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West Virginias Skyler Howard is counting on a record 2015 bowl performance to help put to rest all that talk that he wasnt talented enough to be a starting quarterback in the Big 12.Howard heads into his senior season hoping for much more against teams he watched growing up in Fort Worth, Texas.As a kid you want to be one of the elite quarterbacks, he said. But if Im not, thats OK, too. Because Ive never been that guy, actually. Ive always came from the bottom. It doesnt surprise me that Ive got to work my way up. Im excited to do it. I like being the underdog because its what Im used to.Attaining elite status might be difficult considering nearly all the starting quarterbacks returning in the Big 12, among them Oklahomas Baker Mayfield, Baylors Seth Russell, Texas Techs Patrick Mahomes and Oklahoma States Mason Rudolph.Lightly recruited and often hearing he was too slow and too short, the 6-foot Howard fought for respect in his first full season as a starter in 2015. He was fifth among conference quarterbacks both in passing yards and total offense, and fourth in touchdown passes. He also threw the second-most interceptions.The math shows Howard needs to improve his accuracy, and hell get that chance behind a veteran offensive line and a speedy group of returning receivers.Howard completed just 55 percent of his passes, throwing for 3,145 yards with 26 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Although his receivers dropped multiple throws, Howard takes the brunt of the blame.My completion percentage definitely needs some work, Howard said. Thats one thing that Im focusing on right now is just putting the ball in play. If I have more completions, then I have more yards.A confidence boost came in the Cactus Bowl, where Howard threw for a bowl-record 532 yards and five touchdowns in a 43-42 win over Arizona State as the Mountaineers ended the season 8-5.That game let Howard and his teammates establish a mentality that we can go out there and do this every game, he said. It raised our bar higher to expect good things to happen rather than not. I feel like it carried over into the offseason.Howard also aims to avoid repeating his mistakes. During losses to ranked teams Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Baylor and TCU in October, Howard failed to complete half his throws in each game and was intercepted six times. Three of those came against Oklahoma, when he also had two fumbles, one of which was returned for a touchdown.West Virginia was seventh in the 10-team league in third down conversions. Coach Dana Holgorsen wants to give Howard more time as a pocket passer and better hone his timing with his receivers, including on intermediate routes.West Virginia threw the ball only 41 percent of the time last year amid the emergence of Big 12 rushing leader Wendell Smallwood. Smallwood is now in the NFL, meaning Howard could see his production chances increase.Winning games and losing games, everybody points the finger at me, Holgorsen said. Being effective in the passing game, everybody points the finger at him.Top receiver Shelton Gibson, who had 887 yards and nine touchdowns a year ago, has no doubts about Howards abilities to remain in top form when the season begins at home Sept. 3 against Missouri.Me and Skyler had that connection so long ago, Gibson said. Its just there. Hes getting it done with the other receivers. Everythings coming together.---AP college football website: www.collegefootball.ap.orgWholesale Yeezy Shop . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. Wholesale Yeezy China . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed. https://www.yeezychina.us/ .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage. Discount Yeezy Store . The head of USA Boxing came out swinging Tuesday with an open letter to Tyson -- a former Olympic hopeful himself -- that accuses the former heavyweight champion of trying to poach fighters who might be candidates for the U. Fake Yeezy Online . Howard Ganz, an MLB lawyer, said in a letter to U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos that Rodriguezs claims do not come "remotely close" to what is needed to overturn an arbitration decision in federal court.Editors note: Howard Bryant made his way around the US Open on Tuesday. Below are his rapid reactions to the days events.NEW YORK -- If there was a common theme that permeated the grounds on Day 2 of the US Open, it was trust. Do the players who are elite but not in the class of Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray trust that they have the ability to win this championship? And what is it about this handful of players that gives pause to my trust in them?Match 1GRANDSTAND: Kei Nishikori def. Benjamin Becker 6-1, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3There is unquestionable brilliance in Nishikori. The backhand is clean, deadly, confident. The footwork is textbook. The forehand whips and slashes. He is one of the games great returners. Hes the world No. 7 who two years ago on these grounds beat Novak Djokovic and reached his only Grand Slam final. Nishikori has been around forever and is only 26 years old. He just beat Rafael Nadal in Rio to win a bronze medal.Yet, and I feel almost guilty to say it about a player so talented, I dont trust Nishikori because of that serve, that pancake serve of his. The numbers say Im wrong. Even when he was rolling 6-1, 6-1 against Becker, he was converting only 50 percent of his first serves. On the year, hes at 61.2, 33rd on tour, which is not good but is higher than Andy Murray. Murray wins more of his first-serve points, however. Nishikori is 40th. He was tossing in 96 mph first serves, 82 mph seconds.On Nishikoris second serve, Becker got great, aggressive swings, but Nishikori still won 68 percent of his second serves. For the match, he held 14 of 16 service games. Still, I remain unsure. If a 35-year old journeyman such as Becker could take home run cuts on Nishikoris serve, just imagine what a Djokovic or Murray would do.Maybe theres no way out for Nishikori. Hes 5-foot-10 in a game of giants. Hes never going to serve like Ivo Karlovic, and to believe in Nishikori is to believe his legs and game can overcome his underpowered service game. No player under 6-foot has won a Slam since Lleyton Hewitt won Wimbledon in 2002. But maybe thats also why trust is sometimes irrational, because in the end, despite the third-set dip Tuesday, Nishikori pretty much destroyed Becker and did exactly what he was supposed to do in a first-round match: win, and win convincingly.Match 2ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM: Stan Waawrinka def.dddddddddddd Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-4Whats not to trust about the Wawrinka? He denied Nadal a 15th major by winning his first Slam at the 2014 Australian Open. Wawrinka denied Novak Djokovic his first French Open and a career Grand Slam by winning at Roland Garros for the first time in 2015. Wawrinka has beaten Andy Murray three of their last four meetings, including a straight-sets beatdown here in 2013, when Murray was defending champion. Wawrinka, who has been as high as third in the world, beat Roger Federer at the Australian Open and teamed with Federer to win the Davis Cup for Switzerland. Wawrinka belongs.Nothing he did against Verdasco hurt that resume. Wawrinka was better when he had to be and backed off and watched Verdasco implode as he does with that special Fernando mix of spectacular forehands followed by crushing double faults and butchered volleys. And who knew the first set tiebreak was going to mean so much? Verdasco won the first point on Wawrinkas serve, and then lost the next three and didnt win a really important exchange for the rest of the match. Wawrinka played like the guy who is supposed to handle business and get off a hot court in the early rounds of a tournament: nothing to see here.The problem is that after winning two majors and being a top-five player, theres something about Wawrinkas game that still plays like a puncher. He is the streakiest, most dangerous player in tennis -- far more dangerous than shot-makers such as Fabio Fognini or machine-gun servers such as Karlovic and John Isner, who can have a day and beat anyone. Unlike those guys, Wawrinka has proved that he can be hot enough and good enough to win the whole thing.Its the Other Side of Stan -- losing to No. 114 Juan Monaco in Rome, a Masters 1000, crashing out to Andrey Kuznetsov in Miami, another Masters event - that causes the trust issues to arise. Wawrinka has too many dips for a great player, giving pause to the great lie that after winning a major, players will automatically be elevated to the upper class. Not true (see Stosur, Samantha).Still, Wawrinka is through to the second round -- but, because the Other Side of Stan is always lurking, the trust issues remain. ' ' '