Sunday 30 November 2014

December '14

January 2nd 2015,

today's game didn't exactly go according to plan.

Blake was very sick the night before with some sort of virus and didn't sleep at all. He suited up but did not start and did not take the field.

It meant that a rearrangement of the OL took place and that had ripple effects for the game. Despite going up and leading at the beginning of the 4th quarter 41-20, Michigan State came back and Baylor was unable to score or close out the game.

The Baylor OL gave up 5 sacks and that resulted in - 22 yards rushing. You could tell how much Blake's absence played with the ripple effects that it had along the rest of the OL and the offense. Baylor had an excellent passing day but couldn't run the ball and close the game out when it mattered.

Blake and Sean are trying to make their way back to Sydney. It can only be speculated that they are devastated by the game. Looking at the bright side, the team did very well over all in 2014 and they return many starters for 2015. They will be ranked solidly and have a great shot at another Big 12 title.

Full game report here. 



December 29th 2014,

preparation is well under way for the Cotton Bowl.


One of the bonus' of playing in a bowl game is the gifts that the players receive.

This year, the Baylor players will receive a new set of head phones, a set of portal speakers, a $350 Amazon gift card and eleventy billion t-shirts.



December 22nd 2014,

The bowl schedule will work something like the following for the Baylor Bears.

Dec 25th Players will spend xmas with their families. Blake and Sean have a few invitations on spending the day with a few different players' families who are being very generous.

Dec 26th The team arrives at their hotel in Dallas.

Dec 27th They have a closed practice.

Dec 28th Press conference and practice at AT&T stadium.

Dec 29th Stadium practice and visit to Children's Hospital.

Dec 30th Closed practice and media day.

Dec 31st Media events for Coach Art Briles. Fan festivities.

Jan 1st Gameday (5am Sydney time on the 2nd)

** Blake and Sean will be trying to get the late flight out of Dallas direct to Sydney which means they'll be home for just under 2 weeks.


December 21st 2014,

the final gradings are out for the OL unit as published in the Baylor Athlteics media guide for the Cotton Bowl. It really is an excellent document, informative and excellently laid out. Please check it out.

As you can see, Blake finished 2nd in the OL grading, behind only Spencer Drango has had an excellent and critically acclaimed season being named as offensive tackle 1st team by Associated Press, USA Today, ESPN, Athlon, Lindy's, Phil Steele.com; it goes on and on. For Blake to be assessed so closely and to actually lead the unit for a large portion of the season bodes well for 2015.

There is no word yet on whether Drango, also a Junior, will move on to the NFL draft or not.

Blake was also named 247sports.com and Waco-Tribune 2nd team All-Big 12.







December 20th 2014,

Blake was selected 3rd team All-Conference on philsteele.com for the Big 12.



You can see that there were 3 Baylor Bears on the 1st team (Drango, Linwood and Coleman), 1 on the 2nd team (Petty) and 1 on the 3rd team (Muir).

For the defense, there were 2 first teamers (Billings and Oakman) 2 second teamers (Hager and Stewart). Spencer Roth was named 1st team Punter.

  

December 18th 2014,

The Baylor Bears prepare for the Michigan State Spartans.




December 16th 2014,

Excellent ESPN production highlighting the Baylor program and game day can be viewed here





December 15th 2014,

Blake and Sean were mentioned in an article in the Sun Herald and The Age about the sport locally and how youth gridiron in Australia positions players for a potential college future.



December 11th 2014,

Blake was named All Big 12 Honorable mention at OL for 2014.

The first and second team is usually comprised of established players within the conference, by starting all 12 games at Left Guard, and taking his career starts to 24 from 24 games, Blake has a good shot at greater recognition next year.

Left Tackle Spencer Drango was named Big 12 co-OL of the year, a 3 year straight streak for Baylor after Cyril Richardson won in 2012 and 2013. No other Baylor OL was named in the 1st or 2nd team in 2014.

The final OL gradings have not been released yet, but its a good sign for Blake that he was the highest graded Baylor OL for the majority of the year, and the highest graded Baylor OL in at least 3 of the games; Drango being the highest graded OL in 4 games.

This week the boys get ready for finals week and then get ready for the Cotton Bowl.



December 9th 2014,

Sean and Blake with the Big 12 Trophy.  They will likely be home for a week after the game.



Michigan State was a highly regarded team in the preseason before losing 46-27 to Oregon. They pride themselves on being a very good defensive team, 8 of their games they were able to keep their opponents under 20 points; couldn't do the same thing against Oregon though.

Ohio State was their only other loss.


December 8th 2014,

Despite defeating Kansas State 38-27, the Baylor Bears were not about to make the College Football Playoff, being ranked #5 in the nation.

The Bears were dominant but Ohio State of the Big 10 was assessed as being better.

Baylor will now play in the Cotton Bowl vs Michigan State on New Year's Day (January 2nd Australia time, 5am kickoff)

Blake played another very good game. The rushing attack and pass protection were excellent. Blake finished the season not allowing any sacks, had one holding penalty when he tripped over a team mates' feet and had one false start; the fewest number of penalties of any Baylor OL who started.

Blake KSU #1 



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December 3rd 2014,

As expected, Baylor is in 6th on the College Football Playoff rankings. Surprisingly thought, TCU is now in #3 and Florida State in 4th.

Florida State has a tough ACC Championship game against Georgia Tech, Oregon in #2 has a game vs Arizona in the Pac-12 Championship game and Alabama must play Missouri in the SEC Championship game. Baylor of course essentially plays the Big 12 Championship game at home vs Kansas State. Much speculation right nowas to whether Baylor would pass TCU and Ohio State to get into the top 4 with a win on Saturday. Kansas State is ranked #9, the major win that TCU has that Baylor does not. Ohio State plays Wisconsin in the Big 10 championship game.

So much to occur in the next 7 days. Here's some clips of Blake from the Texas Tech game.

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December 1st 2014,

what started out as a comfortable performance got very close at the end as the Baylor Bears defeated the Texas Red Raiders 46-44 @ AT&T Stadium in Arlington Texas yesterday.

The Bears suffered a few injuries during the game, starting QB Bryce Petty came out of the game in the 3rd quarter with a concussion but should be okay to go next week. RB Devin Chafin however dislocated his elbow and will be out at least till the bowl game. Which ever one that is.

With the loss of Mississippi State, Baylor is now up to #5 in both the Coaches' Poll and the Associated Press Poll. The College Football Playoff Poll (the one that decides on the important top 4 playoff spots) will release their penultimate results on Tuesday. TCU is ranked #4 in both polls, a team Baylor has beaten, and next week the Bears will play #9 Kansas State.

If Baylor can win the game, then they will have played as many tough teams at TCU and should leap-frog them into the #4 spot; or higher depending on other results.


Blake played possibly his best game since the TCU game. Highlights to follow later today or tomorrow.

Sunday 2 November 2014

November '14

November 26th, 2015

Picking up the stunt between the End and Mike in the 'Psycho' defense.

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Turn the defensive tackle on the dart read.


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 This play should have been a pull on the zone read, can't be perfect every time, Blake's block was a good one though.


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 Come off the double team and peel back on the 2nd level.

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Inside zone read on the goal line.


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 One more inside zone read.

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November 24th, 2015

Baylor is now #5 in the Associated Press Poll, with most of the top teams winning or being idle Baylor is not expected to rise in the College Playoff poll this week.

A clip of Blake out for the coin toss as one of the Captains for the OSU game.

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November 23rd, 2014

Baylor were victorious 49-28 over Oklahoma State today, the threat of a thunderstorm made the conditions wet but the game was completed without any lightning interruptions.

The offense racked up 317 yards from 58 carries and the team will now play Texas Tech at AT&T stadium next week as they attempt to consolidate their playoff chances.

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November 21st, 2014

Blake was named on the 1st team Academic All Big 12 conference team along with 12 other football players; 17 in total.

Blake was previously on the All Mountain West Conference Academic Team. Not sure how frequently a player has done this in two different conferences. To achieve the first team selection, the player must hold a 3.20 or better gpa and have participated in 60% or more of their team's contests.





November 18th, 2014

All attention is on the Oklahoma State Cowboys game this week, kickoff will be 11.30am Sunday in Australia.

Last year Oklahoma State beat Baylor in Stillwater, Oklahoma. That loss derailed Baylor's season and the program and its fans have not forgotten quickly. The program has called for a 'BlackOut', fans have been asked to wear black for this game as they did for last year's Oklahoma Sooners game at home which Baylor won.

The Cowboys are 5-5 and need at least one more win to become bowl eligible. They have suffered through a down year and riding a 4 game losing streak.

The week off puts Baylor in a great spot for a huge game. Blake and Sean have been catching up with school work like most of the team.

The media guide has published the OL gradings through to the OU game and Blake still sits on top with the equal best grading, slightly ahead on knockdowns.


 The media guide also published this great information on the pass protection for the Baylor OL so far in 2014.




November 17th, 2014

Despite having the week off, Baylor are up to #6 in the Coaches' Poll and await the updated ranking from the College Football Playoff committee. THAT poll is the key one to decide which teams go to the 2 playoff bowl games; the winners advancing to the National Championship game.

The two playoff bowl games this year (they rotate) are the Rose Bowl (Pasedena, California) and Sugar Bowl (New Orleans, Louisiana). Last week Baylor was ranked #7 in the committee's poll and 2 of the team above them lost yesterday; Mississippi State and Arizona State. Additionally, TCU is ranked above Baylor due in part to the fact that they have played and beaten the ranked Kansas State and Baylor doesn't play them until the last week.

It is hoped that results will fall in a favourable way for Baylor but if they can at the least win their remaining three games against Oklahoma State (Home), Texas Tech (neutral site) and Kansas State (home) then that will give them an 11-1 season and Big 12 co-championship. It would mean a co-championship because TCU could finish with the same conference record, however, because Baylor won their head to head game they obviously have the advantage at the end of the year once all the regular season games have been played in terms of going to one of the playoff bowl games.

The committee's poll will be updated Wednesday Australian time but Baylor just have to keep winning and finish 11-1.



 

November 10th, 2014

A historic win for the Baylor Bears on saturday, they beat Oklahoma 48-14 in Oklahoma for the first time .

This game was circled from the preseason as an all-important one and the Bears delivered in the biggest way possible, fighting back from being 14-3 down then scoring the next 34 points unanswered. The elevates Baylor to #6 in the AP Poll and we will find out where they land in the playoff committee poll on Wednesday Australian time.

Blake made his 21st start and the first team played through to the middle of the 4th quarter. The team has a bye week now before taking on Oklahoma State at home.


Important 4th down conversion here, watch Blake turn the Oklahoma defensive tackle.

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 As has been pointed out before, watch how much lower in his stance Blake is. Mobility has really paid off in his preparation in Australia, no offensive lineman has better flexibility.


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 Here Blake has an easy job of just walling off the defensive end on the dart read, but this was a crucial TD on the first drive of the 2nd half that essentially sealed the result then and there.

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November 7th, 2014

only a few days away from the key Oklahoma game. A few endzone view gifs from the latest Baylor Athletics upload.

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November 4th, 2014

A couple of quick gifs from the excellent highlight uploads by Baylor Athletics. If you haven't subscribed to their youtube channel then you are missing out.

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November 3rd, 2014

It was Homecoming week for Baylor and they celebrated with a 60-14 win over the Kansas Jayhawks. But that wasn't the big news from the game.

Blake started his 20th career game and the Baylor offensive line starters played excellently albeit with the new right side starters of Jarell Broxton and Pat Colbert (both played superbly). But that wasn't the big news.

The big news was that Sean played his first game in the 4th quarter for the Bears, coming in as the 2nd string center as the Bears drove the length of the field from their own 2 yard line before kneeing out the game inside the Jayhawks 5. Whilst Blake was already off the field by this time, getting on the field for the first time as a redshirt freshman is a landmark step for Sean. Gifs from the game of both of them will be up late today or tomorrow.


The Bears are now ranked #10 in the AP poll and next week will travel to Oklahoma to play the Sooners. At the beginning of the year this was looked at as THE game for the Big 12. With the Sooners already losing twice and Baylor suffering a loss the game has dropped a little in significance but if the Bears can win in Norman, Oklahoma for the first time in their history then it will go a long way to solidifying their strength of schedule which is very back loaded compared to the teams ranked near them.

Monday 20 October 2014

October part 2

 October 28th, 2014

In the inaugural College Football Playoff Committee rankings, Baylor has been ranked 13th in the nation.

The top four for the first week of the poll are #1 Mississippi State, #2 Florida State, #3 Auburn, #4 Ole Miss. Teh top four teams at the end of the regular season will go to the college playoffs. 1 v 4 and 2 v 3.

The Baylor media guide published the OL grading for the West Virginia game. Obviously a big drop across the board for the OL. Blake again graded out each best and continues as the highest graded OL through 7 games.


 


October 27th, 2014

This week is 'Homecoming' week at Baylor, a tradition quite foreign to most Australians because they don't usually go away for college like the tradition in the US.

Basically, the tradition holds that past students will 'come home' to the university to join in on various festivities and keep their connection with the university alive. It usually coincides with the scheduling a weaker opponent for the football team; Kansas fits that bill.

Probably by their own admission, there are not a strong team right now and haven't been since about 2007. This week off has been very useful to the Baylor team. Blake and Sean like most players have used it to get a leg up on school work, both having plenty to hand in this week. The offensive line has those injuries to usual starters Troy Baker and Desmine Hilliard to address for this week's game so we'll see what will hopefully be the starting line up for the rest of the season this week vs the Jayhawks.

The game will be 7am sunday morning Australian time.


October 21st, 2014

It just goes to show how hard it is to go 12-0 in college football.

Baylor traveled to West Virginia and went down to the Mountaineers 41-27. It has ruined the perfect season and stunted Baylor's chances at making the 4 team playoff. It would take numerous losses by numerous other teams for Baylor to be back in with a shot, such is the cut throat edge of competition. The players, coaches and fans are of course devastated. There was more bad news.





Last week after the TCU game the OL unit learned that Desmine Hilliard would have season ended wrist surgery. During the loss to WVU, right tackle Troy Baker suffered a season ending knee injury. That means that from here on for the rest of the season Baylor will be without its starting right guard and right tackle.

Blake twisted his ankle on on goal line play where he got truck and trailered by a defensive lineman with linebacker pushing him forward then a running back hitting him from behind. He finished the game but this week's bye week will be welcome for the few extra days rest.

Next game is in two weeks against Kansas and will also be Baylor's homecoming game. Additionally, Blake will make his 20th career start that game and a previously unknown tidbit we discovered from the broadcast; Blake is the only starter not from Texas!



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This is what happens to you when #35 the linebacker pushes the defensive lineman into you from the front, the defensive lineman gets his hands in your facemask, then you get hit in the back by your own running back and another defender. Basically 4 guys hitting you.

Flexibility and mobility have been huge components in Blake's training since he started in Australia at Shire Speed and Strength gym. Here is one way it protects against injury. What was a mild ankle twist for Blake would have been ruptured knee and ankle ligaments for most. This is the main way offensive linemen get injured.

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Friday 3 October 2014

October 2014

October 17th, 2014

Blake must be doing something right, he was the highest rated OL for Baylor vs TCU and highest so far combined for the year.

Another nice gif from the TCU game here


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October 16th, 2014

Here are some of Blake's better plays from the TCU game.


Blake TCU #1



Blake TCU #2



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 Blake TCU #6 




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October 14th, 2014

judging by reports, Baylor's football team will depart for West Virginia on Friday at noon. Morgantown, West Virginia is home of the West Virginia Mountaineers.



According to the Baylor Athletics page media release, Blake is currently tied as the equal highest graded OL with 89.0 for the season and tied for 2nd in knockdowns with 16.




October 12th, 2014

Down 21 points in the 4th quarter, Baylor staged the greatest comeback in its history to beat TCU 61-58 with a field goal as time expired. The Bears would score on each of its final 4 possessions to win the game.

The Bears could be ranked as high as #4 in the nation after an incredible performance where all sides of the ball sputtered during the game before 4 scoring possessions late to come back and win.

Fans stormed the field after the field goal sailed over for the win. 

Recap and highlights found here.



October 9th, 2014

TCU is ranked #9 coming into this game with #6 Baylor. Its a massive game for both teams obviously, TCU playing top ranked teams in consecutive week's, Baylor playing its biggest home game of the year. Kick off of the game will be 6.30am sunday morning.

Here are some nice cut ups of Blake from last week's game vs Texas.







This clip on the split zone play, you can see him at left guard come off the double team on the nose tackle then pancake #3 at the linebacker level.

 



Next play, he comes off the double team earlier again for the linebacker.


 



This play is important as he picks up the blitzing linebacker at the point of attack, forces his momentum up and the RB makes 8 yards.



 



This play he has to control the Nose and stay on him as the Center slides off.


 


Finally, vs the 33 stack, the Nose slants backside and Blake goes 1 on 1 with the LB on the power play for 17 yards.


October 5th, 2014

The Baylor Bears notched up a difficult 28-7 victory of the Texas Longhorns in Austin, Texas. The Bears are now 5-0 for the 2014 season on a weekend when 11 of the top 25 teams were defeated.

The Baylor passing game was off but the run game notched up 278 yards on a massive 60 carries. Blake had arguably the best game of his career, consistently engaging the formidable Texas defensive linemen and with his team mates taking over the game in the second half while the passing game struggled.

Baylor will now play Texas Christian University next week at home, a team coming off a big win over Oklahoma.

Highlights here.



October 4th, 2014


Tomorrow #7 ranked Baylor play Texas. Some very kind words from ncaa.com on how the Baylor OL is yet to give up a sack so far in 2014; one of only 2 teams.

Article can be found here.

Texas has a very good Defensive Tackle in Malcolm Brown who will likely finish the season as All Big-12. Its probably going to be the most difficult opponent that Blake has had to face in his career.

Below is a good review of the last game vs the Cyclones. Speaking of bad weather in general. Waco suffered through a very severe lightning storm yesterday, the forecast for the game in Austin tomorrow is for fine weather.