, while the defense finished second-to-last in the nation hurt mostly by the second-worst pass defense. It has to start with a better pass rush after struggling throughout last season at getting into the backfield and bothering quarterbacks. Needing to replace both starting tackles, but getting all the ends back, the line has some work to do. The offense is loaded again, but the quarterback situation will be in the spotlight.

The 2013 Class Is Heavy On ... Defensive backs. After yet another year without anything happening in the secondary, the Bears went heavy on defensive backs for the second year in a row. Austin Jupe might be good enough to start at safety right now, while Travon Blanchard and Taion Sells are good prospects to boost up the defensive backfield. Linebackers Xavier Phillips and Raaquan Davis are going to be factors, while Brian Nance could see time in the rotation in a hurry. Of course, Baylor is the hot program at the moment because of the offense, and landing Robbie Rhodes - arguably the nation's top receiver prospect - shows just how good the program is getting. Landing quarterback Chris Johnson was also a coup, and gettng local defensive tackle Andrew Billings was a great late pickup.

2012 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 35. That Class Was Heavy On ... Defensive backs. Maybe it’s time Baylor started playing a little defense. You can’t win in the Big 12 if you can’t score, and as the Bears figured out last year, you can’t win big unless you can come up with a few stops. After years of keying on offensive firepower, with wildly successful results, head coach Art Briles is going hard after defensive prospects with the line getting a little bit of attention and the secondary getting a host of speedy options. 

2011 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 50. That Class Was Heavy On ... Running backs. With Jay Finley gone, Baylor might be hoping one of its young new recruits can shine right away. B.J. Allen, Jermichael Selders, and Anthony Webb aren’t thumpers, but they’re slick speedsters who can tear off yards in chunks. The passing game got a big pickup with Jonathan Lee, a big target who has No. 1 potential. The instant help is for the secondary with three JUCO transfers and good-looking prep safety Jermarcus Johnson all to be thrown into the rotation immediately.

2010 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 51. That Class Was Heavy On ... Offensive linemen. Art Briles was looking to build up on the front lines and signed a few nice defensive line prospects in tackle Dominique Jones and end Kedrick Dial. On the offensive side, tackle Troy Baker needs to be a starter within three years, while JUCO transfer Robert Griffin will be needed at tackle to protect the other Robert Griffin, the team's star quarterback. Guard Xavier Ruben is a good athlete for his size and could be the unsung signing for the offense. Helping out the passing game will be Eddie Johnson, a tall, talented wide receiver, and Antwan Goodley, a speedy target who'll get time to develop.

2009 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 42. That Class Was Heavy On ... the passing game. Being in the Big 12 South with all the big-time passing attacks, head coach Art Briles wasted no time in going hard after defensive backs, bringing in several decent safeties, but his reputation as a top offensive head coach helped land a ton of really good, really surprising prospect. Do the receivers want to play with star sophomore QB Robert Griffin? Oh yeah. Darius Jones is a smallish, quick playmaker who could be a No. 1 target right away, but Skyler Scott, Tevin Reese, Willie Jefferson and Glasco Martin are all good enough to emerge as future stars in the system. QB Bryce Petty will be a superstar in a few years.