Inexperienced Secondary Doesn't Concern Rhule
8/31/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
Where others might look and see inexperience, Baylor coach Matt Rhule sees talent above all else.
That's why he's not as concerned about a starting secondary that includes just one player with any extensive playing action. Sophomore cornerback Jameson Houston, who made two starts last year, will be joined by freshman cornerback Harrison Hand, redshirt freshman safety Jairon McVea and sophomore safety Chris Miller for Saturday's 6 p.m. season opener against Liberty.
Even with sophomore cornerback Grayland Arnold out with an injury and senior safety Taion Sells suspended for the first three games, Rhule said he is "confident in our guys playing in the secondary."
"Jameson is a tremendously talented kid," Ruhle said prior to Wednesday afternoon's practice. "Harrison is young, so he's going to make some rookie mistakes, but he's got a tremendous future. Verkedric (Vaughns), Jourdan Blake, those guys have all played. McVea hasn't played yet, but he's been with (defensive coordinator Phil Snow) for a long time. Chance (Waz) has played a ton. Chris Miller plays really, really fast and physical. There's just not a ton of depth, but we'll play with those guys and go from there."
As players like Sells, Henry Black, Davion Hall and Rajah Preciado return and get healthier, "I think we'll build strength as we go," Rhule said. "One of my keys is to try to be better as the year goes on." Over the last four seasons, Baylor is just 13-11 combined in the last six games of the regular season.
"These injuries early, suspensions, they're unfortunate, but they build depth to hopefully help you in those last six games."
Admitting that it was a "tough decision" naming Anu Solomon as the starting quarterback, Rhule said the grad transfer from Arizona "brings the ability to kind of move in the pocket."
"With a young offensive line, that's something we might need," he said. "I thought all three quarterbacks played really well. I think Charlie (Brewer) and Zach (Smith) have tremendous, tremendous futures. They can both go out and be our starting quarterback. Anu just has a little bit of poise and a lot of experience, and I think he brings a little bit of leadership."
The 6-foot-1, 211-pound Solomon passed for 3,793 yards and 28 touchdowns with nine interceptions as a redshirt freshman at Arizona, leading the Wildcats to the Pac-12 championship game in 2014. Saturday's 6 p.m. game against Liberty at McLane Stadium will be the fourth consecutive season opener that Solomon has started.
Solomon won the starting job in a battle with Smith, the returning starter, and Brewer, who led Lake Travis to the 6A state championship a year ago.
"These guys are competitive, team guys and they're both young ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬" Zach is a sophomore and Charlie is a freshman," Rhule said. "You have a fifth-year senior ahead of you, it's a pretty good situation to walk into. So, you have time to develop and grow them. . . . If you told me I was going to be in a quarterback battle my freshman or sophomore year in college, I'd be pretty excited, especially with a fifth-year senior. I think it will work out for everyone."
Asked about Brewer potentially redshirting this year, Rhule said he doesn't even think about redshirting players "until we get through a couple games."
"If you tell someone to redshirt, kids have a tendency to relax," he said. "We're not in that position with our roster right now to be talking about redshirting. We're going to push guys forward and see how the first couple of games go, and then after two or three games make a decision."
Asked about potential offensive playmakers after losing receivers KD Cannon and Ishmael Zamora and all-time leading rusher Shock Linwood off last year's team, and with running back Terence Williams on the shelf with an injury, Rhule mentioned receivers Denzel Mims, Pooh Stricklin, Chris Platt and Tony Nicholson, running backs JaMycal Hasty and freshman John Lovett and tight end Ishmael Wainright.
"They all have the ability to make plays in a multitude of ways," Rhule said. "We have to see them do it in live action with bullets flying, but I'm confident. I think they'll play really well."
Sophomore Blake Lynch could see action both ways, along with returning kickoffs, because "he can just do everything."
"I've never really been around a guy like that, that one play he's rushing the passer and the next play he's playing press-man (coverage)," Rhule said. "But, he can do it I think it's going to be kind of a balancing act. We're playing a couple guys a little bit both ways. And that's one thing we've never been afraid to do. It takes a good staff to do it, and it takes sort of some vision from the top, saying, 'OK, we're going to practice this way.'''
Limited season and single-game tickets are still available. Call the Baylor Athletics Ticket Office at 254-710-1000 or go online at www.baylorbears.com/footballtickets.
