Big 12 Sports Blog by Big 12 Fans

BAYLOR-OKLAHOMA PREVIEW: Bears ready, waiting to host No. 1 Sooners in Saturday afternoon showdown at Floyd Casey Stadium

By Denton Ramsey, NCAA Sportswriter/Big 12 Fans Baylor Correspondent

WACO, Texas – Sooner or later, an upset of the No. 1 team in the nation will occur on the Baylor campus.

Whether or not that miracle occurs this weekend is yet to be seen, as No. 1 Oklahoma visits unranked Baylor for a Big 12 opener on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 4, at Floyd Casey Stadium – with kickoff slated for 11:30 a.m. CT on FSN.

“Obviously everybody, they either want to be No. 1, or they want to play No. 1,” Baylor freshman quarterback Robert Griffin said. “We have the opportunity to play No. 1 this week, and we’re going to go out there and take advantage of it.”

For BU head coach Art Briles and company, Saturday means hitting the gridiron for the first time in two weeks while also hosting an explosive Oklahoma football program.

“We are glad to be back playing; it will be fifteen days since our last game,” Briles said. “We are excited to get on the field and get back to it over these next eight weeks.

“As a program, everything that they [Oklahoma] have had come their way over the last 10 years is certainly well deserved – especially what they have done in the Big 12 south. They are a very good offense, defense and special teams. They have a good football team. It will no doubt be a good test for us.”

In addition to entering Saturday’s match-up against one of the conference’s paramount programs, the Bears also kick off an eight-week marathon of Big 12 games.

“We broke the season down and look at the first four games as last season,” Briles said. “It will have been 15 days since we have been on the field and somebody blows the whistle. We feel like the next eight games are a new season. I can honestly say that and we are smart enough to understand that we will be judged by theses last eight games and not the first four.

“We’re in the Big 12, we live in Texas, we’re apart of this part of the nation. What we did in Washington, Connecticut, Louisiana, and North Carolina doesn’t matter. We recruit down here; we’re going to be judged down here so it is what we do here that matters. That makes up our 2008 season.”

Saturday’s Big 12 test will also offer quite a bit a big time challenges – but don’t look for any major changes when it comes to facing the top team in the nation.

“We aren’t looking at it that way; what we are going to do is play hard for 60 minutes, play well for 60 minutes and win a football game in 60 minutes,” Briles said. “Their rankings and all of that is going to be hyped up without us getting involved in all of that.

“What we are going to try to do is be a better football team than we were against Connecticut. We are going to get on our home turf and represent Baylor University. We’ve got our guys, our people, our university – so that is the way we are approaching the football game.”

Denton Ramsey may be reached via email at denton.ramsey@gmail.com

BAYLOR 45, WASHINGTON STATE 17: Bears cruise to blowout victory over Cougars under Friday night’s lights

By Denton Ramsey, Big 12 Fans Baylor Correspondent

WACO, Texas – Baylor freshman quarterback Robert Griffin is used to shining in Friday night’s spotlight.

On Friday night, Sept. 12 against Washington State, Griffin had a chance to relive some of his high school pigskin moments – in addition to driving the Bears to a 45-17 landslide victory in a historical and record-breaking performance at Floyd Casey Stadium.

“Robert is a gifted athlete no doubt,” Baylor head coach Art Briles said following Friday’s victory. “He handles it in a very mature manner. That is the thing I am most proud of about him. He is a really, really good team player.”

Due to concerns of Hurricane Ike’s impact on Central Texas, Baylor officials decided to move Saturday’s showdown between the Bears and Cougars to a Friday night kickoff – a wise decision, especially considering the outcome.

“I appreciate the fans that came out tonight,” Briles said. “We felt like if we went out and played well and played to sneak out a victory that it would really help us in our preparation for next week. Now we are on pace to prepare for the next one.”

Against the Cougars, Griffin racked up 129 yards in passing, going 7-for-15 – in addition to garnering 225 yards in the rushing department (on only 11 carries).

“It was a confidence boost,” Griffin said. “People were saying that to come out and beat Northwestern State wasn’t that great because they are not a good team, so we came out and beat Washington State who is a pretty legitimate team.

“We didn’t just beat them, but we beat them pretty good. Going on the road for the first time for me [next week] isn’t that big of a deal. It was definitely good to get a win and then go on the road.”

Overall, Baylor picked up 555 yards of offense while limiting Washington State to just two touchdowns and a field goal – with the Bears doing a good job of controlling things at the line on both sides of the ball, something Briles stresses to the team daily.

“Every win is important,” Briles said. “It is like we told the players before the game in November we are add them up and we needed one to count on the right side of the column. And we got one – we got a win against a Pac-10 football team.

“We’ve got to keep grinding; we’ve got to keep getting better. And that is the thing I like about this football team. We are not satisfied and we certainly don’t think we’ve got all of the answers.”

Denton Ramsey may be reached via email at denton.ramsey@gmail.com

BAYLOR-WASHINGTON STATE PREVIEW: Briles, Bears prep for upcoming home game against Cougars

By Denton Ramsey, Big 12 Fans Baylor Correspondent

WACO, Texas – Week three of the college football season is nearly underway, and come Saturday afternoon at Floyd Casey Stadium the Baylor Bears football team has a chance to shine – as well as an opportunity to move above .500 under head coach Art Briles.

Last week against Northwestern State, the Bears showed what they were truly made of – garnering 537 yards of total offense in a 51-6 blowout victory over the Demons.

On Saturday, Sept. 13 at 11:40 a.m. CT, Baylor (1-1) will face Washington State (0-2) – as Briles and company aim to pick up their second straight victory at home. Saturday’s game will be televised nationally on FSN.

“Washington State is a very good football team; they are a team who has had a lot of success over the last few years,” Briles said. “In 2002 they played in the Rose Bowl, in 2003 they went to the Holiday Bowl where they beat Texas. Last year they won three games in the PAC-10. If they had a more suitable conference schedule last year they would have been a bowl team. They had a record of 5-7, missed out by one win to be bowl eligible. These guys who are fifth year seniors coming in after the Holiday Bowl in ’03, they have been around a program that has had a lot of success.

“They are going to come to Baylor determined, but they’re going to walk into a stadium with a bunch of determined guys on the other team too. We are still fighting ourselves and getting ready to become a really good football team, and every week is an opportunity for us to get better and that’s the way we’re approaching it.”

Once again, the Bears will be turning to freshman quarterback Robert Griffin to lead the charge on Saturday against the Cougars.

“What he did for our team, he maintained his composure, protected the football, took what the defense gave us and that is what we’re looking for,” Briles said. “We talked about his job to make everyone on the field look better and that is the point that we are getting to. Our thing with Northwestern, as it will be with Washington State, is that we are going to win upfront on both sides of the ball.

“I haven’t ever planned to be smart but I am smart enough to figure that out. If you have good O-line and D-Line with you, you’ve got a good football team and our guys are getting better upfront. That is going to give us some chances to have success this year. We are striving to become dominant on both sides up front.”

So what will the Bears do more of come Saturday at Floyd Casey: run, or pass?

“Every week is different,” Briles said. “We would like to stay balanced but it depends on how people are playing and how we feel we match up against the opponent. We aren’t going around this week thinking that all of a sudden we have arrived and we have all the answer.

“If anyone has any questions on how to play football or perform on the field we can give them the answers. We feel like we were able to come back after a disgusting opening game and perform at a better level, but we still understand that it’s the bridge we haven’t gotten to yet. We have a long way to go and a lot of things to prove before we get there.”

Denton Ramsey may be reached via email at denton.ramsey@gmail.com

BAYLOR-NORTHWESTERN STATE REVIEW: Bears bounce back with big win, destroy Demons 51-6

By Denton Ramsey, Big 12 Fans Baylor Correspondent

WACO, Texas – Baylor head football coach Art Briles picked up his first victory at the helm of the Bears pigskin program with a 51-6 annihilation of Northwestern State on Saturday evening, Sept. 6 at Floyd Casey Stadium.

Forget opening week’s loss to Wake Forest, a team quickly climbing the top-25 ladder.

The real way a team is defined is by how the respond to defeat. And the Bears showed exactly what green and gold team would be hitting the gridiron on Saturday night against the Demons.

“We had a good crowd tonight; I am really, really proud for them,” Briles said following the Bears victory. “I guess last week we felt people came out here ready to see it happen and to help us make it happen, and we did not fulfill expectations. We played intelligent and took care of the football. It was a situation where we did what we had to do. We had to be a dominant football team against them and we were.”

The Bears racked up 537 yards of total offense against the Demons, garnering seven touchdowns to go along with a 20-yard field goal.

“We want to run the ball; we didn’t run it quite as effectively as we wanted to,” Briles said. “We will try to stay balanced, that is the main thing to us. The execution was good. We hit a couple big plays early and we were able to establish a little something. I was proud we won the turnover battle and we didn’t have many penalties. I thought we played a pretty clean, disciplined football game.”

Freshman quarterback Robert Griffin played a major role in the Bears victory over the Demons, going 15-for-19 in passing for 294 yards and no interceptions.

“He did exactly what he needed to do; control the tempo on offense, make a couple plays, get himself out of a couple jams and be protective of the football,” Briles said. “He did a great job of throwing the football tonight.”

So what was the key to the Bears victory?

“The key to the game for us was up front on both sides of the ball,” Briles said. “That was our theme going into the week. We knew we had a chance to dominate up front and that is what we did, and that is what we will continue to try and do each week.”

For now, Baylor’s Bears – along with Briles – can temporarily take a sigh of relief after picking up win number one of the young season.

“It’s tough anytime to get a win,” Briles said. “This is a big win for this football team. It’s a big win for our university and we will certainly try and use it as a springboard.”

Denton Ramsey may be reached via email at denton.ramsey@gmail.com