Very fortunate this week to have the legendary David Smoak doing my weekly Q&A. He will also join the Orange Report at 8:15pm Wednesday to discuss the game. David is the Programming Director of ESPN Central Texas, and also runs the website Smoaky.com You can read his bio here: http://www.smoaky.com/about.php Follow him on Twitter @DavidSmoak
Whisenant: Talk about what Art Briles has meant to the Baylor program, and can he win a National Championship with the Bears?
Smoak: When I first arrived in Waco, June, 2010, Baylor hadn’t been to a bowl game in 16-years, and they ended that drought, they hadn’t won a bowl game in even a longer stretch, they’ve won two straight, and so when he started talking about winning a Big 12 Championship early during the off-season, I’m sure a lot of people raised their eyebrows or scoffed. If Baylor beats Texas, they’ll have at least a share of the Conference Championship. So, can he win a National Championship? I say why not? Although, they don’t pass those out like candy, it’s hard and it should be hard and Baylor still must win more consistently against the best competition on the road.
Whisenant: How big of an impact will Dixon’ first half suspension be on the Baylor defense?
Smoak: I can’t imagine how it won’t affect them because he’s perhaps their best defensive player. And, although Baylor has done a good job with “next man up,” it’s still someone who will be hard to replace. He’s fantastic in forcing the run and going sideline-to-sideline, and he’s added tremendous speed in the coverage matchups too. Redshirt freshman Orion Stewart, who is also from Dixon’s alma mater (Midway), has played very well in his last two appearances, including a start against Oklahoma State.
Whisenant: The Bears defense gave up a lot of points to fairly weak TCU offense. Was this just a case of looking ahead to UT/back on Oklahoma State, or is there something for Baylor fans to worry about?
Smoak: Like everyone else, the good depth has been tested with key injuries and the loss of Bryce Hager at inside linebacker has been an issue, although Brody Trahan played extremely well in defending the run against TCU. But, Hager was tremendous in the play-action passing scheme with his ability to read the play-action and bootleg sets and reads. There’s no doubt Baylor’s defense has played a lot better since their late run a year ago, but I have noticed a lack of a good pass rush in recent weeks and that’s hurt too. And, the defensive penalties were just not good against TCU, not only Dixon’s targeting penalty, but what seemed like at least 3-4 pass interference calls against the secondary on some deep fade routes near the sideline.
Whisenant: Baylor says good bye to Floyd Casey Stadium on Saturday. As someone who has covered Baylor for years, what was the best moment there?
Smoak: I can only speak for the four years I’ve been around and I don’t think there’s any question it was the RGIII TD pass moment to Terrance Williams to beat Oklahoma.
That one play and the win itself clinched RGIII winning Baylor’s first-ever Heisman Trophy. There was also the atmosphere and exhilaration among Baylor fans when the Bears beat Kansas State in 2010 to clinch being bowl eligible. I know, for some programs that’s like breathing, but when you haven’t been to a bowl game in 16-years, that was a huge moment.
And, the win in 2012 against then top-ranked Kansas State is another moment, not only because of the win, but how dominating Baylor played that night.
In the history of Floyd Casey Stadium, I don’t think anything will ever beat two games in particular, the 1974 “Miracle on the Brazos” when Baylor rallied from down 24-7 at halftime to stun Texas, who they hadn’t beaten in 17-years. And, in 2004 when Baylor beat 16th-Ranked Texas A&M, 35-34 in overtime.
Whisenant: We all know names like Hagar, Seastrunk, and Petty. Who are a few of the lesser known Bears who could make a huge impact on the game?
Smoak: Well, wide receiver Levi Norwood has helped offset the loss of Tevin Reese in the passing game, including a huge game against Texas Tech in Arlington. He also caught a touchdown against TCU last weekend. Running back Shock Linwood helped pickup the slack in the running game when Lache Seastrunk and Glasco Martin were out for 2-3 weeks, and although Seastrunk and Martin are back, I think you’ll see more of Linwood this week than against TCU.
On defense, I mentioned Stewart and his increased role at safety and Trahan at inside linebacker. Sophomore Terrell Burt, who intercepted the tipped pass to seal the win against TCU has been playing through nagging injuries and brings tremendous speed and instincts to their secondary.
And, a couple of defensive ends who have been their best pass rushers, sophomore Jamal Palmer and senior Chris McAllister.
Whisenant: As I ask everyone, give me your thoughts on Mack Brown, and is it time for him to step down?
Smoak: Well, I understand all the speculation, everyone has read it, heard it and maybe said it. But, before the OU game, and following UT’s win at Iowa State, I asked my talk show co-hosts, “What if Texas beats OU this weekend, would that settle down the talk of Mack Brown leaving?” No one agreed it would, except me, I felt like Mack had circled the wagons before and although it didn’t appear reasonable at the time, I’ve seen him circle the wagons too many times and why not one more time?
He has, and despite his worst home loss coming recently against Oklahoma State, his team seemed to figure it out enough to be playing for a possible Big 12 Conference Championship. I would think a win against Baylor and any piece of the Big 12 Championship would make it very difficult for Steve Patterson to pull the trigger on Mack Brown’s career at Texas, but, I’ve been wrong before.
Whisenant: Looking at the Texas team, which three players concern you the most?
Smoak: I’ll count this as one, but I would say both of their DE’s, Cedric Reed and Jackson Jeffcoat because they’ve been hard to block in recent weeks, and opposing teams have started getting more and more in Bryce Petty’s neighborhood.
I noticed Daje Johnson will be back from his suspension this week and because of his big-play ability, I think you always worry about him.
And, Mike Davis seems to catch about one deep TD pass each week, and the play-action from their physical and pounding running game has made him even more dangerous.
Whisenant: Given Case McCoys penchant for turnovers when he has to win the game on his own, what will Baylor do to shut down the Texas rushing attack?
Smoak: Well, it won’t be easy to shut down their running game, it’s what they do and UT knows it’s what they have to do. I compare their running game to a boxer like Joe Frazier. Their running game pounds at the midsection, the head drops and they hit a big pass to Mike Davis, so with Ahmad Dixon out for the first half the best way for Baylor to handle UT’s running game is with constant rotation among their defensive tackles. And, it’s not exactly the answer you may expect, but Baylor jumping out in front of UT early can also help their defense and force Texas into immediate comeback mode. But, Baylor’s offense has started as crisply and explosively the last 2-3 weeks.
Whisenant: What do the Longhorns need to do in order to slow down the Baylor rushing attack and try to make the Bears one dimensional?
Smoak: I would think they’ll have to jam Baylor’s wide receivers at the line of scrimmage, and if they’re successful doing that it would lead to being able to keep the safeties inside the box or in the middle of the field. The lack of Tevin Reese’s straight line crazy speed has allowed some of the secondary’s to shade over to Goodley or come up in the box for the running game. Baylor has great depth at wide receiver and all of them can run, but Reese was like a QB on the field, and he knows the offense as well as anyone and he had the knack of catching a 50-+yard TD each week. If you’ll notice, when Reese went out, the Baylor quick strike attack has been good, but not quite as explosive.
Whisenant: Give us your thoughts on the targeting rule, and what changes need to be made to it.
Smoak: I’m old school, I understand what the NFL or college or high school officials or administrators are trying to do, but the game is hard enough for the officials to work, much less bring another bang-bang judgment call into the picture. Even with the use of replay to decide actual targeting, it stupid they don’t also overrule the call if the replay doesn’t show helmet-to-helmet or obvious targeting.
It’s a violent sport played by great athletes at a high rate of speed and a lot of these same athletes play on the edge. And, in my opinion, like too many things in our country today, they’ve gone overboard in trying to correct a concern.
Think about a 6-4, 280 pound defensive end or lineman turning the corner to sack a quarterback, he’s programmed to deliver a hit, dislodge the ball from someone’s body and make a tackle all at the same time. And, now, with new rules in place, he can’t hit a QB above the neck, below the wait (in most cases), so that leaves about a 1-2 section of a QB’s body to hit, all while going at a high-rate of speed and trying to avoid 1-2 offensive linemen or a running back.
It’s just such a fine line, and now, most targeting calls have become as much an immediate reaction to what an official sees as a violent collision, instead of truly being able to tell (most of the time) if helmet-to-helmet contact was made, or whether a receiver lowered his head into a defender while he was coming down trying to protect himself. That’s where the replay should help clear the air, seriously, how can anyone agree with a penalty being thrown, replay showing it was wrong, yet the 15-yard penalty can’t be erased, that’s just stupid.
Great stuff. Thanks again to David Smoak for joining us this week.Â
