Feeling good about Baylor or not so good?

**isuno1fan** · 10-06-2008, 12:46 PM

Originally Posted by HOTDON

Kansas totally had the fake/QB run figured out by the second quarter because we had run it 7 or 8 times by then. That only works if you can keep the defense guessing about where the ball is going to be. When it stays with Arnaud everytime it's usless. In the third quarter we got away from that play for a few series' and then went back to it and picked up some yards. I was frustrated seeing that over and over in the first half.

Your post also brings up another thing I've noticed about Arnaud; he telegraphs every hand off. Whether it's him, or the RB standing too far back I'm not sure, but it seems like Arnaud stands WAY too long with the ball held out to his side waiting to make the handoff. By the time it's in the RB's hands the entire defense knows where that ball is. One thing Arnaud needs to do is turn and extend the ball backwards rather than out to the side for the hand off. Keeping that ball concealed a little better would benefit running plays, bootlegs and that fake I was talking about in the previous paragraph.

Reading that back ti really seems like I'm down on Arnaud, and that's not at all what I intended. He had a great game against a solid defense. There's just a few little things that Arnaud can do better that will come with experience. I like where he's at right now. I'm hoping the Kansas game was a confidence builder for him. One thing I've seen this year that I'm not used to seeing is fight. UNLV, Kansas and even Iowa to a point were out of hand at one point and instead of packing it in and rolling over we kept playing our game. UNLV is the obvious example, but I think Kansas was important too. By the end of the third quarter Kansas was firmly back in the driver's seat and in years past that would have been a comfortable position, but Saturday I'm sure we had them nervous until the fourth down pass sailed a few inches too long. We punched them in the mouth, they hit us back, and we kept swinging. That's something that gives me hope for this team. I think we have a shot at Baylor.

This is intentional. Don't ask me why, but if you watch any amount of College FB, you will see in lots of offenses that do the same type of handoff that looks "obvious".

**baylrballa** · 10-06-2008, 02:41 PM

Originally Posted by Benny34

Our defense will get to their young quarterback and create some big turnovers from him. Their defense doesn't keep up with our passing attack. I have seen positives from all over the field from our team, this is the game it all comes together and we win it.

please look up the number of interceptions our young quarterback has thrown so far this year and get back to me.

**tejasclone** · 10-06-2008, 02:51 PM

Originally Posted by baylrballa

please look up the number of interceptions our young quarterback has thrown so far this year and get back to me.

I see he has no interceptions and no fumbles. That's impressive for a freshman.

UNLV hadn't committed a single turnover on the season as a team when we played them, but that trend finally broke against us. Our D is particularly adept at takeovers, so we'll see how things shake out.

I'm guessing we'll see a pretty competitive game on Saturday.

**Clonefan94** · 10-06-2008, 02:53 PM

Originally Posted by baylrballa

please look up the number of interceptions our young quarterback has thrown so far this year and get back to me.

I didn't look up your QBs stats, but Kansas came into their game with us with, I believe, 4 turnovers all year. We were able to match that in our one game with them. I'm not saying it's a definite possibility, but we are doing pretty well on the turnovers this year.

**ISUclones33** · 10-06-2008, 02:55 PM

Baylor is a fun place to play however... the cyclone fans are easily heard, always a good following in Waco.

**benjay** · 10-06-2008, 02:57 PM

I feel good about the team right now. I predict victory.

**d4nim4l** · 10-06-2008, 03:20 PM

I think this is one of those games, and time of year, where the seniors will either step up and lead this team into great territory. Or shrink down and keep the team from achieving what it can.

A good week of practice and some hellraising by Kurtis Taylor, Jason Scales, even RJ should get these guys thinking about Baylor and only Baylor. Hopefully someone steps up.

**Juggercy** · 10-06-2008, 04:15 PM

wow i gotta say i feel good about this game it was the KU game i wasn't really sure of but you can put this one in the books as a W.

**gwoodclone** · 10-06-2008, 04:17 PM

In years past, I would have a bad feeling going into this game. It would just seem natural that after the last three games, the team would be too down to pull off a win.

But not this year. I really believe in this team. They keep fighting, and never give up. Saturday, I started getting that sinking feeling with KU's last drive before halftime. Sure enough, we promptly blew a lead and most of us were thinking "Here we go again. It's all over." But the team fought back, and with the onside kick, I honestly believed we were going to win the game.

Sure, we still lost. But the team showed a lot of heart. I think they know what they can accomplish, and they're going focus on what they need to; beating Baylor.

And does anybody remember last season? We looked terrible for most of the first half of the season, and went through a lot of tough losses, and the team rallied back on won 2 of the last 3. Even if we do lose again on Saturday, don't give up on our guys.

**nj829** · 10-06-2008, 04:26 PM

If the atmosphere is as bad as Ben Bruns made it sound, then I think that helps us as a young team, as there is less chance they get rattled from having 50,000+ fans yelling at them on the road. Plus we have some Texas talent that wants to have a happy homecoming, and the coaching staff has some southern ties as well, so I think they will want to impress the local newspapers. Clones by 17...

**Erik4Cy** · 10-06-2008, 04:27 PM

If we jump out to a big lead like we did against Kansas, a team like Baylor would not recover. Gotta get the boys ready from the get go on this one!

**Rogue52** · 10-06-2008, 04:31 PM

I'm confident we'll win this game. The only problem is it's on the road. We need to win a road game.

**Erik4Cy** · 10-06-2008, 04:37 PM

Originally Posted by baylrballa

please look up the number of interceptions our young quarterback has thrown so far this year and get back to me.

as good of week as ever to start giving the ball to the team in the white/cardinal/gold jerseys.

**HOTDON** · 10-06-2008, 04:40 PM

Originally Posted by isuno1fan

This is intentional. Don't ask me why, but if you watch any amount of College FB, you will see in lots of offenses that do the same type of handoff that looks "obvious".

That could be, maybe it's more important to be assured of a good exchange then to conceal the ball in the college game. I've noticed it all year and for some reason seeing Big Ben making a few handoffs in the Pitt-Jacksonville game last night made me think about it. Again, maybe it's an experience/chemistry thing that will come along as everyone continues to gel.