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Briles: Everything OK as long as No. 5 Baylor wins

By WTOP Staff

STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer

WACO, Texas (AP) — Baylor coach Art Briles smiled when someone started to ask about quarterback Bryce Petty’s subpar game.

As for the No. 5 Bears having to depend on their running game, needing some big special teams plays and scoring only half their previous season average in a grind-it-out 28-7 win at Texas, that doesn’t bother Briles, either.

“I know that all that’s good talk about the points and everything, but we’ve been slowed down before,” Briles said Monday. “It’s not a deal to where we’re like something’s wrong. Everything’s OK as long as you’re winning.”

Unlike so many other ranked teams, Baylor (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) survived the weekend of upsets and is now the Big 12’s highest-ranked team going into Saturday’s home game against No. 9 TCU (4-0, 1-0).

The Horned Frogs pulled off one of those upsets last weekend, 37-33 at home against then-No. 4 Oklahoma. They moved up 16 spots in the poll, setting up only the second top-10 matchup ever in Waco. The other was Baylor losing to Texas A&M 19-13 in 1956.

Only Michigan State has had a bigger jump in the history of The Associated Press rankings, improving 17 spots from No. 19 to No. 2 on Oct. 2, 1950.

On the second Saturday in October, when Texas and No. 11 Oklahoma play their traditional game at the State Fair of Texas, the Red River Rivalry won’t even be the biggest game in Texas. The third game ever at Baylor’s new on-campus stadium along the Brazos River, about 100 miles south of the State Fair of Texas, will leave the Big 12 with only one undefeated team halfway through the first season with the first four-team College Football Playoff.

Briles still isn’t putting too much into the Bears’ standing, even though they are in a prime position if they keep winning. The three teams directly ahead of them in the poll — No. 2 Auburn and Nos. 3 Ole Miss and Mississippi State — all still have head-to-head matchups left.

“It just means we’ve done OK up to this point,” the coach said. “We’ve got to play well against a really good TCU football team.”

Baylor’s series with TCU dates to 1899, the Bears’ first season of football and when both private schools were located in Waco. They were later Southwest Conference rivals, and became league foes again in 2012 after the Frogs joined the Big 12. The series is tied 51-51-7, and they have split the two Big 12 games with both winning on the road.

The Bears have a 12-game home winning streak since losing to TCU at their old stadium in October 2012.

At Texas on Saturday, reigning Big 12 offensive player of the year Petty was 7-of-22 passing for 111 yards. Shock Linwood ran 28 times for 148 yards with a 1-yard TD in the fourth quarter.

Petty did throw two touchdowns after halftime, the first making it 14-0 only three plays after punter Spencer Roth ran 19 yards on a fake punt he called on his own. Until that point, the only Baylor score was Terrell Burt’s 62-yard return of a blocked field goal.

“You just play as well as you can as long as you can, and then when you get in the situations where things may not be smoothly as they were previously, find a way to win,” Briles said. “That’s kind of what we tried to achieve Saturday, and Bryce, I thought did a great job of engineering touchdown drives when we needed them to win the football game.”

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Don’t Settle for Student Loans to Pay for Online Education

By WTOP Staff
Online college programs are becoming a more popular choice for prospective students, with one study finding that more than 6 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2015. The popularity of these courses can be attributed in part to their flexibility with working adults' schedules, students' ability to progress more quickly through online programs and, oftentimes, cheaper tuition. [See 10 low-cost online bachelor's programs for out-of-state students.]Online degrees can be beneficial to many college students, but some studies have shown online learners complete their programs at lower rates than students at traditional brick-and-mortar campuses. Individuals with student loans but no degree comprise two-thirds of defaulted borrowers. Though these numbers are not encouraging, just like for traditional programs, there are ways to reduce how much you'll need to borrow for an online program to ensure you won't become one of these statistics. Don't just settle on borrowing student loans to cover the whole cost of your program and living expenses. Instead, start thinking about how to cut costs and cover your balance in different ways, such as the following. -- Grants and scholarships: Even though you are taking an online course, you can still apply and receive grants and scholarships. But your first step should be to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly referred to as the FAFSA, which will allow you to receive a Pell Grant if your expected family contribution is low enough. The EFC criteria and award amounts are adjusted annually, but the 2017-2018 academic year awards range from $606 to $5,920, which could significantly lower the amount you borrow annually. Your next step is to apply for scholarships. You can start by checking online scholarship search engines, such as the Salt Scholarship Search, College Board's BigFuture and Peterson's. But don't forget to take advantage of local organizations and your school's financial aid office. Both may offer scholarships that you can't find with a national scholarship search. [Review these 10 sites to kick off your scholarship search.]For instance, organizations like the Elks Club, Knights of Columbus or the Rotary Club typically offer scholarships annually to local students. Just because you're going to school online doesn't mean you're ineligible. Visit your local library for scholarship listings, and ask around town. You might be surprised how many local organizations offer scholarships. While these scholarships typically aren't large, every little bit counts. Each dollar you receive in a scholarship is a dollar you don't have to borrow and pay interest on. -- Work-study: Another option for online students may be work-study awards. Not all students enrolled in online programs are eligible, but students at some schools -- including, for example, SUNY Empire State College and Liberty University -- are. Work-study awards are not given upfront like scholarships and grants. In most cases, they are an offer to earn up to the awarded amount if you secure an eligible work-study job. While there is a misconception that all work-study jobs must be on campus, students can work for off-campus, nonprofit or public employers as long as the work is in the public's interest. You may be able to work for a for-profit employer if the job is relevant to your course of study. No matter who the outside employer is, it will need to have an established agreement with your college for you to receive work-study funds. Remember, to be eligible for federal financial aid, you must be enrolled and pursuing a degree or certificate. If you're not working toward a credential, Pell Grants and work-study won't be option, but you may still be able to take advantage of private scholarships -- just be sure to read the eligibility criteria carefully. [Explore what to know about financial aid in online programs.]-- Pay as you go: One of the great benefits to enrolling online is the flexible schedule, which can allow you to complete your college coursework around your responsibilities. But prospective students often overlook using their part- or full-time job earnings as an option for paying for college. Almost 80 percent of college students in 2015 worked at least part time while attending classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By budgeting and thinking strategically about your college costs, you can likely reduce your dependence on student loans by paying a portion out of pocket. Many -- but not all -- online programs are less expensive than traditional programs and often have shorter payment periods. Six, eight or 10 weeks are common course durations. Because of the frequency of payments in an online setting, you may be well-placed to pay as you go and possibly avoid borrowing altogether. Attending college online and avoiding student loans may be challenging, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you can limit the amount you need to borrow. More from U.S. News Q&A: Understanding Student Loan Discharge Eligibility Student Loan Refinancing Isn't Right for All Borrowers
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