By Wendell Barnhouse
Big12Sports.com Correspondent
Saturday’s Big 12 Conference game with sixth-ranked Baylor is the news this week in Austin. It’s also news that as of Wednesday, Charlie Strong had not announced any player dismissals.
While some might view Strong’s disciplinary approach as over the top, his adherence to his principles – from Day One – has been admirable. The Longhorns who have been dismissed ran afoul of five simple “core values” - honesty, treat women with respect, no drugs, no stealing, no guns. Those players who remain have followed the rules.
Strong’s no nonsense approach has made most of the headlines on the Forty Acres over the last nine months. Over the weekend, there was attention of a different but also worthwhile kind.
The NFL’s recent stumbles regarding domestic violence brought commissioner Roger Goodell to Austin. Saturday he visited the headquarters of the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Sunday morning Goodell had breakfast with 10 former NFL players and then he met with Strong. The main topic of conversation was how the UT coach was dispensing old-school justice in the Modern Era.
“The man is taking a stand,” Troy Vincent, NFL vice president of football operations, told SI.com. “He made it clear that playing at Texas is a privilege, not a right. Basically, you have to be willing to let your best player go.”
During the meeting in the coach’s office, Strong pointed to a picture of his two daughters and said, “This is a constant reminder to me. I just think about my daughters. No means no. Here, if you put your hands on a woman, you are through.”
At his weekly news conference, Strong was asked about the meeting with Goodell.
“Also we just talked about the character of athletes," Strong said. "I said to him what is happening in the NFL is we're sending you some players that have questionable character, and I said you're giving them a lot of money.
"You give somebody who has bad character a lot of money, that's a situation probably you want to avoid. We have to do a better job in college of just preparing young men and doing a better job with their character."
A Thank You From Auburn To K-State
Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs sent the following letter to the editor of the Kansas State student paper (The Collegian) after the Tigers’ visit to Manhattan on Sept. 18:
I wanted to thank Kansas State Athletic Director Jon Currie, K-State's spirited student body and its first-class fans for making our recent trip to Manhattan a memorable one.
We like to boast that we have the best game day experience in the nation in the Southeastern Conference, but the environment at K- State is as good as I have ever seen. In the days since our trip to Manhattan, many of our fans have told me it was the best they have ever been treated on a road trip. Considering how many road games some of our fans attend, that is saying a lot.
The hospitality was outstanding. I can understand the courteousness prior to the game, but the way we were treated after the game was such a pleasant surprise. You are all first class.
You should also be proud of your beautiful campus and its outstanding athletic facilities. The football facilities are especially impressive, and our fans enjoyed seeing them.
Thank you again for the hospitality. We thoroughly enjoyed a hard-fought game and a wonderful environment. In years to come, we will have forgotten the score, but we will always remember how well we were treated.
We wish you the very best of luck for the remainder of the season.
Short Yardage
* Kansas State’s Kyle Klein, a redshirt junior receiver and the younger brother of former standout quarterback Collin Klein, will seek a medical redshirt for this season. He has been sidelined with an undisclosed injury. Last season he caught five passes for 59 yards.
* TCU coach Gary Patterson was 12-7 against ranked teams prior to 2012. Since joining the Big 12, the Frogs are just 2-7 against ranked teams, including five consecutive losses.
* Oklahoma special teams coordinator Jay Boulware isn’t concerned that the Sooners ranked 102nd in punt returns. Receiver Sterling Shepard, in his first season returning punts has gained 40 yards on six returns. “He’s new back there,” Boulware told The Oklahoman. “Some guys are new and they drop the ball. Some guys are new and it takes them a little while to know when they can take it and when they can’t. He’s doing a good job catching it, so he’ll work his way through anything else that might be coming up in terms of getting a better feel back there.”
* Kansas State has won the last three games with Texas Tech, ending a five-game losing streak to the Red Raiders. Texas Tech won those five games by the average margin of 30 points.
* Iowa State’s special teams have been a strength. The Cyclones lead the Big 12 in punt returns, punting, field goal percentage (tied) and extra point percentage (tied). IN national statistics, Iowa State is second in punt returns, seventh in kickoff return defense, 10th in punt return defense and 12th in net punting.
* In 28 games under coach Charlie Weis, Kansas quarterbacks completed 47.6 percent of their passes for 21 TDs, 32 interceptions and 4,101 yards. To contrast and compare: Last season, Baylor’s Bryce Petty in 13 games threw for 4,200 yards, 32 TDs and just three picks.
Audibles
Iowa State defensive coordinator Wally Burnham was asked how he celebrated his birthday Tuesday:
“I’m going to get a sandwich while I watch tape.”
Kansas State defensive end Ryan Mueller on his team’s game with Texas Tech and a chance to start 2-0 in Conference play:
"The Big 12 games are so important. You just have to win them. It doesn't matter how. You just have to win those ball games."
Texas Tech linebacker Sam Eguavoen on Kansas State’s consistent play:
“They are like fundamentally-sound robots out there, built never to make a mistake. You can’t mess up against them, because they never mess up. They leave no room for error, because Kansas State has perfected the fundamentals. They just wait for you to make a mistake and then they beat you.”
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops on the importance of balancing running plays with passing plays:
“I couldn’t care less. I’d like to score 50 a game and that’s all I’d be concerned about. “Whenever we say we want to be balanced, it isn’t 50/50. You want to be effective running and throwing just so that if somebody in a particular way tries to defend you that you can take advantage of them. That’s what we mean by being balanced.”