Texas A&M doesn’t need much of a reminder of its matchup with Missouri last year. The 30-9 loss was the lowpoint in a season that included both a six-game winning streak and three-game losing streak, as well as a share of the Big 12 South title. On second thought, the Aggies might need a reminder, considering coach Mike Sherman dramatically burned the game film in front of the team as an illustration to help them move forward. “It was a terrible game for us. We got our butts kicked, but things did turn around after that,” Sherman said. The offense sputtered while Blaine Gabbert shredded the secondary. A team looking to find its legs got easily outrun by a squad hitting its midseason stride. “We were trying to feel ourselves out, trying to find out what our identity was,” Sherman said. “We were struggling with pass protection, struggling with run blocking and we continued to have struggles in that game. Our offensive line didn’t get settled down about halfway through the season.” Mizzou will face a much different Texas A&M team this time around, one that’s well aware of its identity and how dangerous it can be on both sides of the ball. That 4-2 record is nothing to be ashamed of, either. “We lost to two top 10 teams by five points. I don’t look at it the way you guys do. We were obviously disappointed about losing the game, about giving up leads, but there were some positives in that game as well,” Sherman said. Texas A&M has pressured passers all season long, leading the nation in sacks, though it has the nation’s worst pass defense by 17 yards per game. There’s no struggling quarterback this year, as Jerrod Johnson was against Mizzou last season. In his place is Ryan Tannehill , who has thrown nine touchdowns and just one interception during the Aggies’ three-game win streak that followed losses to Arkansas and Oklahoma State. He’s also flanked by two of the Big 12’s top seven rushers, Cyrus Gray and Christine Michael . “We’re trying to find out the right mix and match between the run and pass,” Sherman said. Oklahoma lost last week, and one slip-up by Oklahoma State before its season-ending Bedlam could keep Big 12 title hopes alive in College Station. “When you win three in a row, you have to be very critical, but you have to let those kids gain some confidence from those wins,” Sherman said. “I’ll be hard on them today in things we have to get better at. It’s a lot easier to do that when you win a game than when you lose a game.” Before those Big 12 title scenarios can come into play, though, Texas A&M has to win the final five games on its schedule, which features two more top 10 teams. Instead of being the low point from which to start, Missouri could be the next step forward for the Aggies this time around. “We got a lot better between Games 7 and 12 last year, and I hope we do the same thing this year,” Sherman said.
Filed under Football by on Oct 26th, 2011. Comment. 
Texas A&M doesn’t need much of a reminder of its matchup with Missouri last year. The 30-9 loss was the lowpoint in a season that included both a six-game winning streak and three-game losing streak, as well as a share of the Big 12 South title. On second thought, the Aggies might need a reminder, considering coach Mike Sherman dramatically burned the game film in front of the team as an illustration to help them move forward. “It was a terrible game for us. We got our butts kicked, but things did turn around after that,” Sherman said. The offense sputtered while Blaine Gabbert shredded the secondary. A team looking to find its legs got easily outrun by a squad hitting its midseason stride. “We were trying to feel ourselves out, trying to find out what our identity was,” Sherman said. “We were struggling with pass protection, struggling with run blocking and we continued to have struggles in that game. Our offensive line didn’t get settled down about halfway through the season.” Mizzou will face a much different Texas A&M team this time around, one that’s well aware of its identity and how dangerous it can be on both sides of the ball. That 4-2 record is nothing to be ashamed of, either. “We lost to two top 10 teams by five points. I don’t look at it the way you guys do. We were obviously disappointed about losing the game, about giving up leads, but there were some positives in that game as well,” Sherman said. Texas A&M has pressured passers all season long, leading the nation in sacks, though it has the nation’s worst pass defense by 17 yards per game. There’s no struggling quarterback this year, as Jerrod Johnson was against Mizzou last season. In his place is Ryan Tannehill , who has thrown nine touchdowns and just one interception during the Aggies’ three-game win streak that followed losses to Arkansas and Oklahoma State. He’s also flanked by two of the Big 12’s top seven rushers, Cyrus Gray and Christine Michael . “We’re trying to find out the right mix and match between the run and pass,” Sherman said. Oklahoma lost last week, and one slip-up by Oklahoma State before its season-ending Bedlam could keep Big 12 title hopes alive in College Station. “When you win three in a row, you have to be very critical, but you have to let those kids gain some confidence from those wins,” Sherman said. “I’ll be hard on them today in things we have to get better at. It’s a lot easier to do that when you win a game than when you lose a game.” Before those Big 12 title scenarios can come into play, though, Texas A&M has to win the final five games on its schedule, which features two more top 10 teams. Instead of being the low point from which to start, Missouri could be the next step forward for the Aggies this time around. “We got a lot better between Games 7 and 12 last year, and I hope we do the same thing this year,” Sherman said.
See the article here:
Different A&M than one Mizzou beat in ‘10
Filed under Football by on Oct 26th, 2011. Comment.
Kansas State gave up 12 plays of longer than 10 yards to Baylor. It gave up five touchdown passes, including four that were longer than 34 yards. But the Wildcats won, and bulled their way into the Top 25. Despite the struggles, they did it with defense. “We played really well when we had to play really well,” said coach Bill Snyder, “and you’d like to think that’s the entirety of the ballgame, but you know, when our defense had their backs to the wall, they responded extremely well.” Trailing by two, it forced the first interception of the season by the Big 12’s most prolific passer, Robert Griffin III . With a one-point lead, it shut down the Bears’ offense to win the game. “The key was getting stops when we need them,” said safety Tysyn Hartman. How’d that happen? The Wildcats had experience under pressure. A late goal-line stand preserved a shutout against Kent State. The Wildcats beat Miami a week later with a goal-line stand. A bigger, badder opponent on a bigger stage? Same result. “When the game’s on the line, when the shutout was on the line, we were getting stops,” Hartman said. “Whether it be on the goal line or in a key situation, we’re playing well.” The Wildcats are still just 12 total yards behind the Big 12’s leader in total defense (Texas), and give up an average of 56 fewer yards per game than the Big 12’s No. 3 defense, Oklahoma. This week, a new challenge: Missouri, whose quarterback racked up almost 400 yards against the Sooners. “He’s a good quarterback. I know he had a lot of pressure and big shoes to fill behind Blaine Gabbert, and he’s done a great job so far,” Hartman said. “Griffin has a lot of speed — he’s a track guy — but I think they’re going to use Franklin to run the ball more. He’s a big guy and he can take those hits.” Franklin already has 260 yards rushing and four touchdowns, which ranks 12th in the Big 12. Last week’s win wasn’t enough. The defense still enters Saturday’s game angry. The Wildcats are ranked and at home, but are 2.5-point underdogs. “I told our coaches [Sunday] night, these people spend a lot of money and make a lot of money, and they don’t just do it off the cuff. They have ample information to make those decisions,” Snyder said. “I told the team I was quite certain we would be the underdog in this ballgame.” If Kansas State hasn’t been fully validated by wins over Baylor and Miami, Missouri would be a nice next step to assuming the Tigers’ previous status as Big 12 title dark horse. “We felt like we had a lot to prove last week, but it’s kind of still the same way,” Hartman said. “People picked us to finish at the bottom of the Big 12 and we don’t finish there. We’ve had to get used to that underdog role and it’s no different this week.” The road to shedding that role is driven by the Wildcats’ defense.
Read more here:
K-State’s rise precipitated by defense
Filed under Football by on Oct 5th, 2011. Comment.
1. Oklahoma is clicking, and deserves the No. 1 spot for now. Oklahoma was good everywhere and great in a few spots before racing to a 44-7 lead entering the fourth quarter against a 10-win team from a year ago. Bob Stoops is happy with all three phases of his team. Outside of Travis Lewis, the Sooners are pretty healthy and have two weeks to prepare for a showdown in Tallahassee with Florida State on Sept. 17. Life is good in Norman. 2. Baylor is going to be tough to beat. Much tougher than in 2010. What part do you want to be most impressed by? Baylor’s rapid-fire offense that racked up a 47-23 lead in the fourth quarter against TCU? Or the gutsiness it showed after a pair of three-and-outs and a fumble cost them that lead, and the Bears rallied? Harp on that rough fourth quarter if y0u must, but the real Baylor is a lot closer to what we saw the rest of the game, and the Bears answered a huge test. Impressive. I picked the Bears to finish fifth in the Big 12 and called them a sleeper to win 10 games. I’m still feeling good about that, and Baylor is on my top 25 ballot for Week 2. 3. James Franklin is a work in progress. Franklin doesn’t have the raw skill that Chase Daniel or Blaine Gabbert had, but he’s a smart player that will have to figure out what works for him as he goes along. His mechanics aren’t pretty, which is a bit jarring at Missouri after watching Blaine Gabbert for two seasons, but he’s got the ability to win a lot of games. For now, his decision-making and accuracy need a lot of work, but as long as he can avoid big mistakes, Missouri is good enough to go a long way with him running the show. 4. The bottom of the Big 12? Well, it’s not very good. At least not yet. Goodness, Big 12 North. For facing an uncertain conference future, you’re sure not playing like it. Kansas took care of business and looked good, but the Jayhawks have a historic hoops program that should keep them afloat if the Big 12 breaks up. But Iowa State and Kansas State both needed late-game heroics to beat FCS opponents. I don’t know if anyone’s told them yet, but it’s going to get a lot tougher very quickly.
View original post here:
What we learned in the Big 12: Week 1
Filed under Football, News by on Sep 4th, 2011. Comment.
James Franklin kept pleading. He kept hearing no. First, he was too big. “I was a little chubby, but I was taller than a lot of the other kids, too,” he said. In sixth grade, he weighed in at 185 pounds, 50 pounds over the 135-pound limit for his age group in Missouri, but was still allowed to play. He played everywhere but quarterback in the fifth grade, his first year playing the game, but his gig in sixth grade? Right tackle and defensive end. He wanted to be a quarterback. “I’d always ask about it and they’d never let me play,” he said. He was better suited elsewhere, they told him. He moved south to Texas before seventh grade and rotated between duties as center, guard, running back, receiver, linebacker and his background in soccer earned him a job punting. But still no quarterback. Eventually his duties were trimmed to wide receiver and defensive end, but by his freshman year, he’d stopped asking. That’s when he finally got his shot. After a year as the team’s backup and a tight end, he took the starting job. Just four years later, he’s about to take hold of a Top-25 team. Fall camp was supposed to be the stage for a big-time quarterback battle, but Tyler Gabbert’s post-spring transfer abbreviated the race. “When he said he was leaving, I was in shock,” Franklin said. “At the same time, I was like, now I need to step it up, because guys are going to be looking to me.” Gabbert still hasn’t found a permanent home, but Franklin felt he was robbed of a chance to prove he could win the job. “My main competition left, so it was kind of like it was given to me in a way,” he said. “It’s not like I earned it.” So Franklin, perhaps the next in a line of great Missouri quarterbacks under coach Gary Pinkel, didn’t have a job to win, but he had (and still has) plenty to prove. “What I did during the summer was try and work harder to prove that I have earned it,” he said. “I wanted to come into fall camp and make it look like I had earned it and execute the plays and offense and not that it was just given to me.” Part of the transition from being the backup to NFL first-round pick Blaine Gabbert to the Tigers starter has been piping up. He’s a far cry from Gabbert and his predecessor, Chase Daniel, both of whom grew up with quarterback seemingly written all over their genes. The naturally quiet Franklin has been prodded by teammates T.J. Moe and Michael Egnew , among others, to be the voice of a team with a chance to make plenty of people across the Big 12 listen in 2011. “It meant a lot, because I know they’re trusting in me and encouraging me. They want me to get to greater heights,” Franklin said of his receivers’ tutelage. “We have a really good squad this year and I think we can go far. That’s something they see that as well and they want it to happen and they want to move along faster so we can get there.” Call it the final step from a lifelong transition from right tackle to quarterback. He’s not asking to play the position any more. Franklin’s time has come.
Go here to read the rest:
Mizzou’s Franklin took unusual route to QB
Filed under Football by on Aug 19th, 2011. Comment.
Yesterday, you saw our college football blog staff tab one player as the conference’s next household name, but what do you think? I pegged Texas A&M running back Christine Michael as the next player folks will know well, but here’s a few other suggestions. Vote in the poll for who you’re expecting to see a much bigger profile this time next year: Kenny Stills , WR, Oklahoma Stills caught 61 passes for 786 yards last year as a true freshman, the most of any freshman in Oklahoma history, even with the nation’s leader (131) in receptions, Ryan Broyles , across from him on the field. He’s got one of the best quarterbacks in the league tossing him the ball, and he’ll be back in 2011 with a year of experience under his belt. James Franklin , QB, Missouri Franklin is the key to Missouri’s rise in 2011. If he plays well, the Tigers should be a strong contender for the Big 12 title, something Blaine Gabbert, Chase Daniel and Brad Smith could never win. This Tigers team might be the best under Gary Pinkel, but there’s a gaping hole at quarterback where Gabbert used to be. Will Franklin fill it and become a star as the next in a long line of Missouri quarterbacks. Joseph Randle , RB, Oklahoma State Randle caught more passes last year than any running back in the league, other than Oklahoma’s DeMarco Murray, and figured to be a big piece of the backfield set to replace Kendall Hunter, who rushed for over 1,500 yards for the second time in his career last season. Randle has the advantage of a passing game that will require tons of attention and the Big 12’s best offensive line. Will he hold off Jeremy Smith and become a 1,000-yard rusher? Seth Doege , QB, Texas Tech Doege, a junior, hasn’t been a full-time starter since his sophomore year of high school, but Texas Tech stayed committed to him through a pair of serious knee injuries, and Doege has done the same. Now, he’ll get a chance to do what he grew up wanting to do, carry on the Texas Tech quarterback legacy that guys like Graham Harrell and Kliff Kingsbury helped build. He’ll do it under a different coach, but can he still produce the big numbers? Malcolm Brown, RB, Texas Brown hasn’t even gone through a practice yet, but hopes are high for the incoming freshman who was the nation’s No. 7 recruit in the 2011 class. The Cibolo, Texas, native runs with big power and if Texas’ offensive line can give him a few holes, should be able to punish defenders with his downhill style. A year from now, will he be the first 1,000-yard rusher at Texas since Jamaal Charles? Anyone else deserve some consideration?
More here:
Who is the Big 12’s NEXT big star?
Filed under Football by on Jul 19th, 2011. Comment.
The best players in football play with something to prove. But some have more to prove than others. Tevin Elliot, DE, Baylor Elliot is raw, but the versatile 6-foot-2, 245-pounder led the Bears in sacks as a freshman, with five. Baylor’s defense held the team back from achieving much more than a bowl appearance last year, but Elliot could be a big piece of a defensive resurgence under Phil Bennett in 2011. A disruptive pass rush would be a huge help to a pass defense that struggled last season, and one player can make that happen. Can Elliot prove he’s the guy to do it and help push the team further than the seven wins it reached in 2010? Huldon Tharp, LB, Kansas Tharp showed tons of promise as a freshman, making 59 tackles and landing on a freshman All-America team. He looked like he’d be one of the leaders on Turner Gill’s first defense at Kansas, but his season cruelly ended in fall camp with a leg injury. Can he prove in 2011 that he’s that leader, and that there’s still reason to believe the potential he showed in 2009 is there? James Franklin , QB, Missouri The pressure is on for Franklin to continue Missouri’s quarterback lineage after Tyler Gabbert transferred following the spring semester . Brad Smith started it, Chase Daniel took the Tigers to new heights and Blaine Gabbert looks like he’ll make the biggest impact of the three in the NFL. Where is Franklin’s place? This could be his team for the next three years, but he’ll step into his new role with one of the Big 12’s most complete teams surrounding him. He has sure-handed receivers, a solid running game, an experienced offensive line and one of the league’s best defenses.
Read the rest here:
Big 12 players with the most to prove
Filed under Football by on Jun 8th, 2011. Comment.
The best players in football play with something to prove. But some have more to prove than others. Tevin Elliot, DE, Baylor Elliot is raw, but the versatile 6-foot-2, 245-pounder led the Bears in sacks as a freshman, with five. Baylor’s defense held the team back from achieving much more than a bowl appearance last year, but Elliot could be a big piece of a defensive resurgence under Phil Bennett in 2011. A disruptive pass rush would be a huge help to a pass defense that struggled last season, and one player can make that happen. Can Elliot prove he’s the guy to do it and help push the team further than the seven wins it reached in 2010? Huldon Tharp, LB, Kansas Tharp showed tons of promise as a freshman, making 59 tackles and landing on a freshman All-America team. He looked like he’d be one of the leaders on Turner Gill’s first defense at Kansas, but his season cruelly ended in fall camp with a leg injury. Can he prove in 2011 that he’s that leader, and that there’s still reason to believe the potential he showed in 2009 is there? James Franklin , QB, Missouri The pressure is on for Franklin to continue Missouri’s quarterback lineage after Tyler Gabbert transferred following the spring semester . Brad Smith started it, Chase Daniel took the Tigers to new heights and Blaine Gabbert looks like he’ll make the biggest impact of the three in the NFL. Where is Franklin’s place? This could be his team for the next three years, but he’ll step into his new role with one of the Big 12’s most complete teams surrounding him. He has sure-handed receivers, a solid running game, an experienced offensive line and one of the league’s best defenses. Can he fill the void and help Missouri contend for a Big 12 title, proving that the bloodline will continue? Hubert Anyiam , WR, Oklahoma State Anyiam might be the guy who truly makes Oklahoma State’s offense unstoppable. He led Oklahoma State in receptions during Dez Bryant’s abbreviated 2009 season, catching 42 passes for 513 yards and three scores as a sophomore. Last year, though, he never got started and finished with 11 catches for 135 yards, thanks to an ankle injury similar to the one that ruined Kendall Hunter’s 2009 season. The 6-foot, 198-pounder has the potential to be a second game-changing receiver in the Cowboys offense, but can he return to 2009 form and prove he’s a dangerous complement to Biletnikoff Award winner Justin Blackmon ? Ryan Tannehill , QB, Texas A&M Tannehill was a big reason for the Aggies’ six-game winning streak to close the regular season, but so was Cyrus Gray ’s emergence, a rapidly maturing offensive line and a defense that played its best football in the second half of the season. All the pieces are there for Tannehill to lead the Aggies to the BCS, but last year it was obvious: without good quarterback play, the Aggies were not a great team.
Read more:
Big 12 players with the most to prove
Filed under Football by on Jun 8th, 2011. Comment.
A little more than three months before we kick off the 2011 season, one thing is clear: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M are the Big 12 favorites. Of course, last season, Texas and Oklahoma were the favorites and Oklahoma State came out of nowhere to contend. So, who could be this season’s Cowboys? Here are three teams with the most upside that could contend for a Big 12 title. Missouri Last season: 10-3 Big 12 Power Rankings : 4th Why the Tigers aren’t a contender : Simply put, Blaine Gabbert is gone. If the Tigers still had their first-round pick, they’d likely be a borderline top-10 team entering the season. Why they can contend : Missouri’s defense should be great once again after taking big strides in 2010 under coordinator Dave Steckel. The Tigers have lots of confidence in corners Kip Edwards and E.J. Gaines, and even list Edwards as a returning starter since he was in the rotation alongside Carl Gettis and Kevin Rutland last season. They’ll get a lot of help up front from an offensive line that should be the Big 12’s best, and perhaps one of the best in college football. Offensively, James Franklin replaces Gabbert, but has lots of talent around him, including four returning running backs with experience and every single receiver on the team returns, including four with at least 39 catches a season ago. That’s rare, and the experience gained will pay off next fall. Texas Last season: 5-7 Big 12 Power Rankings : 7th Why the Longhorns aren’t a contender : The offense crashed and burned in 2010 and the reigning Big 12 champs and national runner-up endured its worst season since 1997. Why they can contend : Mock recruiting rankings all you’d like, but it’s still hard to shake the feeling that Texas is a sleeping giant in 2011. The offensive talent didn’t look like it was there last season, but can new coordinator Bryan Harsin change that? The Big 12 won’t have a truly elite defense this season, so it’s possible. Texas also should have one of the Big 12’s best defenses, as long as it can overcome some inexperience in the secondary. The front seven has loads of experience and potential, and if the turnovers, which coach Mack Brown has harped on all offseason, swing in the Longhorns favor, Texas could become a factor once again. That 5-7 record last season wasn’t far from 9-3. Texas lost four games by eight points or fewer. Kansas State Last season: 7-6 Big 12 Power Rankings : 8th Why the Wildcats aren’t a contender : The Wildcats rode Daniel Thomas for two seasons, and lose him, as well as starting quarterback Carson Coffman . Combine that with a defense that struggled for most of last season, and it’s not an attractive résumé. Why they can contend : It all comes down to how good the new faces will be. Bryce Brown and Arthur Brown have gotten plenty of press this spring, but Arthur and quarterback Collin Klein will likely have the most to do with the Wildcats exceeding expectations. Klein will have receiver Brodrick Smith back, a transfer who started the season hot before breaking his leg against Nebraska. The Wildcats are by far the darkest of these horses, but it could be one of Bill Snyder’s best coaching jobs if this team contends or finishes in the top 25.
Original post:
The Big 12’s three dark horses
Filed under Football by on May 25th, 2011. Comment.
This one’s pretty simple? Who’s winning the Big 12? Oklahoma is the presumptive favorite, if not the favorite to win the national title. The Sooners have won the Big 12 seven times in the past decade and are the defending champs, bringing back the core of last season’s team. Will they take it home once again? Oklahoma State came close last season, losing a high-scoring matchup in Stillwater to the Sooners with the Big 12 South on the line. Can Mike Gundy finally knock off his in-state rival for the first time ever? Oklahoma has to come to Stillwater for the second consecutive season. Texas is the wild card from this group, coming off a 5-7 season after an appearance in the national championship game in 2009. Do you believe the Longhorns’ new coaches can get them back on top in just one season? Missouri brings back a complete team, but has a gaping hole at quarterback after Blaine Gabbert left. Can the Tigers surround James Franklin with enough talent to win the Big 12 for the first time? Texas A&M was the hottest team in the league at the end of the regular season, but finished the year with a lopsided loss to LSU. Can the Aggies shake it off, as well as the loss of Von Miller, and win their first Big 12 title since 1998.
View post:
Who is going to win the Big 12 in 2011?
Filed under Football by on May 13th, 2011. Comment.
