ESPN College Football

Coaches we love to hate week is rolling on at ESPN.com, and today it's familiar territory for the Big 12.

Some coaches are hated because they simply win too much. For the Big 12, it seems like that's the only reason why any coaches earn hatred from fans.

For the most part, the coaches in the Big 12 are a civil bunch, with hardly a heated rivalry between them that inspires hate from the fans.

Nobody catches more flak for winning than Bob Stoops and Mack Brown. That's what happens when you win and do it for a long, long time.

Stoops has been accused more than once of running up the score in some of those wins, and when you look back on the 2008 season, it's easy to see why some might feel that way. The Sooners memorably scored 60 points in five consecutive games leading up to the national title, and scored at least 52 points in four more games.

The "leaving starters in" debate is a timeless one, and I tend to fall on the side of, "If you don't like it, stop them." Others don't, and Stoops catches the flak for it.

Simply put, Big 12 teams love beating OU and Texas more than any other school, and those winning traditions are the biggest reasons why.

Stoops and Brown also have to deal with the incessant chorus from fans who argue that coaching at Oklahoma and Texas is simple: You get the best players and you get the best record, regardless of your coaching acumen.

That couldn't be further from the truth. Brown and Stoops both inherited losing teams and turned them into perennial winners who do recruit well and sign the best players in the Big 12 every season. To think that happens automatically is silly. You need good coaches to make it happen, and Brown and Stoops have personified that, even if Brown hasn't won as big as some expect with the type of talent Texas reels in.

In this debate, though, I'd argue Stoops and Brown aren't alone. In recent seasons, they've been joined by none other than Art Briles at Baylor.

The former Texas high school coach is quick with one-liners that earn the media's favor, but he talks about doing big, big things at Baylor. Things like Big 12 titles and telling players they can win Heisman Trophies.

To those on the outside, it sounds like crazy talk.

Then, he goes and inches closer to those goals. He achieved the second one last season, and does anyone want to rule out a Big 12 title for the Bears in the future?

The same people who want to do that probably would have done the same for Oklahoma State. Mike Gundy has equaled or surpassed his win total in every season at Oklahoma State.

Briles has done the exact same, even while losing Robert Griffin III in a four-win campaign in 2009.

He won seven games the following year and did the unthinkable by winning 10 games in 2011. Losing RG3 is a big blow, but Briles has stocked his team with loads of offensive talent and signed five-star talents such as safety Ahmad Dixon and running back Lache Seastrunk.

It's a new day at Baylor, and thanks to Briles the Bears will soon be playing in a new stadium, too. As much as the rest of the Big 12 wants to pretend BU will go back to the same ol' Baylor without RG3, Briles will soon prove that no such thing's going to happen in Waco.

A word of advice on how to view the trio? Don't hate. Appreciate.

WACO, Texas -- Enough already about Robert Griffin III and the impact his loss will have on the Baylor Bears football program. That's ground traveled and tread by now. What about the guy who snapped the ball to Griffin the past two seasons?

Bears coach Art Briles' eyes widen when Philip Blake's name comes up in conversation.

"That's right," Briles says, nodding. "The center, Philip Blake ... that's like a quarterback in our offense."

So, although most would know and note who the second overall pick in this past weekend's draft was, they likely missed Blake -- the Bears' "other QB" -- going to the Denver Broncos in the fourth round.

Click here for the rest of Travis Haney's column.

WACO, Texas -- The raw numbers were far from encouraging, so how would Baylor defensive coordinator Phil Bennett assess his first defense?

"We weren’t by any stretch of the imagination a dominant defense," Bennett said.

The Bears gave up more than 37 points; only seven teams in college football gave up more. Bennett's unit gave up just under 490 yards a game; only four teams gave up more.

It wasn't pretty, and everybody knew it.

But even in the gaudy numbers, Bennett saw reasons to believe 2012 could be much better. Baylor's six-game winning streak to close the season was the longest among teams in automatic qualifying leagues. Along the way, the Bears forced 14 more turnovers than they committed.

"We were just so inexperienced, but the thing I will tell you, our turnovers came at the right time," Bennett said. "I thought we became an opportunistic defense."

Most importantly, they made the plays to win those games. Of course, having a Heisman winner in Robert Griffin III on offense helped a little bit, too.

"It’s obvious with Robert gone and what we did offensively, there’s a new challenge for us," Bennett said. "We’ve got to get stops and become so much better in our consistency level."

What could provide that consistency? The experience gained from a team that had almost none in 2011. Only two players -- defensive tackles Nick Jean-Baptiste and Tracy Robertson -- played the same position in 2011 that they had in 2010.

"I thought we lined up well, we played hard, but we weren’t consistent," Bennett said. "We’d do some things really good, but our tackling was atrocious at times. And I think a lot of that is when you’re unsure of yourself, you don’t play with a lot of confidence. We’ve got basically 9-10 guys that played quite a bit who have bright days ahead."

Fixing that "atrocious tackling" was the primary objective for Bennett's defense in the spring.

"If we can be a better tackling team, great things are going to happen. We’re watching the OU game and there’s a third-and-12 and they throw a swing pass," Bennett said. "Hell, they throw a swing pass, you ought to get out of there, right?"

Turning those frustrating missed opportunities into stops is as simple as tackling for a defense that has the athleticism to be better.

"I’m very excited about the direction of our defense, no doubt. Phil’s a tremendous communicator and a tremendous leader, our guys have enormous respect for him and what he brings to the table and what he’s going to bring to the table," coach Art Briles said. "We just had the appetizer, now we’re getting to the full course this year."

WACO, Texas -- Nick Florence didn't have to come to Baylor. He didn't have to stay.

If football has been his only reason for coming to Waco, it'd be easy to see why he might've gone elsewhere.

But Florence did.

He stepped in as a freshman when future Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III tore his ACL, then stepped off the stage for the next two seasons while Griffin wrote his legacy.

Plenty of quarterbacks would have waved goodbye.

Florence didn't.

Here's why.

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Florence didn't lose a game as a freshman at South Garland (Texas) High School. A year later, he took over the varsity squad in midseason and carried the team to a third-round loss in the state playoffs to Lufkin, led by Dez Bryant, now a receiver for the Dallas Cowboys.

"The QB that started the year as the starter, every opportunity Nick had, he would encourage him," said Mickey Moss, Florence's high school coach who now heads up a program in Rockwall, Texas. Throughout his career, Moss has put about 50 players into Division I programs like Nebraska, Oklahoma and Missouri.

"When Nick took over, he'd lead the senior linemen and just encourage them and give them confidence and praise. I was like, 'I’ve never seen a kid like this who had such confidence and maturity.'"

Florence earned a reputation on and off the field. Before school began, he and teammates would walk through the school's hallways while praying for classmates who would congregate there during the school year, which began in a few weeks. When school began, he'd join his twin brother, Luke, and others to often pray for classmates before class during the week.

"That’s just who he was and he believed in making a difference in the lives of other people," Moss said. "His leadership? He’s just got it."

His youth pastor at Lake Highlands Church in Dallas eventually took a job at Antioch Community Church in Waco, and Florence wanted to join him.

Florence pestered Moss to make a few calls down to Baylor. Moss did so and asked coaches if they'd seen Florence on film.

Minutes later, he got a call back.

Baylor offered Florence his first major scholarship offer, and Florence made it his only one.

"Nick just felt like this was where God wanted him to be, and that’s Nick," Moss said. "He does so much based on faith."

The problem? The coach who called back with that offer was Guy Morriss, who was fired after the 2007 season. Enter Art Briles and a kid from Copperas Cove whom nobody thought could play quarterback.

Briles, then at Houston, brought Cougars commit Robert Griffin III to Baylor with him, the two having faith of their own that they could win in Waco, which hadn't seen a winning football season since 1995.

Briles had his man, but honored Morriss' offer to Florence, whose playing time looked like it would be sparse.

"If God wanted you to be here and that’s what you believe, he doesn’t change his mind," Moss says he remembers telling Florence. "Knowing Robert Griffin was going to be the quarterback didn’t faze him."

Along the way, Florence kept working. He earned the respect of teammates. In the meantime, he got his business degree, worked closely with his church and married his wife, Rachel, last May. The two plan to enter the ministry whenever Florence's football career is over.

"His pastor told me, in all the locker rooms he’s been in, he’s never let his eyes view another naked woman in his life in print on TV or anywhere else until his wedding day. That says a lot about who he is, but also how others respect him," Moss said. "He doesn’t throw his faith in your face. Not at all. He has a genuine care, concern and love for people, and he’s always looking to make a difference. ... He’s going to compete, but the biggest thing I always believed he was going to do was make an impact in the locker room with his character and integrity."

Florence had been on campus a couple of years but RG3 was proving his mettle as the man at Baylor. Briles met with Moss and gushed about his backup.

"That kid is a winner," Moss recalls Briles saying.

He's done it since he was a freshman in high school, and now that the starting job at Baylor is nearly Florence's officially, he doesn't plan on that changing.

"You watch him play and it’s like, what’s special about him?" Moss said. "He wins. He leads. He makes plays. His throwing motion wasn’t the greatest. His speed wasn’t the greatest. His strength wasn’t the greatest. But the kid won, and then he influenced everyone around him."

When Griffin's knee injury meant Florence had to step in as a wide-eyed freshman, it also meant winning wasn't going to happen. It didn't. Baylor fell to 4-8 and won just one conference game, at Missouri when Florence set the school record for passing yards.

"He’s a different guy, just like I am since 2009 and like everybody. As you grow you mature, you learn to get better in everything you see act or do," Briles said. "He’s a guy that was thrown into a fire as a true freshman. Now, he’s had a chance to sit back and learn the system, understand what his strengths are, how to use them and what he needs to do to help this team grow."

Said Florence: "I'm not that 180-pound freshman anymore."

Baylor got a preview of its 205-pound senior in November when a concussion sidelined Griffin at Cowboys Stadium, near Florence's hometown.

Florence hopped off the bench just before halftime and completed 9 of 12 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns to help Baylor keep its winning streak alive with a 66-42 victory over Texas Tech. That streak reached six games by season's end, the longest current string among AQ schools in college football.

Florence logged a memorable moment, but he also logged enough playing time to burn his redshirt and leave him with just one year of eligibility remaining entering 2012.

"He’s a guy who’ll do whatever and whatever happens in life, he’ll deal with it. If that means he has one year left to play, that means that’s what God’s will is. He’s obedient," Moss said. "If the team needed him to come in there and help win that game and burn his redshirt and then not play again the rest of the year, that’s OK with him."

Baylor needed Florence to come in and win that game. He did it. Now it's time to take over the full-time job of being the man who follows the man who did the unthinkable: winning a Heisman Trophy at Baylor.

"We don’t talk in terms of replacing. It’s just, what do we need to do now to do what we need to do at the end of July?" Briles said. "That’s the most important thing. We may not be able to do some of the same things we were able to do prior, so we’ve got to figure out different ways to do things and still have success."

Florence is no hurdler. He can't run 40 yards in 4.4 seconds and doesn't have an arm that will have NFL scouts drooling. For the time being, though, he does have the keys to Baylor's offense.

"It’s a great opportunity not everybody gets. I want to make the most of it and take advantage," Florence said.

That offense is going to look a little different now. Briles says time will show just how different it'll be.

"That’s the exciting part about it," Briles said. "We’ve got to expand and become better in all other areas scheme-wise, coaching-wise, player/individual technique-wise, and so that to me is the very exciting part, because we have to become a better football team."

Florence wants his chance to show he's the man to make Baylor a better team. Florence has proved his intangibles since high school, and as he's gotten older, they've only become more ingrained. Now is his chance to show them off to everyone outside of Baylor's practice field.

"When guys come in the huddle they have great confidence and respect in him. They know who he is. They know there’s not a selfish bone in his body, but at the same time, they know he’s a heck of a competitor," Moss said. "I’ve never been around a kid like Nick Florence, and I imagine I never will again."

You hear it often when anyone talks about Baylor's Heisman winner, Robert Griffin III.

"It's hard to put into words just what he's meant to the university," they say.

Indeed, it's true.

But you can put it into dollars. Want some scope of what RG3 means to Baylor? Look no further than what Baylor hopes soon becomes "Baylor Stadium" a gorgeous riverside venue that will seat 45,000 and make the Bears' stadium a must-see venue in the Big 12 and really, the college football world.

If you weren't paying attention on Tuesday, here's a refresher:

Baylor has taken the next step in building a new on-campus stadium.

The school received the biggest gift in university history for Baylor's new on-campus football stadium alongside the Brazos River, according to a release on Tuesday.

Elizabeth and Drayton McLane Jr. gave the gift for an amount unspecified by the school, but it's the lead step toward the fundraising necessary for a new stadium that Baylor hopes will open for the 2014 season.

"We believe strongly in the university's distinct and important role as a Christian institution dedicated to academic excellence at the highest level," McLane said in the release.

The school released several additional artist renderings of the stadium along with the announcement.

Sure, RG3 has yet to pledge any dollars to the campaign, though that may change after he starts cashing advertising and NFL checks. Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh donated $2.6 million on his own before even signing his contract. (No pressure though, RG3.)

But make no mistake: Without Griffin, this stadium never comes close to happening.

Excitement around the program is at an all-time high. Coach Art Briles has a lot to do with that, too -- almost as much as Griffin.

But Griffin provided a legitimacy to the program that no coach could. He proved that Baylor could do big, big things, like win a Heisman Trophy.

That, and he proved the program could win 10 games in a top conference like the Big 12, something Baylor had never come close to doing before Griffin arrived.

He proved, more than anything, that Baylor was a program worth alumni money. If they pump it in, results are possible. Griffin proved it.

Future generations will reap the benefits if the new stadium becomes a reality.

So, if this all goes according to plan, and on some hot, sweaty September Saturday in Waco in 2014, you're wearing green and gold and walking along the Brazos River toward Baylor Stadium, be sure to take a moment and say, "Thanks, RG3."

National signing day has come and gone, and as with any game week, we'll provide a proper wrap-up of the events of the week. Time to hand out a few superlatives.

Top class: Texas

The Longhorns did what the Longhorns do once again: Dominate a state with a talent pool as rich as any in America. The flagship school in the state of Texas reeled in 12 ESPNU 150 signees, seven more than any school in the Big 12, and finished the day at No. 3 in ESPN Recruiting's class rankings, the only Big 12 team in the top five.

Player you'll see next year: Courtney Gardner, WR, Oklahoma

The Sooners grabbed Gardner, a juco prospect, on signing day after he had been committed to Arkansas. Gardner's physical maturity earned rave reviews. For the Sooners, who need big help at pass-catcher positions, he'll provide a big, versatile target to help replace Ryan Broyles, who left for the NFL and left a big void in the Sooners' lineup when he tore his ACL late in 2011.

Best save: Texas A&M

The Aggies got some semi-expected news early, receiving word that Bralon Addison had sent his letter of intent to Oregon. It didn't take A&M long to get over it, though. The nation's No. 18 receiver had left the fold, but later in the day, at a news conference in Dallas broadcast live on ESPNU, the nation's No. 3 receiver pledged to the Aggies. The sweetest part for the Ags: SEC-bound Thomas Johnson had previously been committed to Texas, which is badly in need of receivers.

Biggest thieves: Texas

The Longhorns did a little work on the recruiting trail late, too. Eight of the final nine commitments that Texas received were previously committed elsewhere, and Mack Brown's staff flipped four players between Saturday and signing day. The final one came midday on signing day, when LSU-committed, Shreveport-bred Torshiro Davis flipped his commitment from LSU and sent Texas his letter of intent.

Future award winner: Johnathan Gray, RB, Texas

You don't become the nation's all-time high school leader in touchdowns scored by accident. Gray is the top overall player headed to a Big 12 school and could do big things in Texas' physical attack. The backfield will be crowded at first, but Gray seems like a can't-miss prospect who could perhaps become another award winner in the backfield for Texas, which hasn't had one since Cedric Benson in 2004.

Program on the rise: Baylor

RG who? Baylor's more than just one player, and Art Briles' staff proved it this year. Baylor brings in a class just outside the national top 25 that's loaded with prospects on the side of the ball the Bears need the most help with: Defense. Linebacker Brian Nance and defensive tackle Javonte Magee are among the nation's best at their positions.

Wednesday was a day of reflection for Robert Griffin III, a natural reaction for anyone who has spent four years in one place and grown as much in that time as Griffin has.

He looked back far enough on Wednesday -- when he announced his decision to enter the NFL draft -- to see a Baylor that is hardly recognizable today.

"I remember walking onto the field at Floyd Casey Stadium and getting a standing ovation," Griffin said.

Oh, if they only knew what was to come. He didn't take long to make his first highlight reel with a juke that's still memorable almost four years later. From start to finish, Griffin looked the part of a special player.

The Bears lost to Wake Forest by four touchdowns the night Griffin got his first action in relief of Kirby Freeman.

Special, sure. But a Heisman winner? At Baylor? There's no understating how impossible that sounded even as recently as the middle of the 2011 season, when the Bears stood at 4-3 before ripping off a six-game winning streak to earn the third 10-win season in school history and first since 1980.

Baylor found modest success in the Southwest Conference, but the Big 12 had treated the Bears unkindly. In its first 15 seasons in the league, Baylor didn't earn a winning season. It went 5-7 just once.

The first winning season and bowl berth came first, back in 2010. After the confetti finished falling at the Alamodome in 2011, Griffin broke down and cried.

"My gut was telling me it was time to go," he said.

It is, but Griffin ensured Baylor would be a changed place forever.

The 10 wins and the Heisman are now. But what about the future?

"Like I told the team, the climb’s not over. We want to do more things," Griffin said. "A Big 12 title is part of that."

Impossible? Uh, I'd be careful saying anything's impossible at Baylor these days. Under Art Briles, who will begin his fifth season in Waco in 2012, Baylor's established plenty of recruiting momentum. Perhaps as soon as 2014, the Bears could be playing in an on-campus stadium as picturesque as any in the Big 12.

Would any of that be possible without Griffin?

The answer's obvious. If (when?) that stadium's built, would anyone object to naming it Griffin-Briles Stadium? You won't hear any argument against that in this space.

They sat side by side on Wednesday, sharing laughs and swearing that neither broke down when Griffin told Briles on Tuesday he was leaving Baylor for the NFL with a year of eligibility remaining.

"Not on the outside," Briles said.

Later, the light-hearted coach tried to put the day in perspective after noting that Griffin was "ready."

"It’s a day of celebration. I’m excited. I’m happy. I’m happy for Robert," he said, before adding, "Are y’all buyin' that? I’m just wondering. I’m getting better, I guess."

It may seem hollow in the moment -- 10 wins will be difficult to duplicate in 2012 -- but this day can be reserved for celebration. It's a chance to look back and see how much that campus has changed since a coach with decades of experience coaching in the state of Texas brought with him a kid from nearby Copperas Cove who won a Big 12 track title in hurdles just a month or so after he stepped on campus.

Griffin's career met its end four years later. He made such an impact, though, it may only be the beginning for Baylor.

Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III is headed to the NFL, he announced at a Wednesday news conference.

"It was a tough decision. I love the people at this university, love my coach for giving me a chance to be a quarterback," Griffin said.

Griffin and Stanford's Andrew Luck will likely be the top two quarterbacks taken in April's NFL draft.

Griffin arrived at Baylor along with coach Art Briles before the 2008 season. Briles was at Griffin's side Wednesday, both still basking in a season that ended with the Bears ranked No. 13 -- the first time since 1986 that they were in the final poll of the year.

"I talked to Coach, neither of us broke down, surprisingly," said Griffin, though Briles broke in to add: "Not on the outside."

More on Griffin's announcement here.

I'll have plenty more today, too.

Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III met with coach Art Briles a second time this week and remains undecided on his future, according to Briles.

"It's a situation where he's really contemplating what he feels like is the thing that's going to give him peace," Briles said.

Griffin won the Heisman Trophy and tied the school record for wins with Baylor's third 10-win season in program history. The Bears won their final six games of 2011 after losing the final four of 2010.

From The Associated Press:

Briles said he is for whatever Griffin feels is the right thing to do, whether it's the NFL or coming back to play as a senior at Baylor.

"Like I told him from Day 1, I don't want to be any influence on it," Briles said. "My goal for him is for him to be successful and fulfill all of his dreams. If that dream is going to the NFL right now, that's great."

Griffin and Briles met last week, and again on Monday, as a new semester of classes started on the Waco campus.

I've weighed in on what RG3 should do, but when the decision has taken this long, neither choice would surprise me. I get the feeling he's extremely torn.

At the Fiesta Bowl, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott talked about the phenomenon of guys coming back to school, like Stanford's Andrew Luck and USC's Matt Barkley.

Now, Griffin faces the same choice.

Scott says Luck and Barkley's decision is proof that the college experience is more valuable than the public realizes. You only get to do it once, and Griffin's changed a lot at Baylor.

This won't be about achieving this or that at Baylor. It'll be about what Griffin thinks is best for him.

Even now, he's the only person who knows the answer to just what that is.

A Heisman winner? At Baylor?

Uh, no.

After losing his third game in four outings, Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III didn't look likely to buck the trend.

"Yeah, he's a great player. Probably the best in the Big 12. But he can't win the Heisman. That's morphed into an award reserved for the best player on the best team, anyway."

Uh, no.

RG3 happened.

It began at Baylor in 2008, when a flashy freshman made tacklers miss against Wake Forest and looked the part of a future superstar.

It built to a crescendo Saturday night, when Griffin became the 77th winner of the Heisman Trophy, the most hallowed individual award in all of sports.

Along the way in 2011, Oklahoma and Kansas experienced dramatic, RG3-led Baylor comebacks firsthand.

Tim Tebow and Ricky Williams are the only other players since 1998 to win the Heisman and not play in a BCS bowl in that same season. Not bad company, considering one is 80 yards short of the NCAA career rushing lead and the other is one of the game's most legendary talents who finished his career with two national titles.

Griffin broke the NCAA passing efficiency record and may soon break the mold for the quarterback position. He's perhaps the best athlete on his team; a strong background in track and field and a Big 12 title in hurdles as a freshman attest to that.

Athletes like Griffin aren't supposed to throw the ball the way he does.

Any number of teams would have moved him to safety or receiver. Not Art Briles. The two Bears have revolutionized the program together, and neither could do it without the other.

Briles has helped Baylor win the most Big 12 games (6) in its history. A Bears player hadn't appeared in the Heisman voting since 1963, according to Big 12 officials, much less won the trophy.

Griffin has changed all that, and he's changed Baylor.

The Bears have their first Heisman winner, and Griffin has his place in college football as a player who will never be forgotten.

Saturday night, the best and most hallowed individual award in all of sport will be handed out for the 77th time.

The award, as anyone who has won it can attest, is anything but a handout. It's earned.

Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III has earned it, and none of the five finalists deserves it more than he does. There's no definite criteria for the award that means different things to different people.

Best player?

Most outstanding player?

Most valuable player?

Griffin is all of these things, and the odds-on, heavy favorite to win the award on Saturday night since voters began revealing their ballots after voting closed on Monday.

Only Houston's Case Keenum accounted for more total offense than Griffin. Griffin, though, plays in arguably college football's best conference and broke the NCAA record for passing efficiency this season.

Wisconsin's Russell Wilson is the only major conference player to top Griffin's 6:1 touchdown ratio, and Wilson's teammate, Montee Ball, is the team's only Heisman finalist.

You read that Griffin "broke the passing efficiency record" and it sounds simple and rolls off the tongue. But really think about that: There are 120 FBS teams that suit up every year. That number's fluctuated, but college football's been going on for a long, long time.

Nobody's been more productive relative to total throws in the history of the game.

Throw in Griffin's 644 yards rushing and nine touchdowns and you get a player unlike anything we've seen in a long time.

He's the game's most exciting player, too.

Need a Heisman moment? Take your pick from a season full of them. Griffin's highlight reel is miles long. If you don't want to use four of his touchdown passes longer than 28 yards in the season opener against TCU, how about his only reception of the season, which came against the Horned Frogs?

He split the middle of the defense and caught a pass from Kendall Wright before getting crunched between two defenders and getting the wind knocked out of him, rendering him unable to speak. He stayed in the game.

Trailing 24-3 in the fourth quarter to 2-10 Kansas is no Heisman moment, but rallying his team back with a furious rally with a 49-yard run, 36-yard pass and 64-yard pass to tie the game before throwing another score in overtime to win it? That counts.

And what about the coup de grce, his real Heisman moment against Oklahoma? He bought time with his legs and flung a 39-yard score with eight seconds left to beat Oklahoma, which illustrates a final, and perhaps the biggest reason why Griffin should win.

The Big 12 began play in 1996. Baylor famously hadn't been to a bowl game since.

The Bears experienced it just like Oklahoma did last month: RG3 happened.

Last year's trip to a bowl game was only the beginning. This year, the Bears won six Big 12 games and finished third in the conference.

How'd they do it? The perception that Baylor is a one-man team is inaccurate. Kendall Wright led the Big 12 in receiving yards and running back Terrance Ganaway took home the Big 12 rushing title.

Coach Art Briles has surrounded his star with plenty of tools to help make him great.

But no man is more important to his team than Griffin for reasons that don't show up to the casual observer. Griffin is supremely confident in himself and his teammates, a confidence that can come off brash, cocky or rude to those on the outside.

The truth: To those on the inside, it's invaluable. It bleeds into his teammates and makes them better. It endears a player that attracts media attention by the bucketload to the rest of his team, which doesn't get quite enough.

It's made Baylor a different place.

A better place.

The results tell plenty of the story.

A lot of guys can throw a football or run it faster than everyone else. Not many can change an entire program.

Griffin's done it. Bringing Baylor a Heisman Trophy, another famous first in school history, is just the next step.

We know how the computers felt about Oklahoma State: They love them. The Cowboys got the nod over Alabama in four of the six computer rankings.

But what about the coaches poll and the Harris poll? They make up the other two-thirds of the BCS standings, and the ballots were made public today.

Here's the Harris poll votes, and the full coaches poll ballots.

A few notes:

• The biggest head-scratcher was George Wine, who retired as the Iowa SID in 1996, but has a vote in the Harris Poll. He had Oklahoma State at No. 6, lower than any voter in either poll. Complicating matters: he had Houston, who lost to Southern Miss by three touchdowns on Saturday, at No. 5. He told the Tampa Bay Times today that he did it because Southern Miss is better than Iowa State, who beat Oklahoma State in Ames in double overtime last month. "This voting is highly subjective. I realize that voting is subjective and often arbitrary. I probably don't do as much research ... but who the hell knows whether Oregon is better than Wisconsin?" Inexplicable.
• Missouri coach Gary Pinkel was the only Big 12 coach who voted Oklahoma State behind Alabama on his ballot. He reinforced it on Sunday night, saying the BCS "got it right." Not only that, but he didn't even put OSU at No. 3. He had them at No. 4, behind Stanford.
• Remember, only 59 coaches vote, including five from the Big 12. Pinkel joins Tommy Tuberville, Art Briles, Bob Stoops and Paul Rhoads.
• Six coaches had Oklahoma State below No. 3. Air Force's Troy Calhoun had the Cowboys at No. 5. Duke's David Cutcliffe and Syracuse's Doug Marrone had OSU at No. 4. The other two, besides Pinkel? Alabama's Nick Saban and Stanford's David Shaw, who both had Stanford at No. 3.
• Only one coach had Texas in his top 25: Rice coach David Bailiff, whose teams lost to the Longhorns this season, had them at No. 25.
• Kansas State was as high as No. 6 (Art Briles) and as low as 17 (Les Miles).
• Oklahoma was as low as No. 24 (Skip Holtz, South Florida) and as high as No. 10 (Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee).
• Sonny Dykes had Baylor at No. 21, lower than any coach, and Paul Rhoads was one of two coaches that had Baylor at No. 11.
• Missouri was on five of 59 ballots, as high as No. 22 on Fresno State coach Pat Hill's ballot.
• Former Hawaii coach Bob Wagner and former Notre Dame player Derrick Mayes also had Oklahoma State at No. 6 on his Harris poll ballot.

We were off last week in the awards update, but we're back with one week of games left.

Offensive Player of the Year

1. Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor: Griffin overtook Weeden after his huge game against Oklahoma two weeks ago, and held on despite the concussion last week. He'll need a big game this week to keep the award though, and even then the voting might be close.

2. Brandon Weeden, QB, Oklahoma State: Weeden could usurp Griffin regardless of what RG3 does if Weeden has a big game and beats the Sooners. Should be some drama on Saturday, but Griffin leads Weeden in total offense per game.

3. Collin Klein, QB, Kansas State: Klein was off last week, but his passing numbers are OK and he's fifth in the Big 12 with 1,013 rushing yards and 25 rushing touchdowns. He's also thrown for 11 scores and five interceptions.

Honorable mention: Kendall Wright, WR, Baylor; Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma State.

Defensive Player of the Year

1. Frank Alexander, DE, Oklahoma: Alexander might be alone at the top for this one. He leads the Big 12 with 18 tackles for loss and tied for the Big 12 lead with 8.5 sacks.

2. Sean Porter, LB, Texas A&M: Porter came back to life with 2.5 tackles for loss against Texas and 1.5 in the win over Kansas. He now has 16 to rank second in the Big 12.

3. Emmanuel Acho, LB, Texas: Acho makes his first appearance on the list after notching four consecutive games with at least 12 tackles, including a season-high 14 against Texas A&M. He's now second in the Big 12 with 105 tackles.

Honorable mention: Arthur Brown, LB, Kansas State; Jake Knott, LB, Iowa State; Ronnell Lewis, DE, Oklahoma; Damontre Moore, LB, Texas A&M, Steven Johnson, LB, Kansas.

Coach of the Year

1. Bill Snyder, Kansas State: Snyder's Wildcats are still rolling and look likely to win an unbelievable 10 games after being picked to finish eighth in the Big 12. Standing between them: Iowa State, a six-win team picked to finish ninth place in the Big 12. Beware.

2. Paul Rhoads, Iowa State: Rhoads keeps impressing. First the win over Iowa. Then beating Texas Tech by 34 a week after the Red Raiders beat Oklahoma. Two weeks ago, it was the upset over Oklahoma State. Welcome to the postseason for the second time in three years.

3. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State: Gundy probably won't be able to grab any national coach of the year awards after losing to Iowa State, but he might get a few votes if the Cowboys win the Big 12 title outright, and do it impressively.

Honorable mention: Art Briles, Baylor.

Here's what I learned on the penultimate week of football in the Big 12. Three more games this year, folks.

Texas is still Texas A&M's big brother. I doubt many would disagree that Texas A&M was the better team on the field on Thursday night. But as it has done 76 times in 118 games, Texas proved why it's the best program in the state. The Longhorns played gutsy and while the offense struggled, the Big 12's best defense kept Texas in the game, scoring a defensive touchdown and forcing four turnovers. The defense faltered and gave up a go-ahead touchdown with less than two minutes left, but Texas earned bragging right for a long while with an amazing drive to deliver one final gut punch before Texas A&M left for the SEC. I struggle to come up with a more painful loss for a Big 12 team in a long while.

The Big 12's middle tier has shifted. So, Texas Tech went 18 years without a losing season and played in 11 consecutive bowls. Baylor went 16 years without playing in a bowl game. Now, Texas Tech will be sitting at home for the holidays and Baylor is going to it second consecutive bowl game and has a chance to win 10 games. The roles have been reversed between Texas' other two teams, and Art Briles has built something special at Baylor while the transition from Mike Leach to Tommy Tuberville, though marred by injuries, has been a struggle in Lubbock.

Oklahoma State won't get bailed out. The Cowboys did this themselves after suffering an inexplicable loss to Iowa State on Nov. 18. They watched Saturday's games with hope that Alabama could slip up against Auburn and give the Cowboys control of their fate, but it didn't happen. Alabama dominated on the road in a rivalry game, stating its final case for BCS title game inclusion before Saturday's SEC title game. ESPN's "College GameDay" is headed to Atlanta instead of Stillwater, and even if LSU loses, I'd argue that LSU-Alabama should still be the national title game, even if Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma by 40.

Baylor can thrive without Robert Griffin III. What a scary moment for the Bears. Texas Tech is always dangerous, and trailed 31-28 at halftime. Baylor knew it wouldn't have Heisman contender RG3. Nick Florence made big throws for a pair of long touchdowns and Terrance Ganaway carried the Bears' offense late in the game to keep the ball out of Tech's hands. The defense forced four second-half turnovers and returned an interception 90 yards for a score. That had to be great to see. In 2009, Baylor was 2-7 without Griffin. Clearly, progress has been made, even if we only saw a small sample size. Baylor owned that second half and a lot of different people helped.

Oklahoma's offense will not thrive without Ryan Broyles. Iowa State's defense has made big strides in recent weeks, but 26 points at home against the Cyclones, which included just three second-half points? Receivers dropped passes, including one that turned from an easy catch into an interception, and Landry Jones went a second consecutive week without a touchdown pass for the first time in his career. Without Blake Bell's ability to punch in touchdowns in short-yardage situations, where would this offense be over the past two weeks? Bell has six touchdowns in two weeks and nine in his last four.

The hit looked scary when it happened, and Robert Griffin III looked pretty dazed after his head bounced off the turf following a hit while Griffin slid.

He returned briefly, but Baylor was forced to play the entire second half without its leader and Heisman contender. They answered, beating Texas Tech, 66-42, for the first time since 1995 and sending Texas Tech to its first losing season since 1992. It also ends Texas Tech's streak of 11 consecutive trips to bowl games.

Nick Florence threw touchdown passes of 46 and 40 yards to Kendall Wright and Terrance Williams, and the defense forced some timely turnovers to help Baylor get the win.

Terrance Ganaway also turned in a historic performance, carrying the ball a school-record 42 times for 246 yards and a touchdown. That's what the Bears needed, and Ganaway answered. Huge effort from him and an encouraging sign.

The biggest issue for Baylor, though, is the status of Griffin. He'll be watched closely in the coming days, but his Heisman hopes likely rest on being available for next week's game against Texas. He looked like his usual self on the sideline.

He was all smiles at the end and gave coach Art Briles a big hug as his team moved to 8-3 and 5-3 in the Big 12, the first time Baylor has ever won five Big 12 games in a single season.

There's been no definitive word that Griffin suffered a concussion.

Baylor grew up a bit on Saturday night, turning a close game into an easy win and becoming the second team in three games to score 66 points on Texas Tech. A 31-28 halftime score and 30 minutes without Griffin sounded scary.

Baylor made it look easy, outscoring the Red Raiders 35-14 in the half.

What's scarier? Baylor taking on Texas, the best defense in the Big 12, without its top talent. Florence finished 9-of-12 for 151 yards and two touchdowns, but Baylor knows Texas is a whole different animal on defense. Texas A&M learned that on Thursday night.

Baylor ended Texas Tech's season, and now have a chance to notch some history of their own. A second 10-win season in school history is still possible with a win over Texas next week, followed by a bowl win.