What could have happened for Baylor in 2015 and 2016 if QB Seth Russell stayed healthy?!?
Such a good athlete with all of the right pieces around him… pic.twitter.com/SecoPixd2h

— David George (@davidleegeorge) July 14, 2023

In 2015, CFP appearance and subsequent destruction at the hands of Clemson, and, Seth wouldn't have made too much of a difference in 2016 due to how some inside/outside the program felt about then current events.

Zero way of proving Clemson would have destroyed us … zero. The amount of disrespect that team gets from posters on here is truly baffling.

A fully healthy team during those years knocks on the natty door. Defense was better and Art was getting the best offensive talent around (thus the scandal) which upset the power base. I digress….

IowaBear said:

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Zero way of proving Clemson would have destroyed us … zero. The amount of disrespect that team gets from posters on here is truly baffling.

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No one outside of some die hardcore (Briles) Baylor fans believe that that Baylor team was in the mix for a title (not just making the CFP - actually winning a title). Nevertheless, making the CFP in 2015 would have been quite an achievement.

Baylor definitely would've had as good of odds as anyone to win a NC in 2015.... Anyone.

We'd have made the CFP in 2015. From there, who knows.

Aberzombie1892 said:

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IowaBear said:

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Zero way of proving Clemson would have destroyed us … zero. The amount of disrespect that team gets from posters on here is truly baffling.

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No one outside of some die hardcore (Briles) Baylor fans believe that that Baylor team was in the mix for a title (not just making the CFP - actually winning a title)..

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Wrong. Your hatred for that Baylor team got the best of your emotions

Yeah that's just wild projection. The 2015 had good skill talent and the best Bu o line of that era. Would have made the CFP and had a reasonable chance to win it.

Probably not the favorite but a decent chance. The o line was good enough to make a run. The system was also newer to teams outside the big 12 which would have helped a lot.

All we can do is speculate but Baylor certainly would have had a real shot at the CFP and definitely could have won the semis. Also, if we could have gotten to the championship game we would NOT have experienced what TCU did. They had a good team but they were not THAT good and were there because of a lot of lucky breaks. Our 2015 team was better and might have beaten Clemson with that amount of luck.

But it's all idle speculation because we really have no way of knowing. Just something else to do while we wait a few weeks for real games to start.

Spot on sir!

Aberzombie1892 said:

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IowaBear said:

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Zero way of proving Clemson would have destroyed us … zero. The amount of disrespect that team gets from posters on here is truly baffling.

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No one outside of some die hardcore (Briles) Baylor fans believe that that Baylor team was in the mix for a title (not just making the CFP - actually winning a title). Nevertheless, making the CFP in 2015 would have been quite an achievement.

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Weren't we ranked number 2 when tbe injury occurred?

We were ranked #2 for 3 consecutive weeks. I don't remember if it ended before or after that game.

Correction: We were #2 when the game started:



And we were #6 a week later when Stidham had his career start in Manhattan:



That was an amazing underrated game when you consider that it was only our second win there, EVER!

Been a Baylor fan a long time. Been to many games and watched many on TV. In my humble option if Seth stays healthy in 2015 , that team would have been the greatest Baylor team ever. Probably gets in playoff but do we beat Clemson, who knows.

PartyBear said:

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Aberzombie1892 said:

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IowaBear said:

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Zero way of proving Clemson would have destroyed us … zero. The amount of disrespect that team gets from posters on here is truly baffling.

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No one outside of some die hardcore (Briles) Baylor fans believe that that Baylor team was in the mix for a title (not just making the CFP - actually winning a title). Nevertheless, making the CFP in 2015 would have been quite an achievement.

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Weren't we ranked number 2 when tbe injury occurred?

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Yes. This is a sensitive subject for some, so it's important to tread lightly in respect for those sensitivities.

Baylor achieved AP rank heights of #3 in 2013 (week 12), #4 in 2014 (week 7), and #2 in 2015 (weeks 6-9); the key difference between 2015 and 2013/2014 was that Baylor started the 2015 season with an AP rank of #4 vs unranked in 2013 and #10 in 2014. Despite that beginning ranking disparity, Baylor climbed the rankings early in each season by dunking on teams that weren't that great and avoiding P5s out of conference. This approach resulted in the only opponent of any national significance that Baylor defeated across the first 6 games of any of those three seasons being 2014 TCU, with game 6 being the cut off due to Seth being injured in game 7 of 2015 and Baylor being #2 at the time of that injury.

Essentially, the only reason the 2015 team made it to a higher ranking than the 2013 and 2014 teams was the the 2015 team started higher at the beginning of the season, and, further, the 2014 team had an inarguably better resume than the 2015 team by the end of game 6 - despite its lower ranking than the 2015 team - due to its win over TCU.

TLDR: the 2015 team making to #2 in week 6 didn't evidence further or (relatively) unique on the field achievement by that team vs the 2014 and 2013 teams by a similar point in their seasons.

Quinton said:

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Yeah that's just wild projection. The 2015 had good skill talent and the best Bu o line of that era. Would have made the CFP and had a reasonable chance to win it.

Probably not the favorite but a decent chance. The o line was good enough to make a run. The system was also newer to teams outside the big 12 which would have helped a lot.

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Similar system even tripped up Michigan before the greatest destruction in human history. Worse than Soddham & Ghommorah

When the first weekly 2015 CFP rankings came out, I recall SEC cheerleader Paul Finebaum commenting that BU should've been #1 at that point. It's hard to see us losing any of the games we lost that season with a healthy Seth Russell, especially including the home loss to a weak UT team when we not only didn't have Russell - we ended up playing most of the game with no QB whatsoever. Anyway, we were a likely CFP team and who knows if we would've looked like another version of OU when they've made the CFP or if we would've continued to outscore our way to a Natty. In any event, I seriously doubt we would've embarrassed ourselves like TCU last season had we gotten to the Championship game.

Johnny Bear said:

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When the first weekly 2015 CFP rankings came out, I recall SEC cheerleader Paul Finebaum commenting that BU should've been #1 at that point. It's hard to see us losing any of the games we lost that season with a healthy Seth Russell, especially including the home loss to a weak UT team when we not only didn't have Russell - we ended up playing most of the game with no QB whatsoever. Anyway, we were a likely CFP team and who knows if we would've looked like another version of OU when they've made the CFP or if we would've continued to outscore our way to a Natty. In any event, I seriously doubt we would've embarrassed ourselves like TCU last season had we gotten to the Championship game.

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Even then and not thinking of going wildcat till the 2nd half we'd have won save a bizarre lucky fumble poke just as our RB jefferson(?) had gotten to the 2nd level and would have otherwise been untouched for the TD

Then in to the Sugar Bowl

Oh and don't forget the Noah's ark game in Fort Worth

Was also the first team in that era of the program that was being talked about as a legit threat to win the whole thing. The 2014 run was still downplayed for awhile.

In 2015 several weeks into the season (believe it was week 6 or 7).. they blew some team away and the broader media was showing respect and it was pretty much concesus Bu was one of the 4 best teams. Not that it matters much but they were also either 2 or 3 on odds to win the national title at that same time.

I cannot forget: I was at both. IIRC, the Texas game also featured a melee with both teams rushing the field near the Texas bench. It was a foolish display that could have resulted in an ejection or two.

2014 was the year we beat two top 10 teams on our way to a conference title, both in Waco: TCU & K State.

historian said:

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I cannot forget: I was at both. IIRC, the Texas game also featured a melee with both teams rushing the field near the Texas bench. It was a foolish display that could have resulted in an ejection or two.

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Yep. Erupted in the Texas sideline

Briles called it a "mall fight"

historian said:

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I cannot forget: I was at both. IIRC, the Texas game also featured a melee with both teams rushing the field near the Texas bench. It was a foolish display that could have resulted in an ejection or two.

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That was the best thing that could have happened that day. There was no life in that team, they were dead. The big 12 title and possible playoff spot were long gone. Then Chris Johnson went out and that feeling got even worse. Then, Texas arrogantly crowded and stepped on and over Lynx Hawthorne. The team got pissed and played their guts out the rest of the game literally without a quarterback and almost came back to win it. I believe that fire carried over to the bowl game as well.

It's actually one of my favorite memories from my late dad. He was old school and didn't put up with lack of effort or giving up. He was so angry at their lack of effort he considered leaving, then the sideline incident happened and he started screaming as loud as he could: YEAH!!! YEAH!!! YEAH!!! He knew that was the fire they needed. The team finally showed some effort and pride.

Maybe so. I thought it stupid at the time & ever since. But I'm thinking like an older spectator & alumnus, not a young athlete. There is no question that they played their hearts out the rest of the game & did come close to winning. If not for some mistakes & questionable calls from tigers (not zebras; too much orange) we might have won. Johnny Jefferson was great & gave us a preview of his amazing bowl game performance. He was one of the heroes of that season.



https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOHY_E1BcinqcuEFD6ep52IJ5FfcIvZ2f

For me this is one of the highlights of the season, certainly one of the best plays in Lynx's career:

I go back and forth on 2015. I see how incredible the offense was while also having a good defense. That offense had the ability to score on anyone. The o-line was excellent, the wr core was sensational with corey coleman leading the way and they at one point averaged the most rushing yds per game. Seth probably wins the Heisman barring a meltdown. He was on pace for around 60 total td's. He was the best dual threat qb in the country. Corey Coleman was a monster who would stare down any cornerback who thought they could cover him after he made a play.

That being said I could see a Briles team having too many penalties or a special teams blunder that could cost them the game against a more talented team. Did they have enough depth or talent to beat those teams? 2019 LSU and 2020 Alabama are the only super spread teams to win it all. They had talent out the wazoo.

Weren't we referred to then as "the U on the Brazos?" Referring to Miami University and their "thuggish" reputation? Seeing our "thugs" go out on the field against the cows thugs sure fired me up. that "gangsta" rep we had was cool.

Seth Russell was an excellent athlete and a really good college QB, but let's be real here about some of Seth's stats that year.

2015 Final Records of Teams Seth Russell played against:

SMU......2-10
Lamar....5-6
Rice.......5-7
Tech......7-6 (bowl team)
KU.........0-12
WVU......8-5 (bowl team)
Iowa St..3-9

None ranked; and only 2 of the 7 finished with a winning record, neither ranked.


Teams Seth Russell DID NOT play against:

KState.....6-7 (bowl team)
OU..........11-2 (Top 25) Won the Big 12
Ok State. 10-3 (Top 25) Finished tie 2nd
TCU........ 11-2 (Top 25) Finished tie 2nd
Texas.........5-7

-4 of the 5 he DID NOT play against were bowl teams (we're looking at you Horns) with 2 finishing in the Final AP Top 10;
- he didn't play against the top 3 teams in the conference.
-Based on Defensive Avg Yards per game, he played against only 2 of the Top 7 defenses in the Big 12 that year.

It's impossible to know how he would have done if he would have played those teams. He was having a great year and may have continued doing well. Who knows? But to automatically think he was going to keep the same statistical pace against those 5 may also be considered to be a bit naive.

It's really not that naive. We had zero trouble scoring against those teams sans TCU in a winter storm and Texas minus all 3 QBs. You really don't think Russell lights up OSU? The same team Chris Johnson torched ? or KSU who Stidham lit up through the air? Come on now be realistic. Seth added a dimension BU hadn't seen since RG3. And he had a way more talented surrounding cast. The fact that people still doubt what he was capable of is rather weird.

I look forward to winning tonight's $900 million PowerBall. I look forward to the question, "why are you leaving none of your multi-million dollar winnings to your alma mater?". My answer will be glorious. I am definitely going to name names. A handful of the names will be former Baylor Football players.

God is great!

ImABearToo said:

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Weren't we referred to then as "the U on the Brazos?" Referring to Miami University and their "thuggish" reputation? Seeing our "thugs" go out on the field against the cows thugs sure fired me up. that "gangsta" rep we had was cool.

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Congratulations. No more gangstas. Now we are once again mediocre choir boys jockeying for a spot in the Glad Hefty Garbage Bag Bowl!!!! Well done!