Written by Terry P. Johnson at Bloguin
As I was listening to the radio this afternoon, I learned that Baylor quarterback Seth Russell would need neck surgery and would miss the rest of the season.
After that, the radio show hosts completely changed their tune. Instead of talking about the anticipated November 27 showdown between Baylor and TCU, they started asking if Oklahoma State could wrestle the top spot away from Horned Frogs.
Now, don’t get me wrong: The Cowboys absolutely belong in that conversation. At the rate its defense is forcing turnovers, you can expect Oklahoma State will be in the mix over the final few weeks of the season.
However, the point that really stuck with me was that the talk show hosts completely dismissed Baylor as a contender because of the injury to Seth Russell. While his absence from the lineup won’t make the team better, the Bears are still a College Football Playoff candidate without Russell under center.
Make no mistake about it: Russell was having a fantastic season. Through seven games, he led the nation in touchdown passes (29) and yards per attempt (10.5), and was averaging 300 yards per game. He’d provided plenty of punch on the ground as well, rushing for 402 yards and 6 TDs, including a 160-yard effort against West Virginia a few weeks ago.
With numbers like that, it’s easy to see why people wrote off the Bears when they learned the severity of the injury. How could a backup quarterback possibly match that type of production?
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