Texas players do not want let Baylor's ascension to the top of the Big 12 go quietly.
Earlier this year, Texas LB Steve Edmond expressed his disdain for the Bears, long the Longhorns' little brother in the state of Texas. Heck, it's more than little sibling. For a while, Baylor was the third of the three other Texas schools in the Big 12.
In the past four seasons, Baylor has finished ahead of Texas in the conference standings three times. The teams meet on Saturday and while Baylor is undefeated and Texas is 2-2, Texas WR John Harris is confident about his team.
“I mean, they’re still Baylor,” Harris said via the Dallas Morning News. “I mean, just because they started playing better in this era, that’s good for them. We are who we are — we’re still Texas. … Baylor has never changed. They are who they are.”
Baylor QB Bryce Petty did not want to get into a war of words.
“Just so we’re clear, not answering any questions about their tweets or whatever,” Petty said.
Baylor coach Art Briles was confused when asked about Harris' remarks.
“Nothing. What am I supposed to say?" Briles asked. "We’re still Baylor, TCU is still TCU, Oklahoma is still Oklahoma. I don’t know what that means.”
While Harris isn't incorrect in his remarks the teams haven't changed, either in name or by very recent history, the history of each team has no bearing (no pun intended) on the outcome of the 2014 game. Baylor is Baylor, in the sense that the Bears have one of the best offenses in the country. In the three seasons Baylor has finished ahead of Texas, it's also beaten the Longhorns. There's no continued dominance by the team in Austin despite the standings.
Baylor is also a two-touchdown (or more) favorite.
"That's something," Texas head coach Charlie Strong said Monday. "They deserve every bit of it. If you watch that team, it's just amazing to see how that team developed over the last three or four years. This season with the quarterback, and the threats they have at the wide receiver position … and you look outside with [WR KD Cannon]. On defense, [LB Bryce Hager] does a great job in the middle of just directing the defense. They have good, strong leadership out of him. They play so well. They play as a team. [Briles] has built that team and built it together. That's probably why were' sitting where we are, and that's why they are where they are right now. They're the number one offense in the country."
Texas is Texas in the sense that, well, the Longhorns do not have the number one offense in the country. While Texas scored 23 points against Kansas, the Longhorns had 24 points combined in the previous two games.
"I think the offense is coming together great," Texas DE Cedric Reed said. "I don't think, I know they are coming along great. Tyrone, he's been leading them really good. Just his progression coming up. It hasn't been one of the greatest, but he's still young. As a defense, we're going to try to pitch a shutout, but if we hold them to under 30 or less points, that will be great."
While we appreciate Reed's optimism, the Texas offense will need a best case scenario to stay competitive, especially if Baylor nudges towards the top of his 30-point threshold, the top mark of a pretty wide range of points. It's pretty improbable that Baylor will score less than 30. The Bears failed to score 30 once last year and in the past three-plus seasons, a span of 43 games, it's happened five times. To win, Texas will likely need to make it six in 44.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - Texas WR John Harris continues the Longhorn trash talk against Baylor
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