Big 12 Football: Weekly Q&A with Matthew Conner of WreckEmRed.com

Big 12 football never fails to provide college football fans with a solid buffet of topics to explore. But unlike several of the other Power 5 conferences, the Big 12 brings some interesting storylines to the conversation.

With the surge of TCU and Baylor, and the rollercoaster effects of teams like Oklahoma and Texas over the past few seasons, the Big 12 has become one of the most interesting of the Power-5 football leagues to watch.

With that said, many discussions are had on a weekly basis with colleagues and friends throughout the college football landscape, so starting this week, I’m introducing a new Q&A series with co-editor of WreckEmRed.com, Matthew Conner. Each week we’ll be asking each other a variety of questions and delivering our readers with nuanced observations ranging from the Big 12, and throughout college football in its entirety.

So without further ado, let’s jump right in.

Question: Why do you think that defensively, the Big 12 as a whole continues to fuel the national impression that the conference doesn’t play defense?

(With the Oklahoma Sooners ranking at No. 21 in the nation in defense, followed by Oklahoma State at No. 41 and the rest of the conference ranking anywhere from No. 57 (Baylor) to Kansas at No. 127 (dead last) nationally in defense, the Big 12 has kind of developed a reputation of high scoring, limited defense teams.)

Conner: Blame it all on Mike Leach. Seriously. The Big 12 used to field some great defenses, like the 2001 Oklahoma defense led by safety Roy Williams. But when middle-tier programs like Oklahoma State, Baylor and others saw Leach raise Texas Tech to nations prominence via the Air Raid they followed the Leach template.

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Now even Oklahoma has given in and is running the tempo spread offense. The mindset has changed in terms of defense in the Big 12.  There is simply no way to shut out a team featuring Trevone Boykin and Josh Doctson, or Pat Mahomes and Jakeem Grant.

Therefore, defenses in the Big 12 have learned to put their pride not in total defense numbers or defensive rankings but in timely stops via turnovers or sacks. Just like the Big 12 saw a shift in what was considered a solid offensive plan (Darryl Royal used to say of the forward pass, “When you throw the ball, only three things can happen and two of them are bad”). Big 12 teams have come to realize that good defense simply is going to look different than it used to.

Question: Given the controversial omission of TCU and Baylor from playoff consideration last year, with three unbeaten Big 12 teams in the mix, and Oklahoma at 7-1, do you think it’s possible that we might see some more controversy just to get a team better positioned for a playoff campaign? Ex: flopping.

Conner: I don’t see how anyone could actually convince once of the Big 12 title contenders to flop. Imagine the look a Big 12 official might get from Bob Stoops if he were asked to let an undefeated Oklahoma State or TCU win for the sake of the conference.

It would be a look that would turn a man to stone. The Big 12 race will work itself out in November just as the conference schedule makers set it up to. If the conference champion is again left out of the playoff, it will be due to poor out of conference scheduling or the lack of a title game but there is no way these rivals will flop for the benefit of another.  There is too much pride on the line.

Question: In your opinion, are there any Texas Tech coaches who could be considered for possible replacement at the end of the season? Why?  

Conner: The first one who comes to mind is defensive line coach Mike Smith. He was the interim defensive coordinator last year when Matt Wallerstedt resigned and he did an admirable job. When David Gibbs was hired, Smith was…lets say…disappointed.  

Gibbs has a tremendous resume with time as a coach in the NFL under Rex Ryan with the New York Jets. (Don’t forget that he was Ray Lewis’ backup as a player in Baltimore as well.) While Smith is a Texas Tech alum, if he sees that there is a glass ceiling in Lubbock, I could envision him taking a defensive coordinator job at a smaller school or going back to coach in the NFL.

Plus, with the awful Texas Tech defensive performance this year, it is not crazy to think that some changes will be made and Smith’s defensive line has been absolutely awful.  

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Question: Last minute in-conference recruit poaching happens every year throughout the country. Do you think that’s an ill advised move considering the message the playoff committee has sent regarding weak scheduling? Wouldn’t it be in the best interest of all conference members to want equal distribution of talent?

Conner: Most schools would love to see a situation in which they dominate the conference and the rest of its fellow conference members can go chase their tales.  Most conferences have one or two lead dogs like Ohio State, which has former 5-star players sitting the bench.

Weak scheduling criticisms come more from non-conference scheduling (Yes, I’m pointing at you Baylor), not in reference to conference strength. If any undefeated Power-5 team has a respectable non-conference schedule, it will be in great shape. Thus, it will always be a dog-eat-dog world. Look at Baylor for example.

Do you think they feel one bit of remorse for poaching Jarrett Stidham away from Texas Tech after he’d signed a financial aid agreement with Tech? No. Now he is their savior and Art Briles couldn’t care less about how Texas Tech does.  College football is not socialism.  There will never be equal talent distribution and teams will lie, cheat and rob their neighbor to have the most.

Next: Smartest CFB Head Coach Firings of the Last 10 Years

Matthew Conner is a 2004 graduate of Texas Tech University. A season-ticket holder since 2007, Conner makes the 14-hour round trip drive to each home game from Colorado. He is currently an English Teacher at a college prep high school. Other than Texas Tech football, his passions are spending time with his wife, hiking, photography, and being outdoors with his three dogs.