Thursday, November 03, 2005
Quarterback Change
Quarterback Change!!
Well, all signs are pointing toward Parks being the starter against Texas, so what does that mean for Baylor’s chances this week?
First off, let’s really look at what Bell does for the team. His job has been to manage the offense and not make mistakes. For the most part, he hasn’t made egregious errors, but he has been so inconsistent with his throws that he just drags drives to a halt. He threw two interceptions in the Tech game, his third game with two interceptions. Two weeks ago he completed 45% of his passes, and this past week he just couldn’t sustain drives or makes big plays. He has shown a propensity for taking sacks and trying to run too often instead of stepping up into the pocket to make a throw.
Parks is more of a mystery. He played an outstanding game against OSU last year, taking over for Bell after his injury. He played a more conservative game against OU the following week, with a very Bell-like stat line (60% completion rate, 130 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs). But he did that without his best receiver, Ziegler, who was sitting out the game with a suspension. In his playing time this year, he hasn’t come into the game before the start of the fourth quarter, yet. And in his two stints against NU and Tech he came in down two scores. In this situation, he tried to push the ball down the field. Obviously he tried to force it in there, and really didn’t need to do it so early, but I think when he was told that he need to “spark” the offense.
Pease has said he’ll try and shape the offense more towards Parks strengths, but also allow him to realize that he doesn’t have to go deep every single time. I think if Parks is able to build some confidence and get comfortable in the offense, we have the talent to be very successful, even against UT.
Now the downside: Parks could melt down. I don’t think he will, but he could start the game off 0-15 with 10 INTs and giving up 10 sacks. He could. Texas is by far the best defense we have faced, and it will be the best defense we will face. They will get pressure from just their front four and they will be able to drop seven back into coverage.
Parks will need to make plays with his arm and with his legs and he will need to take care of the ball. He also needs to step up in the leadership department. He needs to take control of the huddle and let the people on the field know that he is in the game and he believes and is ready to show them that they can win the game. ¶ 11/03/2005
Well, all signs are pointing toward Parks being the starter against Texas, so what does that mean for Baylor’s chances this week?
First off, let’s really look at what Bell does for the team. His job has been to manage the offense and not make mistakes. For the most part, he hasn’t made egregious errors, but he has been so inconsistent with his throws that he just drags drives to a halt. He threw two interceptions in the Tech game, his third game with two interceptions. Two weeks ago he completed 45% of his passes, and this past week he just couldn’t sustain drives or makes big plays. He has shown a propensity for taking sacks and trying to run too often instead of stepping up into the pocket to make a throw.
Parks is more of a mystery. He played an outstanding game against OSU last year, taking over for Bell after his injury. He played a more conservative game against OU the following week, with a very Bell-like stat line (60% completion rate, 130 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs). But he did that without his best receiver, Ziegler, who was sitting out the game with a suspension. In his playing time this year, he hasn’t come into the game before the start of the fourth quarter, yet. And in his two stints against NU and Tech he came in down two scores. In this situation, he tried to push the ball down the field. Obviously he tried to force it in there, and really didn’t need to do it so early, but I think when he was told that he need to “spark” the offense.
Pease has said he’ll try and shape the offense more towards Parks strengths, but also allow him to realize that he doesn’t have to go deep every single time. I think if Parks is able to build some confidence and get comfortable in the offense, we have the talent to be very successful, even against UT.
Now the downside: Parks could melt down. I don’t think he will, but he could start the game off 0-15 with 10 INTs and giving up 10 sacks. He could. Texas is by far the best defense we have faced, and it will be the best defense we will face. They will get pressure from just their front four and they will be able to drop seven back into coverage.
Parks will need to make plays with his arm and with his legs and he will need to take care of the ball. He also needs to step up in the leadership department. He needs to take control of the huddle and let the people on the field know that he is in the game and he believes and is ready to show them that they can win the game. ¶ 11/03/2005
