New Baylor football coach Art Briles might have already decided who his starting quarterback will be when the Bears open the season Thursday night with a home game against Wake Forest, but he hasn't told anyone who it will be.

Briles didn't sound too concerned about the matter Monday morning on the first Big 12 Conference coaches' call of the season, just three days from game day in Waco, Texas.

"My left guard call is just as pressing as making the call there, because every position to us is of equal value," Briles said.

Candidates for the job include Blake Szymanski, who played in 11 games last season and threw for 2,844 yards, junior college transfer Jeremy Sanders and freshman Robert Griffin, who looked good throughout spring ball.

Griffin is the most intriguing player because of the other skills he brings to the table beyond throwing the ball. He is an exceptionalathlete. He won the Texas Gatorade track athlete of the year award last spring in high school, where he excelled in hurdles, among other events.

"It's not a deal where we're trying to be sly or countdown or do anything like that," Briles said.

Odds and ends from CU

Starting Colorado tight end Riar Geer will miss the first two games of the season after undergoing an arthroscopic knee surgery late last week to relieve a chronic cartilage problem. Team athletic trainers hope he is able to return for the West Virginia game Sept. 18.

It has been a long offseason for Geer, who was suspended from the team in the spring after being arrested and charged with felony assault for an off-campus fistfight. He pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge instead. He has not been suspended for any games because of the off-field incident. ...

Coach Dan Hawkins seems to get so few questions in the Monday Big 12 Conference call. He is without a doubt one of the most quotable coaches in the country, but he doesn't come across that way on the call for some reasons. Maybe he tries to tone it down. Local media rarely ask him questions on the call because we have access to him and his players on Sunday evenings throughout the season.

Study guide

The Buffs will be paying special attention this weekend to the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who open the season against Eastern Washington, the Buffs' Week 2 opponent.

Eastern Washington is ranked No. 7 in the Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) and won't be taken lightly by either the Red Raiders or the Buffs after Appalachian State opened last season with a shocking upset at Michigan. The Buffs also have fresh memories of their 2006 loss to Montana State.

Red Raiders coach Mike Leach said he is likely to use all three of his tailbacks in the opener because none of them -- Shannon Woods, Baron Batch or Aaron Crawford -- has clearly outplayed the others. ...

Leach is continuing his policy against releasing injury information this year. He was asked Monday about the status of cornerback L.A. Reed, who has been spotted wearing a protective boot.

"The Red Raiders haven't had any injuries happening," Leach said. "It's been kind of remarkable. To the best of my knowledge, he'll (Reed) play well ... like gangbusters."

Big trouble

Texas A&M running back Jorvorskie Lane, a 285-pound senior, hasn't been cleared to play in the season opener against Arkansas State on Saturday night because of a neck injury that has kept him out of most drills for the past two weeks.

The Aggies have little depth in their backfield behind Lane and starting tailback Mike Goodson.

Coming on

At Big 12 football media days in Kansas City last month, no one was more impressed with Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman than Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman.

He flat out said he believes he is the best quarterback in a conference loaded with returning talent at the position, including Missouri's Chase Daniel and Oklahoma's Sam Bradford. Freeman, who has worked with quarterbacks coach Warren Ruggiero extensively this month, has done nothing in fall camp to make his head coach think he can't back up his words.

"I think Josh is our most improved player on offense," KSU coach Ron Prince said. "I would attribute it to Warren doing a great job. His knowledge of the scheme and the little small things within those really has given our quarterback a boost of confidence."

I'm with him

Texas coach Mack Brown isn't fond of preseason rankings. He calls them a "beauty contest" and I couldn't agree more. There is no good reason to be ranking teams before a game has been played.

"I don't look at any of the preseason rankings because I think they're absolutely foolish," Brown said. "We guess at all of them. I wouldn't rank a team until at least midseason, probably about October."