Defense: 5 Questions for 2012

No surprise at all that Brian has the shortest answers to questions.

Great write up Colt! I think Bryce Hager will be the defensive newcomer of the year for Baylor.

I'm to the point.

1. Which player has the potential to make the 2012 defense improved from 2011 on his own?

I'm going to say Gary Mason. He's the most exprienced DE on the roster and we need him to step up and consistently get pressure on the QB. No matter how good your CB's are, if the opposing QB has time to sit in the pocket he will pick you apart. Mason has to be the leader along that DLine and needs to make opposing QB's nervous to hold the football for more than a couple of seconds.

2. What should Baylor fans expect to see differently from Coach Phil Bennett's scheme in his second year?

More consistency. Now that most of these guys are more comfortable with the system I would expect to see less breakdowns in assignment and less big plays. The defense did a good job getting turnovers last year, but gave up too many big plays. Keep the turnovers coming and cut down on the big plays and we will be more successful.

3. What will be the biggest strength and the biggest weakness be defensively?

I agree that the overall speed of the defense will be the biggest strength. This should be the quickest defense we've put on the field maybe ever, but they've also got to show that they can be tough against the run as well. Biggest weakness to me is our pass rush and safeties. We've got to get more pressure on the QB and have struggled for a long time in this area. Without a pass rush, receivers get down field and our safeties aren't good enough or quick enough in coverage to stay with Big 12 receivers.

4. Overlooked breakout defensive player for 2012

I think it's Bryce Hager. He just has that workmanlike attitude you love in LB with intelligence to boot. I'm hoping for a quicker Joe Pawelek type guy who just always seems to be in the right place at the right time to make the tackle or turn the ball over.

5. Predict the PPG total by the 2012 defense

The Big 12 has so many wide open offenses that it's really hard to see this team improve an entire TD a game from last year. I think in order for us to get to 7-8 wins, however, we're going to have to see that happen. I'm going to say 31 ppg with a couple of big numbers put on us in conference, OU and WVU being the prime candidates as tough on the road games.

This should be a very interesting year for Baylor and the entire Big 12 I think as there is as much parity from top to bottom as I can ever recall.

1). Defensively we already know his worth but Ahmad Dixon will need to be Top Shelf - All Conf./ bordering on All America type season. We need him to not only be able to bring Pressure but also play in Space and be a BEAST against inside slot rec, and be that guy that reads and reacts to run plays against these spread teams. I still question our ability to put pressure on opposing QBs with just our front 4.

2) I expect to see Coach Bennet have a willingness to Blitz (take risks) more. Last season he blitzed but played pretty conservatively overall due to lack of confidence in his back end. I believe he has more confidence in his back end now.. and we have to create pressure. We didn't create pressure last year and outscored everyone. We will still be able to score but RGIII, T. Ganaway and Kendal are in the NFL so we'll need to create more opportunties for our offense defensively and put teams in more 2nd/3rd and longs.

3) Speed and QB Pressure wo/ the blitz respectively
4) Chance Casey-- Moved from Corner to Safety and got hurt last season. I think if he's fully recovered from the injury I belive he makes us a little more athletic back there and he has experience @ Corner which helps when our safety gets matched up against a inside receiver.

5) OK this is tough because I believe our D will be better but outside of Louisiana Monroe (which isn't a bad program either) we play some monsters on offense.. starting with what will be a very good offensive team in SMU. 1) Non Conf PPG (SMU, ULM, SHSU) - 24.7ppg; 2) Big XII Conf. PPG (30.5).

Replace OSU with WVU. 48 from TCU might not happen, but 35 will. SMU is going to score on us, but agree we will slow UL-M and SHSU down. We also shut out SFA last year, so that skewed those numbers, and I bet Iowa State scores more than 26.

I pray we're below 30, but I just don't see it.

ISU had that one long run that should have been called back as well.

WVU will be interesting to see if they hang or get Syracused.