HCS Mailbag: Gambling, Rule Changes, K-State’s Toughest Non-Con Game
Welcome to the HCS Big 12 mailbag. This mailbag is for all you football junkies out there who root for a Big 12 school, and not only have questions about your team but other teams in the conference as well. So, join me, grab a cold brew or your favorite drink, and relax as I answer all your Big 12 questions. I want to thank each one of you who submitted a question this week and for tonight’s drink of choice? Take a look for yourself. Cheers!
You are definitely right about Florida and Arizona State being trainwrecks, but I am still not completely sold on Emory Jones as a great quarterback. When it comes to running the football, perhaps no quarterback in the Big 12 is better than Jones, but that’s really never been the issue with him. The problem is he is a below-average passer, at best, which means he is going to be limited in almost any offense. Honestly, I have my doubts about Scott Satterfield as a head coach too, but I do expect him to get more out of Emory than what Florida and Arizona State did.
Since you are an Iowa State fan, I am sure that you are aware of the situation at Iowa State and that there are several players involved with the whole gambling there. Obviously, the main name coming from that is quarterback Hunter Dekkers and we will see how that turns out. With that said, I like the new gambling rule changes from the NCAA. In short, the size of the bet determines the punishment in each situation. I also want to say that I do not like minors gambling and those players should be punished more than the players old enough to do it. To me, as long as a player isn’t gambling on the game they are playing, I really don’t have a problem with it, but the NCAA feels differently about that.
When I first saw this question I was confused, but then when I looked at Kansas State’s schedule, I completely get why you would ask it. The Wildcats play Southeast Missouri State, Troy, and Missouri in the non-conference. Missouri is the only road game out of those three, which is why I think it will be the toughest, so my answer is false. Don’t get me wrong, Troy is a solid football team, and they could win the Sun Belt but at least Kansas State gets the Trojans at home. I expect Columbia to be rocking in Week 3 when Kansas State comes to town, especially after that butt-kicking the Wildcats gave them a year ago.
I am assuming you are talking about the new clock rule. The rule is now that the clock doesn’t stop after a first down, with the exception of the final two minutes of either half. I believe that rule is going to benefit every team, depending on the circumstances of a game. If you want to go to which teams here, I would say any team that loves running the football. When I think of an offense controlling the game, I automatically think about Kansas State. They have been the best example over the years of controlling the game on the ground, and this new rule will only help them. But of course, other teams will use this to their benefit as well. I don’t really see it being a negative for any team in particular.
I have not spoken to Josh Pate from 247Sports, and to be completely honest I don’t watch his show either, but I have seen clips of him on Twitter. He seems like a nice guy, and I will say that he speaks incredibly well. He is not boring by any means, unlike a lot of other national guys out there. However, I just really don’t watch a lot of national media members or listen to them. If I want to know something about a certain team or conference, I can find someone who primarily specializes in what I am looking for. Also, I want to say that there are some excellent team podcasts and sites out there in the Big 12 that do an incredible job as well, which I do enjoy on a regular basis.
