Now that college basketball season is no longer providing a distraction, the football withdrawals have begun in earnest so we were very excited to get a taste of what fall will bring by attending the Bears' spring scrimmage. Though it's not exactly the same as tailgating for hours before screaming at the top of your lungs for several more hours, it was a lot of fun.
Of course, there's a lot of speculation and expectancy about what the defense will look like this season now that Coach Bennett has a year - and some of his own recruits - under his belt.
And, to be quite frank with you, I was very encouraged by what I saw from the D. The fact remains that - even without RG3 - we have an explosive offense so these guys have a tough task. And a number of starters are out right now due to having surgery or treatment to combat injuries sustained during last season. All that aside, they look good. And they're tackling like gangbusters.
It was good to see RG3 - below next to Coach Briles - on the sidelines but it also brought a bit of sadness since he won't be in a Baylor uniform ever again.
Tonto has personally been following the journey of local phenom, Lache Seastrunk. He played at Temple High School and then went to Oregon before transferring to Baylor last fall. Basically, he hasn't played for two years BUT he was one of the top 10 players in the nation when he signed with the Ducks.
He's put on a ton of muscle, y'all, and let me tell you he can move. He busted through for a 75-yard TD at one point and literally out ran every other player on the field. Not a small task when the defense is uber fast.
Of course, there's also a learning curve and Ivory Wade is stepping into the center position. Tonto explained to me this is no quick or easy transition but Ivory's doing a pretty good job so far. And I can assure you all of Baylor Nation will now be praying for him throughout summer workouts and fall camp. :-)
The QB situation is a good one as we have two fantastic candidates. I personally believe Nick Florence will start but we'll see Bryce Petty a great deal as well. Both outstanding athletes but, more importantly, amazing young men.
Was also interesting to see the different things Briles is doing with his offense this time around. Let's just say some folks will be catching passes you wouldn't normally expect to...
We stayed a little over an hour and my understanding is they played another 30 minute or so after our departure. All in all, it was great to see the guys in pads and getting in some good reps. Unfortunately for Tonto, it just made him long for summer to pass even more quickly because he's ready for some football, y'all.
But there's lots of fun to be had between now and then. One thing is certain - we'll be in the stands cheering for the Bears when they take on SMU in early September.
Until then, we'll enjoy our amazing baseball team. They're on a 20-win streak and are amazing many people. Seems to me the College World Series could be a good distraction from football as well. :-)
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