Explosive Baylor personnel to challenge Iowa State on all fronts

AMES - Baylor quarterback Seth Russell hasn't missed a beat in directing the air raid offensive attack for which his team has become so well known

His 317.8 yards per game through the air and 27 passing touchdowns are not unlike the gaudy numbers his predecessors put up, but there's a caveat. Last week in a blowout of West Virginia, Russell made the defense pay with his feet, giving defensive players and staffs new headaches in the process.

'That's the only thing that stood out to me, him running the ball for 160 yards,” said ISU linebacker Jordan Harris. 'I knew he was a great passer and has great weapons around him, but when he ran for 160, I was like, ‘Dang, this guy can do it all.'”

Iowa State has played two other top-three offenses in the past two weeks, but no team does it quite like Baylor. The Bears (6-0, 3-0) average 63.8 points per game and 719.7 total yards of offense and boast All-American caliber weapons at every level of their offense.

Russell is the catalyst. He ranks first among FBS quarterbacks in passing efficiency (210.0), yards per completion (18.5) and passing touchdowns. But the underrated part of his game the Cyclones (2-4, 1-2) have been paying most attention to is how he uses his 6-foot-3, 220-pound frame in the rushing attack.

'He runs better than you think he does from a speed standpoint, but he's a powerful runner too,” said Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads. 'He'll run you over and he doesn't concern himself with his health in that kind of situation. If he needs to drop his shoulder, he's going to drop his shoulder.”

Baylor receiver Corey Coleman provides Russell with numbers worthy of a Heisman trophy candidate on the outside, too. He's third in the Big 12 in receptions per game (6.8) and second in receiving yards (146.2) behind only Josh Doctson of TCU.

Through six games, Coleman has 16 touchdown catches, which broke Baylor's single-season school record (14). West Virginia coach Dana Holgerson called Coleman the best player in college football.

'Not a very exciting thought to me, that kind of comment,” Rhoads said. 'He's a great, great football player. He's a touchdown ready to happen every single snap.”

Running back Shock Linwood completes the three-headed monster that headlines the Baylor offense. His 133.8 yards per game leads the Big 12 and he averages 8.5 yards per rush.

'You get people deployed to defend Coleman, you get a one-on-one tackle situation in space and he makes a guy miss or a guy doesn't make a great tackle and there's nobody else but the back judge,” Rhoads said. 'And he hasn't made a tackle yet.”

Iowa State will have its hands full up front on offense as well with defensive end Shawn Oakman. At 6-foot-9 and 275 pounds, Oakman's athleticism sets him apart from most other players his size and has helped him to 17 tackles (7.5 for loss) in five games.

The Bears rank third in the conference in total defense, allowing 381.5 yards per game, and will face an ISU offense that struggled to produce for the final three quarters last week.

'He's a real freak athlete,” lineman Jake Campos said of Oakman. 'He's a huge guy coming out. He presents a different challenge than a lot of guys because he's going to have a length advantage on me, which most guys don't have.”

l Comments: montzdylan@gmail.com