Countdown to the season
Del Olaleye: College football weekly update
Del Olaleye
Aug 1, 2018, 8:40 am
Kliff Kingsbury is not all that liked by Baker Mayfield. Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images
Scott Frost gets robbed
Apparently winning a national title as a player and being the next savior of Nebraska football doesn’t make you exempt from getting robbed in Lincoln, Nebraska. That is what happened to new Huskers coach Scott Frost. In his first summer back as a Lincoln resident Frost had his house broken into and initial reports valued the stolen merchandise at $165,000. Frost has since disputed the initially reported value. He made that clear as part of a statement: “I would like to clarify that some items initially reported as missing have been found, including some of the rings listed on the police report. Also, the value of what we believe to actually be missing is lower than what has been publicly reported." It was reported that some of the missing things were found in the garage which was actually the point of entry for the burglars. Somebody better tell coach that Lincoln isn’t the same as it was when he left. Don’t think his former coach Tom Osborne had to worry about anyone breaking into his home. Then again he won three national titles. Legends can leave all their doors unlocked in Lincoln.
The house was being remodeled so no one was living at the home at the time. That made the theft easy as all the items taken were in boxes. The stolen swag consisted of title rings and multiple pairs of Jordans. Frost has coached at Nike schools for the last nine years of his career. He was the head coach at UCF most recently and the offensive coordinator at Phil Knight’s love child Oregon before that. He now coaches at Nebraska, one of the premier schools for Adidas. I’m sure #3StripeLife will excuse it this time, but the next time Frost has his house robbed the stolen items better consist of Yeezys and Hardens vol. 3s.
Baker Mayfield has some thoughts on Kliff Kingsbury
Baker Mayfield’s journey is a tired story. So I won’t really get into it. Just know that before he was a star at Oklahoma he was walkon at Texas Tech. A really good one in fact. He started his career 5-0 as a starter. He got hurt during that season and that is where he claims his relationship with Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury changed. In a clip from his docu-series for Fox Sports he says that after he got hurt the relationship between himself and Coach Kingsbury took a downturn. According to Mayfield, Kingsbury treated him after the injury as if “he hadn’t done anything for him”. That’s only the quarterback’s side of the story and Kingsbury has responded to his former signal caller’s words in a short statement to TMZ, "I’ve always been a huge fan of Baker and loved working with him. He had an incredible career at Oklahoma, and I wish him nothing but continued success as he begins his NFL career.” Certainly not a denial of Mayfield’s words but Kingsbury has nothing to gain from engaging in a back and forth.
Wherever the truth lies, it certainly isn’t a departure for college coaches to all of a sudden play a game of “new phone, who dis?” when it comes to players who are no longer useful to them. The word attrition is used to describe players who don’t play regularly somehow finding their way out of the program. Some of it is suggested (politely forced) by coaches and other times it is voluntarily as players look for a better opportunity to play. Mayfield’s talent makes him one of the lucky ones. It turns out he could’ve played anywhere and got the chance to beat his former team three years in row during his time at Oklahoma.
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Joe Mixon has carried Houston’s offense in the three games since he returned from an injury.
The running back could be even more important this week with the Texans dealing with another injury to a top receiver after Stefon Diggs went down Sunday.
Diggs sustained a non-contact injury to his right knee and coach DeMeco Ryans refused to provide any details on his injury Monday, saying only that he’s still being evaluated.
His injury comes with leading receiver Nico Collins out for at least one more game after being placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.
Mixon has had at least 100 yards rushing and a TD run in three straight games. He finished with 102 yards rushing and a touchdown in Houston’s 23-20 win over Indianapolis on Sunday.
“Joe showed up big time for us when we needed him most making plays,” Ryans said.
Mixon, who is in his first season in Houston after a trade from Cincinnati, became the first player in NFL history to have at least 100 yards rushing and a TD run in four of his first five games with a team.
The only time he didn’t have 100 yards and a score this season came in Week 2 when he missed almost the entire second half with an ankle injury that kept him out the next three games. He ranks third in the NFL by averaging 100.6 yards rushing a game.
If Diggs is out this week, Tank Dell is the most likely candidate to pick up the slack in the passing game.
His production has dropped off this season after a standout rookie year where he had 709 yards receiving with seven touchdowns in 11 games before breaking his leg. He has 229 yards receiving this season and scored his second touchdown in Sunday’s win which improved the AFC South-leading Texans to 6-2.
But Ryans said it will take a group effort to make sure Stroud and Houston’s passing attack, which rank eighth in the NFL, stay on track.
“What I loved about our game (Sunday) was that you saw was multiple guys stepping up and making plays,” he said. “That is what excites me the most about our team … a lot of different guys stepping up and making plays and that is what we will continue to see.”
What's working
Houston’s defense entered Monday’s game ranked second in the NFL by allowing just 280.3 yards a game. The strength of the unit has been the pass defense, which is giving up just 164.3 yards a game.
Safety Jalen Pitre, who had an interception Sunday, said the secondary has gotten a boost from Houston’s pass rush, which ranks third in the league with 27 sacks.
“We’re doing a pretty good job, but it’s a huge credit to our D-line,” Pitre said. “They’re outstanding. They do their job at a high level and it does nothing but make opposing quarterbacks know that they’ve got to get the ball out earlier and that turns into incompletions and interceptions.”
What needs help
The offensive line continued to struggle in pass protection Sunday. Stroud was sacked just twice but was hit nine other times and was under pressure on 57.5% of his drop-backs according to NextGen stats.
The Texans benched left guard Kenyon Green for Jarrett Patterson in the first quarter Sunday as he struggled against the rush. But Green had to come back soon after that because Patterson got a concussion.
Ryans said they’ll continue to evaluate the line to see how they can improve the protection.
Stock up
Dell, who is in his second season, had four receptions for 35 yards and a touchdown Sunday. The performance came after he was targeted four times against the Packers but finished with zero receptions. He has nine career touchdowns, which ties him with Will Fuller for most in franchise history through a player’s first 18 games.
“I’m just super proud of him, what he’s been able to do and he’s going to have to step up really big for us,” Stroud said.
Stock down
Green for his struggles in pass protection Sunday. The 15th overall pick in the 2022 draft missed all last season with injuries before returning to the starting lineup this season.
“We can definitely be better, especially on my end,” he said after the game.
Injuries
S Calen Bullock was limited in practice Monday after injuring his shoulder Sunday. … LBs Azeez Al-Shaair (knee) and Henry To’oTo’o (concussion) both missed the Colts game but could return this week. … S Jimmie Ward is likely to miss a fifth straight game with a groin injury.
Key number
13.3% — Houston’s defense limited Anthony Richardson to a 13.3% completion percentage in the first half Sunday, which was the second-lowest completion percentage by any player in a half since 1991. The second-year quarterback completed just 2 of 15 passes before halftime.
Next steps
The Texans have a quick turnaround before a visit to the New York Jets on Thursday night where they’ll try for their fifth win in six games.