All the Big 12-2 Conference news that is and isn't fit to read...
And some other stuff.
Here's a look at the offensive line. [Barking Carnival]
There is no positional group more misunderstood - and with a wider range of fan opinion - than the 2012 Longhorn offensive line. At both the player and unit level. Poor recruiting, needs identification, teaching, and player development forced promising players into action years earlier than would be appropriate in a healthy program, and Longhorn fans generally tend to hold strange, calcified notions about development timelines for linemen - nor are we brimming reservoirs of patience. Dissonance ensues.
Throw in the fact that most people don't really watch line play to begin with (aside from a highlight showing someone getting beat) and the upshot is a few people repeating the same half dozen truisms that aren't really that true, or, if they are, are usually of the "no shit" variety that ignore a larger context. Let's dig into the trenches of the interior OL and see what assumptions hold up.
Mason Walters has a big role to play this season. [Lubbock Avalanche-Journal]
Frenship product Mason Walters has slowly been turning into a leader both on and off the field for the University of Texas. This year he will be one of the big leaders, with big being the operative word.
"We’re going to let him get off the bus first this year because he looks good stepping off the bus," Texas head coach Mack Brown said of his 6-foot-6, 325-pound redshirt junior right guard.
Mason Walters on the QB situation: [Dallas Morning News]
But junior offensive guard Mason Walters believes that the quarterbacks Texas has now "are capable of elite play." Like fellow Texas representatives Jordan Hicks and Carrington Byndom, Walters fielded many questions about his take on the Longhorns’ intriguing and uncertain quarterback situation.
"I think all the quarterbacks we have are capable of elite play but for us to be successful, all we have to have is for someone to manage the game," Walters said last week. "Everybody saw the spring game and probably have their opinions from that. I didn’t really see a clear leader there in the competition. Camp’s going to be the next time we have a football environment for them — 7-on-7 is not a true football environment. We’ll wait around and see what happens in camp. They’ve been working so hard and putting so much into the summer. You want to give them a fair chance for someone to emerge."
Mack Brown has nothing but disdain for the new rule changes. [Dallas Morning News]
We have to play on Thanksgiving! [Dallas Morning News]
"I don’t care who we play but I want to play on Thanksgiving in Austin," Brown said. "I think it’s been fun. It’s been traditional. It’s been something our players have enjoyed. They can play the game and they can go home and have their Thanksgiving either Friday or Saturday, then be back for Sunday meetings for the next week."
What Big 12 team has an elite rushing attack? [ESPN Big 12 Blog]
Basketball isn't too far off. [ESPN]
Texas coach Rick Barnes has been somewhat prophetic lately with his newcomers. If he’s convinced they’re going to be major contributors, then he doesn’t hold back promoting. Well, Barnes is extremely high on his freshmen class that should bolster a rising sophomore group led by Myck Kabongo and Julien Lewis. Cameron Ridley is in shape and Prince Ibeh has developed his game well. The two 6-foot-10 centers are sure to be game-changers inside. The Longhorns also added 6-10 Connor Lammert. Barnes said the biggest surprise so far in workouts has been DeMarcus Holland, a shooting guard out of Garland, Texas. Barnes said Holland is an "every-day guy,’’ someone who Barnes knows what he’s going to get every day. And that means quality production if he can adequately get into the rotation.
The Sooners had a no good, very bad day on Monday.
Land Thieves don't like to be out too late at night. Insert any joke about Sooners and criminal activity here. [ESPN]
Bob Stoops has voiced his concern over the number of night games the Sooners have been scheduled to play in recent years. Last year, eight of OU’s 12 regular-season games were night games. The Sooners have already been slapped with two night games this season, including an 9:30 p.m. kickoff at UTEP.
It is make or break season for Tommy Tuberville. [KSAT.com]
Is West Virginia overrated? [Parkersburg News and Sentinel]
Weltschmerz
It is time to expand the Aggie brand. [KBTX.com]
Kickers are important. [SI]
"College football is so competitive now, the kicks mean a lot more," said Jamie Kohl, a former Iowa State kicker (1995 through '98) who now runs national camps for aspiring college and professional kickers. "The games are tight because of scholarship limits and other factors, and a lot of times it comes down to precious kicks."
The beer and circus approach continues in college football. [Press-Citizen]
How many basketball programs use third party recruiters? [CBS Sports]
Is it bad karma to recruit PSU players? [Mr. SEC]
The NCAA needs to dethrone college football coaches. [Bloomberg News]
Stop messing with uniforms. [CBS Sports]
They're coming for you, Alabama. You too, Southern California. Eventually, they're coming for all of you and it's going to get ugly. Check that, it's already hideous.
And finally...
This a great story on DKR and Willie Nelson. [Horns Nation]
BDR doesn't endorse any of the rubbish out there in the interwebs, we just link to it. For a lot more daily rubbish on a somewhat timely basis, follow me on Twitter.com/dimecoverage.