Print edition: 
DALLAS — Texas A&M football coach Mike Sherman opened his news conference Monday by saying the Big 12 needs the Aggies to return to national prominence.
For that to happen, their hopes lie with two stars.
On offense, everything will revolve around senior quarterback Jerrod Johnson. The athletic signal caller returns as one of the most respected players in the conference, and has proven himself as a big-time playmaker.
But Aggies coach Mike Sherman says Johnson's big-play capabilities will count for nothing if he fails to believe in the players around him.
"He has to let the system work for him instead of him work the system," Sherman said. "If he allows the game to come to him, I think it will be a lot better for him and for us than for him to just try to always make the play, always try to be the guy."
On defense, Von Miller will be the focal point. The senior defensive end/linebacker will try to build on the whopping 17 sacks he recorded last season on his way to first-team All-American honors. That won't be easy.
But neither will Texas A&M taking a big step forward in its journey towards regaining the elite football status it once enjoyed.
For Miller, the challenge is to become a complete defender.
"Von may very easily have diminished statistics from last year in relationship to stats but be a more capable player," Sherman said. "My whole objective with him is that he distracts an offense, that he causes concern for a quarterback. He takes him out of his rhythm. If he does that, he does his job."
Baylor hopeful with Griffin — Early on last season, hype was building around Baylor. The Bears had a nice win over Wake Forest on the resume and an up-and-coming quarterback in Robert Griffin.
Then Griffin went down with a season-ending injury, and the hype disappeared. Baylor never recovered.
"When he got injured a lot of things changed for us," said Baylor's Antonio Johnson. "The intensity went down. People weren't too confident."
That showed on the field. Baylor ended the season by losing seven of its last eight games. Instead of finally qualifying for a bowl game, the Bears had just one conference win to their name.
But now that Griffin is healthy again, they have put that disappointment behind them. Baylor coach Art Briles believes Griffin will return to his original form, and teammates are once again confident.
With Griffin on the field, they always are.
"I think he's going to be even better than he was before," said Baylor defensive tackle Phil Taylor of Griffin. "He's more humble now, and coming back lot stronger. He's coming back wanting to do whatever he has to for his team to win."
Sunflower losses led to big conquest — Iowa State pulled off one of the biggest upsets in college football last season when the Cyclones beat Nebraska 9-7 in Lincoln.
Eight Nebraska turnovers paved the way, but Cyclones Coach Paul Rhoads said the outcome wouldn't have been possible without earlier last-minute losses to Kansas State and Kansas.
"For a program that hasn't won with any kind of consistency, when they lose games like those, they fold up the tents," Rhoads said. "They question what's being taught and whether they're every going to get it done. Our guys came back to work and believed that if they kept doing what we asked them to do they would find success. In two weeks time, that happened."
