Jacob Zeno should be the guy heading forward

Heading into Week 15, three players had thrown passes on Baylor’s roster: Charlie Brewer (295 attempts), Gerry Bohanon (1) and… running back Trestan Ebner (1). Talented freshman Jacob Zeno finally got into the game down big against Oklahoma State and looked the part. 

Zeno completed 5-of-8 passes for 18 yards, ran for 13 yards and led Baylor’s only sustained drive of the day. The Bears went 57 yards in 14 plays with Zeno on the field; no other Bears drive went longer than 22 yards. But more than anything, Zeno’s arm talent stuck out like a sore thumb in an offense that desperately needed better quarterback play. 

Aranda revealed during the final press conference that Zeno has been the No. 2 quarterback on the depth chart for weeks now. Admittedly, it’s hard to understand why it would take Charlie Brewer suffering an injury for Zeno to get even a single snap during a miserable 2-7 season. Baylor has to hope that its bizarre decision making doesn’t cost it heading into 2021 with an inexperienced quarterback and likely at least one transfer. Don't mess it up; Zeno is the guy. 

TCU’s skill talent is insane

TCU’s offense has been inconsistent all year long. Finally, against Louisiana Tech, the offense had a chance to put it all together, and it started with the underclassmen. 

Freshman running backs Kendre Miller and Zach Evans combined for 266 yards and four scores on 12 combined carries. Freshman wide receiver Quentin Johnston caught five passes for 133 yards and a touchdown despite the Horned Frogs throwing the ball just 14 times. That doesn’t even count runners Darwin Barlow and Daimarqua Foster, who both didn’t play much. 

Now the question: Can Max Duggan and the offensive line talent on campus be enough to get it right? That’s hard to say. Duggan has shown flashes of greatness, but not consistently enough. The line has been a real issue and made Duggan’s life harder. Simply put, finishing with some of the Big 12’s most erratic offenses is not good enough with all the talent on the outside. Gary Patterson has to do something about it. 

Jaelon Darden is having an all-time season

North Texas wide receiver Jaelon Darden caught eight passes for 173 yards and four touchdowns. When he came into the interview room, he was holding a plastic bag with his four touchdowns in tow, part of a 19-touchdown campaign – in just nine games. 

Truly, it’s hard to contextualize how good Darden has been this season. Darden has 19 of UNT’s 25 passing touchdowns. He has 74 receptions in nine games during a season where his quarterbacks are completing just 54 percent of their passes. He’s produced more than 46 percent of UNT’s passing offense. Oh, and by the way, he’s done it as a 5-foot-9 slot receiver who simply runs better routes than everyone else. 

There have been a number of good receiver talents to walk through North Texas the past few years, but Darden is special. Remember Jaelon Darden – he’s the best receiver in UNT history. 

The pieces are there at Rice

Before quarterback JoVoni Johnson let the game with an injury, it really looked like Rice was about to pull a second-straight upset on the road against UAB. The Owls were clicking on defense and just playing bully ball on offense with JoVoni Johnson doing just enough at quarterback. 

Unfortunately, Johnson got hurt in the fourth quarter and Wiley Green struggled, completing just 2-of-10 passes. Remember though, Rice was down to its third-string quarterback with Mike Collins injured. There’s a lot of promise on this team. 

The final score was 21-16 against a team that will be playing for a Conference USA championship next week. For Mike Bloomgren and his team, this abbreviated season was something to build on. When Collins and running back Juma Otaviano re-enter the mix next season, watch out. 

The foundation is building at UTEP

Through two seasons of Dana Dimel at UTEP, there wasn’t much to be encouraged about. After a number of close games during Dimel’s first season, the second year was a disaster. Well, finally there seems to be a light. 

North Texas isn’t the best defense, but it’s a talented team. UTEP’s lines mauled them on both sides, clearing the way for 301 rushing yards and four rushing scores and holding the Mean Green to 4.2 yards per carry. Plus, running back Deion Hankins and wide receiver Jacob Cowing each posted a pair of touchdowns. 

Finally, 2020 seemed like a season where UTEP belonged on the field with other FBS football teams. Losing to UNT by two and Louisiana Tech by four is encouraging. There’s still a tremendous amount of work to do, but UTEP should legitimately expect to enter 2021 as a consistently competitive football team. ???????