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Stidham becomes Briles' 7th starter and has toughest opening act
Jarrett Stidham will become the seventh quarterback to start a game for Baylor coach Art Briles, and he'll try to become the fifth to win his debut.
Stidham, though, has the toughest assignment of the bunch. The true freshman's first career start comes on the road during a nationally televised game (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1) against a hungry Kansas State team that's lost four in a row.
Did we mention that any slip in Manhattan, Kan., could destroy the No. 6 Bears playoff dreams weeks before they even get a shot at No. 8 TCU?
“What a better place to get it on,” Briles told the Waco Tribune-Herald. “I mean, quite honestly, if you’re going to go, go large and go big. To me, that’s exciting. It really is. That’s exhilarating. As a competitor and as an athlete, a leader, a fighter, that’s what you want. That’s what we got. We’ll be ready to roll.”
With #AmericasTopOffense producing 61.1 ppg, Baylor is again leading the FBS in margin of victory (36.0). pic.twitter.com/yLEExuTWuH
— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) November 3, 2015
That's the pressure heaped upon the 6-foot-3 quarterback who was tearing up the Texas high school circuit at this time a year ago. He's only the second of the previous six Baylor QBs to make his first start against a conference opponent.
Only Kirby Freeman in 2008 would argue he faced a tougher opponent, a Wake Forest team that would play in the ACC championship game. Freeman didn't last long in the season-opener before giving way to a highly touted recruit named Robert Griffin III.
In 2009, Blake Szymanski became the only one to jump into the fire of a conference game, and he threw three interceptions in a 24-10 loss at Iowa State.
The others -- RGIII (2008), Nick Florence (2009), Bryce Petty (2013) and Russell (2014) all started off against FCS opponents.
At the same time, these Bears aren't quite like those other teams earlier in Briles' tenure. This one is ranked No. 2 in the AP top 25 poll and the coaches poll, although came in at No. 6 in the first CFP rankings mainly based on strength of schedule. The Bears have owned the No. 1 offense in the nation all season and Stidham has playmakers behind him and beside him, so his biggest job will be to get it to them and limit mistakes.
“He’s certainly walking into a situation where the car is a little shinier than it was in ’09 when Nick Florence did it or in ’08 when Robert did it,” Briles said. “There’s good players all over the table.”
