Friday, Saturday, Sunday in Texas

by Nick Eatman

  As the Bears hit the road—through the air for the first time all season—it could’ve been rather easy to overlook their next opponent, a Kansas team that not only hadn’t won a game all year, but had lost to these Bears by a combined score of 160–42 in the last three seasons.

  But it was four years ago that Briles still remembered.

  “We have always had a lot of respect for Kansas after what happened to us in 2011,” said Briles, who still considers Baylor’s dramatic 31–30 win in Lawrence, Kansas, to be one of his favorite games as a coach—on any level.

  Down 24–3 early in the fourth quarter, a Robert Griffin–led offense finally got on track, scoring three times in the final ten minutes to not only tie the game, but also give Briles and his staff an idea of just how explosive the offense could be. In overtime, the Bears scored first and then stopped a two-point conversion to grab their sixth win of the season, making them bowl-eligible for the second straight year.

  Since then, Briles has made sure the Bears realize how dangerous the Jayhawks can be. The guy who helps him do just that is Kazadi, who has a unique way of being both a cheerleader and an ass-kicker.

  When Baylor is at home, all the players, coaches, and support staff take a “Bear Walk,” trekking through thousands of fans who make a narrow path of more than five hundred yards from the buses to the stadium. But on the road, Kazadi and his troops do their best to simulate the “walk,” albeit with just a dozen or so staffers.

  With each player he greets, Kazadi usually has some kind of unique message. For 400-pound tight end LaQuan McGowan, he’ll say something like “It’s your day, big fella!” or to linebacker Taylor Young, an undersized but tougher-than-nails defender, it’s “Play fast. Play physical.”

  Quick, blunt messages, but they get the job done.

  Games like these are when Briles relies on Kazadi more than ever. Sure, his team had no problem getting up for last week’s shootout against rival Texas Tech. Or in a couple of weeks when nationally ranked Oklahoma comes to town, the players won’t need any added motivation.

  But these 11 a.m. kickoffs, which call for the team to wake up at 7, meet, have breakfast, and hop on the buses to play in an older, half-full stadium against a winless team, can be a challenge for even the most motivated eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds.

  Questioning the toughness of any testosterone-filled young man is always a good start.

  “They say we’re not tough enough!” Kazadi yelled during the pregame stretch. “They say we don’t play anyone. Well, let’s show them who’s tough today. Burn hot! Burn hot! Burn hot!”

  Anything and everything that could get under his players’ skin, Kazadi uses it, bringing a passionate but fierce demeanor that will get anyone’s attention.

  Whether it was that intensity, or the fact that Las Vegas oddsmakers had Baylor as 45-point favorites, the Bears came out and dominated Kansas in every aspect of the game during the first half. A touchdown on the first drive extended Baylor’s streak to five straight games with a score on the opening possession as Corey Coleman reached the end zone twice in the first quarter.

  The defense got into the act as well with three turnovers, including one fumble return for a touchdown by cornerback Xavien Howard. But the main highlight news stations used for this game featured Baylor’s biggest scorer of the day.

  The “big fella,” as Kazadi called McGowan before the game, actually played small—like an agile receiver. Quarterback Seth Russell dumped off a pass to his tight end, who stepped over a safety (not so willing to tackle a four hundred pounder) and into the end zone for the second touchdown of his career.

  “I was getting real anxious, but I knew it was coming,” McGowan said after the game. “I always try to keep you on your heels. On one play, I might run up and hit you in the face. On the next play, I might slip right past you and catch a touchdown.”

  If any other player had found the end zone for a 38–7 second-quarter lead, it likely wouldn’t have gotten the defensive players off the bench, but McGowan wasn’t just a phenomenon to the outside world. He also excited his teammates.

  “Big guys love when big guys do things,” Briles said. “He’s just a loveable guy. And when it’s his turn to make a play, he’s ready. He just adds a little flavor to the dessert.”

  McGowan burst onto the scene in the 2015 Cotton Bowl the previous January with a similar touchdown catch against Michigan State. The video that went viral also included former receiver Antwan Goodley attempting to hoist the big guy in the air like Baylor’s linemen do to the skill players. But McGowan maybe got an inch off the ground.

  This time around, though, All-America tackle Spencer Drango tried his hand, or hands, at lifting the big guy. With some success, Drango managed to get McGowan a couple of feet in the air, which created another viral video and thankfully not torn triceps in the process.

  The ironic part of McGowan’s touchdown was really his own availability for the game. On Thursday night before the team departed on Friday, the tight ends got together for dinner, a customary tradition for position groups to congregate at their position coach’s house. But later that evening, all of the players who ate dinner ended up sick to their stomachs. From Gus Penning to Jordan Feuerbacher to redshirt freshman Sam Tecklenburg, all of them found themselves hugging toilet seats that night, leaving them questionable to play in two days.

  Only one tight end didn’t make it over that night—McGowan, who certainly isn’t afraid to put away some food and easily could’ve been right there with the rest of the sick unit. By game time, Penning was able to play, but the Bears had to mostly use a four-receiver set throughout the game.

  Typically, even in the biggest of blowouts, Briles will put his starters in for at least one third-quarter series before pulling them from the game. But with a 52–7 lead at halftime, he didn’t want to risk any more injuries, so when the team came out for the third quarter, most of the offensive starters had their shoulder pads off. Russell, Coleman, KD Cannon, Shock Linwood, the entire starting offensive line, and even McGowan got the star treatment.

  The defensive starters stayed in for a couple of third-quarter series, which turned out to be record-breaking for Oakman. He got the sixteenth sack of his career, setting a new all-time Baylor mark.

  With the coaches all out of the booth and on the sidelines, the only issue now was to just stay healthy. The Bears were so banged up at running back coming into the matchup, unsure if both Devin Chafin and Linwood could even finish the game with lingering injuries, that they brought along redshirt freshman JaMycal Hasty, who hadn’t taken a snap all year, but would’ve been ready to burn his redshirt tag if needed. Fortunately, Baylor was able to run Terence Williams for the bulk of the second half.

  Freshman quarterback Jarrett Stidham, who was called “Steedham” for most of the Fox television broadcast by college announcer Tim Brando, continued to shine, throwing two more touchdowns as the Bears cruised to victory.

  Baylor went to 5–0, and more importantly, got out of the game without any more injuries, the Bears continuing to dominate a team that hadn’t beaten them during the Art Briles era. Up next, however, was an opponent that not only had their number, but just twelve months earlier had prevented Baylor from playing for the national championship.

  The players didn’t need a reminder of who was next on the schedule, although in the coming week, you could bet Kazadi and his staff weren’t about to let them forget.

  Sunday

  At 10 a.m., two security guards wearing AT&T Stadium badges carefully lifted two barricades to open up the Lot 4 parking lot, which is actually across the street, but still only a few hundred yards away from the doors of the stadium.

  On this morning, the early risers had stacked up lines all across the stadium in anticipation for this game and for the some five hours of preparation. For games like this, with the defending cha
mpion Patriots and their star quarterback, Tom Brady, the tailgating can’t start quick enough.

  In high school and college football, most teams never get to face the greatest players across the country. With fixed schedules years in advance, and the majority of the opponents immovable because of district and conference affiliations, it’s rare when they get to square off against the elite players.

  In the NFL, the matchups are infrequent, especially the inter-conference battles between AFC and NFC teams, but they will play every four years and visit all thirty-two teams at least every eight years. And that’s exactly how long it had been since Brady’s last game in Dallas, which was played at the old Texas Stadium that was imploded soon after AT&T Stadium was built in Arlington.

  Brady’s first, and possibly only, game at the place known as “Jerry World” nearly didn’t happen, as he was initially suspended five games for his involvement in the deflated footballs that surfaced in the 2014 AFC Championship Game against the Colts. Brady vehemently denied any wrongdoing but after a lengthy investigation by the NFL, Commissioner Roger Goodell handed down the suspension for Brady and wiped out the Patriots’ first-round pick in 2016. Brady contested there was never enough evidence to support these claims and after the U.S. district courts ruled that Goodell went too far in his punishment, Brady eventually won his case and the suspension was lifted.

  Ironically enough, it was first believed that Brady would miss the game against Tony Romo’s Cowboys. Now, it was Romo out of the lineup and Brady getting the chance to lead his Patriots to a 5–0 record.

  While the Cowboys’ main focus was to stop 12 in navy, there were plenty of 12 jerseys roaming the exterior of the stadium, hours before kickoff. Much has changed in the NFL in the last twenty years, but attendance by road-team fans nears the top of the list.

  In fact, even in the last three years, ticket brokers such as StubHub say out-of-region fans account for 40 percent of NFL tickets sold. In 2012, it was just 26 percent and in the 1990s, it was around 12 percent.

  Technology has made things easier for fans out of market to follow their team. If a job supplants a family from Dallas to the Tampa area, no longer is the avid football fan forced to adopt a new team, because that team is what they read about in the local paper and see on the evening news. With the Internet, smart phones, ESPN highlights, the NFL Network, and cable packages such as DirecTV, fans can remain loyal to their teams, even when their area codes change.

  Opposing fans often come from the opposing city, especially against the Cowboys. Since Dallas is a centrally located city with an accessible airport that takes flights from hundreds of U.S. cities, many fan bases from other teams pick Dallas as a destination to attend a game each year.

  So the thousands of Patriots fans in attendance for this game likely came from the Boston or northeast region, especially since it was their first trip to the Cowboys’ new stadium, which wasn’t so new anymore, having opened in 2009.

  Ironically enough, the last time the Patriots played in Dallas, Brady’s backup was none other than Matt Cassel, who was just in his third season and had only attempted thirty-nine passes and had yet to start a game. Cassel’s opportunity occurred in 2008 when Brady suffered a torn ACL in the first game of the season, opening the door for him to start the remaining fifteen games. While the Patriots did go 11–5, they missed the playoffs, which remains the only season since 2003 that New England has been home for the postseason.

  Cassel still parlayed that season into a contract with the Chiefs and later the Vikings and Bills before winding up in Dallas. Through the first two weeks, Cassel remained the backup to Weeden, but despite the Cowboys’ 0–2 record since Romo’s injury, a change in the rotation was not in the cards—at least not yet.

  So the Cassel vs. Brady matchup had to wait as the Cowboys stuck with Weeden, although owner Jerry Jones made some interesting remarks following the Saints game when he said Weeden had too many “limitations” in his game to be compared to a quarterback such as Brees, who had won a Super Bowl. And to think Weeden was about to face Brady and his four rings.

  But for the first time in a month, the primary focus for the Cowboys didn’t center on the quarterback position. They had Greg Hardy to thank for that.

  The Cowboys welcomed back two defensive starters who came off the NFL suspension list in both Hardy and Rolando McClain, who had violated the league’s substance abuse policy and was given four games. Hardy’s original 10-game suspension—for his involvement in a domestic violence charge that was later dropped when his ex-girlfriend failed to appear in court—was reduced to four.

  Since he had signed with the Cowboys in March, the team’s public relations department had not made Hardy available for interviews, as he politely declined repeated requests both at training camp and after preseason games. But with his suspension lifted and his preparing to face the Patriots in his first game, Hardy met reporters for the first time on Wednesday. He stood in front of his locker with perhaps thirty media members crammed around him, including ten cameramen, all making sure they didn’t miss the defensive end’s first official statements as a member of the Cowboys.

  For the first few minutes, it was rather tame, as he talked about his excitement to get back on the field. But over time, Hardy couldn’t help himself, using references such as “guns blazing” when describing how he expects to play Sunday.

  Had Jason Witten said that—no problem. But one of the things Hardy’s ex-girlfriend accused him of doing was throwing her onto a bed filled with assault rifles. Hardy also tried to make the media session playful when he said Tom Brady was “cool as crap” and then referenced his Brazilian fashion-model wife, Gisele Bündchen, asking reporters, “Have you seen his wife? I hope she comes to the game.”

  Nationally, columnists and reporters, most of which weren’t in attendance, had a field day roasting Hardy even more, suggesting his attempts at humor came across as unapologetic and lacking in remorse for the reasons he was suspended. One female reporter from USA Today ripped the Cowboys fans and the expectation that they would cheer for him on Sunday.

  Yet, they cheered, simply because Hardy gave them reason to. Like it or not, the Cowboys fans, desperate to see their team end a two-game losing streak, wanted to see success. And right away, Hardy made a difference, as did McClain, who teamed up for a sack on the first series. Hardy had two more sacks in the first half, as the Cowboys’ defense flew around the ball and knocked Brady on his rear, dropping him five times before halftime.

  Hardy wasn’t playing like someone making his Cowboys debut, and he wasn’t sounding like one on the sidelines, remaining vocal in between every series. He was offering encouragement to the younger players such as Jack Crawford, saying “Jack, Jack … more son! More son. More son. We need to take everything they’ve got.” And with that, Crawford sacked Brady on the ensuing possession.

  However, the Cowboys’ offense had little success, managing just two field goals for the entire game. Joseph Randle regained his starting post at running back, but gained only sixty yards on fifteen attempts. Weeden’s numbers were stagnant, as he threw for just 188 yards and one interception and was sacked three times.

  And in the second half, Brady and his group figured it out, torching the Cowboys’ secondary with big plays, eventually pulling away for what looked like a comfortable 34–6 victory to remain unbeaten.

  The Cowboys, meanwhile, were winless without Romo, falling to 2–3 with a third straight loss. But that didn’t seem to waver the confidence of the injured quarterback. In the middle of the field after the game, Romo and Brady met for a quick but standard handshake that has become a customary ritual for the quarterback fraternity to pay respects to their equals. Only Romo provided some semi-serious humor.

  “See you in February,” Romo said as he patted Brady on the chest, referring to a possible Super Bowl matchup in Arizona. Brady just laughed it off, knowing tha
t his team would more than likely have a legitimate chance to be there and defend its title. The Cowboys, meanwhile, had lost three straight games and would play at least five more without Romo in the lineup.

  In the locker room, reporters again huddled around Hardy, hoping for yet another headline-enticing quote. But when asked to grade himself and his performance, the menacing defensive end stared for seemingly three seconds at a reporter before his answer.

  “F—, we lost,” Hardy said. “Any other questions?”

  Oh, there were plenty of questions for Hardy, for the quarterback position, and for several other aspects of this team that had lost three straight games.

  The problem was, the Cowboys were quickly running out of answers.

  Chapter 8

  BRING IT HOME

  Friday

  No matter the size of the school, from the powerhouse 6A teams down to small-town six-man squads, and no matter the won-loss record, one annual event is synonymous throughout high school football:

  Homecoming.

  Teams can be undefeated and eyeing a state title, while others could be winless and just trying to keep games close. Either way, excitement always fills homecoming week, and for the Wildcats, it’s no exception.

  In fact, given Plano’s longstanding tradition, homecoming week is likely a much bigger deal to that community than in other places. The Thursday night homecoming parade brings out thousands of people, who line up across the streets of Parkhaven Drive and Westside Drive, which leads right to the gymnasium of the school.

  The traditional homecoming floats are a big hit, but the parade also includes a variety of organizational groups, including other sports teams such as soccer, volleyball, and even lacrosse. They unite, wear the team colors, and are supported throughout the community as featured members of the parade.

  “To me, this is what being a part of Plano Senior High School is all about,” Jaydon McCullough said just moments after this year’s parade and before the annual homecoming pep rally. “The support we get from the community is amazing. Every year, it seems like more people show up than the previous year.”