Big 12: Baylor vs. TCU Preview

 

With Texas pulling all the headlines and seemingly already being declared the Big 12 victor with their shellacking of Texas Tech last night, it is easy to forget that the Big 12 is still very much up for grabs. Baylor may not look as shiny and pretty with that mark in the loss column, but they are still contenders.

TCU on the other hand are not contenders, but they could have been. Three of their losses were decided by three points or less, and neither of their quarterbacks could get anything going all year. TCU will be looking to end their season on a high note by causing Baylor to slip even further in the BCS rankings (they are now No. 9 in the nation) by handing them another upset loss.

There will be two players that TCU will be wanting to focus on stopping or, at the least, slowing down and that is running back Shock Linwood and quarterback Bryce Petty.

Last week Oklahoma State was able to nearly completely stop Linwood from moving. He only put up 29 yards on 14 carries. To put that in perspective he ran over 180 yards against Oklahoma and Texas Tech. The key to beating Baylor may lie in stopping their run game.

Petty has not been as effective as he was in his earlier games either. He has not put up a 60 percent completion rating in seven weeks. Petty will need to show up today, especially if TCU is able to stop Linwood.

Slowing down Petty will be cornerback Jason Verrett. Verrett will be heading to the NFL after this year, but will be looking to go out with a bang. He has 14 defended passes this year, and will be looking to make Petty’s job a lot harder.

Baylor can still win the Big 12 if Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State and Baylor beats TCU. They are also still in contention for a big bowl game if they manage to keep their loss singular. 

The lines for this game vary, but most have Baylor favored with a -12-13 point spread. You can watch the game on ESPN 2 at 3:30 p.m. ET.