All the Big 12-2 Conference news that is and isn't fit to read...
And some other stuff.
When all else fails, just reboot. [ESPN Horns Nation]
So how hard is starting over? While Texas might not be back yet, the reboot is in motion. Texas is ranked 15th in the first preseason poll of 2012 with two senior starters on each side of the ball. The Longhorns signed the No. 3 recruiting class in 2012 and are well on their way to another top 10 class in 2013.
"Make it motivate you," he said. "We'll show them. We'll play us against the world. Let's show them what we're made of. You cannot let that get to you."
So far, it appears as if Brown is doing just that.
A year makes all the difference. [ESPN Horns Nation]
"When you have had more time together, you have identified who you are, what you want to do, this is what we can major in and now from a personnel standpoint, whether it is recruiting or on the field, this is how we’re going to place people to do these certain things," Harsin said. "Everybody has got that in their minds in the staff now and that makes it easier on all of us as a staff now. Instead of one guy trying to figure out who needs to go where, everybody knows where guys need to go and what’s the best group to have on the field."
Bill Little explains the team's theme this season. [MBTF]
Little could they have known, these football Longhorns of 2012, that even as they were about to be challenged to fulfill its meaning, the word represented by the first letter of their theme for the year would be played out by a fellow Longhorn on the planet's biggest stage half a world away.
With a little less than three weeks remaining before the start of the 2012 season, the theme of "RISE," is now being put to the test. The team picked it - each letter of the word as part of an acronym with a powerful message. The "E" is emotion. The "S" represents sacrifice that translates to swagger. The "I" is for intensity.
But it is the "R" - representing the word relentless - that will initially determine how it all plays out.
West Virginia's new defensive coordinator has a major goal this season. [Charleston Daily Mail]
"Pressure in the pocket keeps the completion percentage down," he said. "If you go back and watch football games, you'll see if the quarterback resets his feet in the pocket, the completion percentage is very low. If he resets his feet outside the pocket, meaning he's scrambling out of the pocket, that's when you see big plays."
Ideally, his players would get the sack and end the play. If not, he wants them to force the quarterback to reset and then get rid of the ball while still inside the pocket and not give the quarterback a chance to get outside and find the time and space to throw deep.
The Mountaineers got an academic miracle. [MetroNews]
Some good news though on Monday was that a couple of the players that appeared to be on the edge of qualifying academically this summer are now good to go – one of those included senior receiver J.D. Woods.
Charlie Weis also wants to pressure opposing QBs. [Kansas City Star]
Oklahoma State defensive coordinator has a laundry list of improvements after their first scrimmage. [NewsOK]
Big 12 coaches anonymously sound off about the Frogs. [Dallas Morning News]
Travel is an issue for the newest members of the Big 12. [ESPN]
Weltschmerz
Maybe Nick Saban sent them as spies? [Lost Lettermen]
How will A&M and Missouri stack up against SEC programs? [ESPN]
Here's another preseason poll. [CBS Sports]
A helium shortage may force Nebraska to stop a game tradition. [ESPN]
Yes, Penn State fans are handling this sanction business well. [Lost Lettermen]
And finally...
This Bleacher Report writer's girlfriend is a Oklahoma grad. That's all you really need to know. [Bleacher Report]
No. I also have a hard time following the football. I always get tricked. I think the ball is going one way, and then it's all the way on the other side of the field. The quarterback and the guys who run with the ball should all wear neon jerseys so I know where they are.
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