Rifram09 said:
Revisionist history. By this point in those seasons we had played a combo of a ranked Oregon state in the cowboys classic (with Rogers Brothers) and RG3 Baylor that went to a bowl or Clemson and Virginia.
I'm not saying our schedule was top 10, but it wasn't Wafford, Buffalo, ULM either.
That's because you had to play those teams. The quality was in your non-conference, not conference opponents.
I don't like our non-conference schedule, but there was no way for a Baylor program 3-5 years ago to know where we would be today. One would have to be an idiot to schedule tougher games while being a 3-9/4-8 program looking for its first bowl since the '90s. Under Morriss and very early Briles, who thought Baylor would have a Heisman and one of the top offenses in the nation? Nobody. It is what it is and if Baylor goes 12-0 amid 2-4 other undefeated teams, then Baylor will be in some other BCS bowl while two other teams play for the title - that would be the cost of our non-conference schedule. Until that happens, or Baylor loses 1-3 games, I don't see the point of people bashing Baylor's schedule. It's too early to be arguing about who is good and who isn't get. Most programs have not proven a damn thing yet. It's just all about what we feel in our guts at this point.
In my gut, I feel that I know Baylor's defense is better than it was last year. We have more speed and size, especially on the ends. Our weakness is our corners. Add that to the fact that there's only 1-2 offenses in the conference that appear capable of keeping up with Baylor's offense, and I'll be shocked if Baylor doesn't end the season between 10-3 and 13-0, maybe even another Heisman if Lache starts getting more carries once we are in more competitive games (he has the capability of surpassing 2,000 yards pre-bowl with a healthy does of highlight runs). The depth is there, as well.
Though any team can lose to anyone on any given day, as a fan I'm only concerned about those last 5 games. We can lose to any of them, but we know we can decimate them all if we avoid injuries and turnovers.
As for Briles, most of us want to believe he's loyal to Baylor, particularly after he turned down Tech. But we all know what resources UT has for its next coach. Our hope is that an older Briles likes having a chip on his shoulder (which you can't have at UT), doesn't want to deal with all the extra UT baggage that a program like that entails, has some loyalty to Baylor and past guys like RG3 who he doesn't want to disappoint, and doesn't want to be that guy who leaves his wife for his wife's sister only to show up every holiday season to rub it in (leaving to another conference is one thing, but intra-conference moves are ugly).
