Sept. 10, 2000
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MINNESOTA at BAYLOR
Floyd Casey Stadium (50,000)
Waco, Texas
September 16, 2000 * 11:38 a.m. (CDT)
The Skinny
Baylor (1-0, 0-0 Big 12) opens the home portion of its 2000 season by hosting Minnesota (1-1, 0-0 Big Ten) at Floyd Casey Stadium (50,000).
Coaches
Kevin Steele (Tennessee, 1981) is 2-10 in his second season at Baylor. He has never faced Minnesota.
Minnesota's Glen Mason (Ohio State, 1972) is 16-19 in his fourth season as the Golden Gopher's head coach, 75-83-1 in his 15th season overall. He is 0-2 against Baylor, with both games coming while he was head coach at Kansas. The Jayhawks lost to the Bears 27-14 in Lawrence in 1988 and 46-3 in Waco in 1989.
Series
Baylor and Minnesota have never met on the gridiron.
Baylor In Home Openers
The Bears are 73-20-5 all-time in home openers, including a 35-15 mark since moving to Floyd Casey Stadium in 1950.
Baylor vs. the Big Ten
Baylor is 2-8-1 all-time against current members of the Big Ten Conference. The Bears are 1-0 vs. Illinois, 1-2 vs. Indiana, 0-1-1 vs. Michigan, 0-1 vs. Michigan State, 0-2 vs. Ohio State, 0-1 vs. Penn State and 0-1 vs. Purdue.
Minnesota is only the second Big Ten team to visit Waco. The Bears defeated Indiana, 10-0, at home in 1971.
Bears Pick Up Road Win at UNT
Baylor snapped a 16-game road losing streak with its 20-7, season-opening win at North Texas. It marked the Bears' first road win since defeating Fresno State, 37-35, on Sept. 6, 1997.
First-Time Bears vs. UNT
Of the 55 Bears who played against North Texas, 20 were playing in their first game ever for Baylor. Included in that number were 14 freshmen.
Five true freshmen saw action in Denton (TB Jonathan Golden, DB Bobby Hart, DB Matt Johnson, WR John Martin and DB Danielle McLean).
Bears Seek 2-0 Start
Baylor is attempting to begin a season 2-0 for the first time since 1996, the inaugural season of the Big 12.
BU "D" Holds UNT To 7 Points
Baylor's defense limited North Texas to just seven points Aug. 31, the fewest points allowed by the Bears since a 34-6 home win over Rice in 1995.
Micheaux Collects Tackles, TD
Senior MLB Kris Micheaux made quite an impact in Baylor's 20-7 win at North Texas, collecting a team-high 13 tackles and returning a fumble 14 yards for his first career touchdown.
Micheaux is tied for 10th on Baylor's career list with 165 solo tackles.
Cicero Solid in First BU Start
Junior QB Greg Cicero had a fine debut as Baylor's starting signal-caller, completing 17-of-28 passes for 213 yards.
Cicero, a JC transfer who began his college career at Texas, led a Baylor offense that didn't have a turnover and committed just two penalties.
Newhouse Hits Century Mark
Sophomore WR Reggie Newhouse had a career day at North Texas, catching five passes for 105 yards and topping his 1999 receiving yardage total.
As a true freshman in 1999, Newhouse caught seven passes for 77 yards.
Bears in the NFL
Twelve former Baylor players made opening day NFL rosters, including a pair of 1999 Bears:
Ray Crockett, DB, Denver Broncos
Santana Dotson, DT, Green Bay Packers
Derrick Fletcher, OL, New England Patriots
Albert Fontenot, DE, San Diego Chargers
Daryl Gardener, DT, Miami Dolphins
Kelvin Garmon, OL, Dallas Cowboys
Dwight Johnson, DT*, Philadelphia Eagles
George McCullough, DB, Tennessee Titans
Fred Miller, OT, Tennessee Titans
Frankie Smith, DB, Chicago Bears
Justin Snow, TE*, Indianapolis Colts
Derrius Thompson, WR, Washington Redskins
* - 1999 Baylor letterman
Family Ties
A number of Bears have noteworthy family connections:
- LB Kris Micheaux is the cousin of Larry Micheaux, an all-american on the University of Houston's famed Phi Slamma Jamma basketball teams of the early 1980s.
- WR Reggie Newhouse is the son of former Dallas Cowboy RB Robert Newhouse.
- The father of true freshman TE Jonathan Evans, Dr. Tony Evans, is the host of a nationally syndicated daily radio program which can be heard on 250 stations in the U.S. and in 40 countries. He is founder and president of The Urban Alternative, a national organization seeking spiritual renewal in urban America through the church. He also serves as chaplain for the NBA's Dallas Mavericks.
- True freshman WR John Martin is the son of Dave Martin, current associate AD at Oklahoma State and one-time interim commissioner of the Big 12.
- Defensive graduate assistant coach Brian Polian is the son of Indianapolis Colts GM and President Bill Polian, the man credited with building Buffalo's AFC championship teams of the 1990s.
Penalties Down Under Steele
One sign of the discipline Kevin Steele has brought to the Bear football program is the low penalty numbers. Baylor finished 1999 with its lowest penalty totals in nearly 30 years and began the 2000 season by committing just two penalties against North Texas.
The Bears were flagged 57 times for 492 yards last season. It was fewest number of Bear penalties since committing 53 in 1973, and the fewest yards penalized since 1972 (472).
Last year was also the first since 1988 (67) that Baylor has held its season penalty total under 70.
Baylor was penalized four times or less in six of its 11 games in 1999.
Bear Captains Named
A trio of seniors, CB Daniel Wilturner, LB Kris Micheaux and TB Darrell Bush, were selected by teammates as captains for the 2000 season.
Bush Climbing Career Charts
Senior TB Darrell Bush, who finished 10th in the Big 12 a year ago with 61.9 ypg, is ranked eighth at Baylor in career rushing yardage (1,788), ninth in career attempts (383), fifth in yards per game (59.6) and sixth in yards per carry (4.7).
Bush needs six attempts to move past Larry Hickman (388, 1956-58) into eighth on the career carry list and 69 yards to pass Robert Strait (1,856, 1990-93) for seventh on the yardage chart.
Bears Face Tough Schedule
Five of Baylor's 11 2000 opponents (Minnesota, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M and Nebraska) participated in bowl games last season, while seven of them posted winning records (including Texas Tech and South Florida).
The Bears' opponents have won nearly 58 percent of their games in 1999, combining for a record of 62-45.
Baxter Makes Thorpe List
Senior CB Gary Baxter, the top NFL prospect at his position according to some sources, is one of five Big 12 players on the 40-man, preseason Thorpe Award "watch list."
The Thorpe Award is given annually to the nation's most outstanding defensive back. Baylor's Everett Thomas won the inaugural Thorpe Award in 1986.
Baxter, along with fellow Bear corner Daniel Wilturner, is another in Baylor's long list of outstanding defensive backs. The Bears have sent 21 DBs into the NFL.
Bears Close in on Win No. 500
Baylor needs nine more wins to join the 500-win club all-time. The Bears are 491-448-44 since beginning football play in 1899.
Entering the 2000 season, 47 schools have reached the 500-win plateau.
"Green-to-Gold" Defense
Baylor coach Kevin Steele began a program last season to give his defensive players added incentive to perform on a daily basis. The system, which Steele calls "Green-to-Gold", puts the most productive defenders in special practice jerseys which can be awarded or taken away at any moment as performance dictates.
Steele, who was an assistant at Nebraska for six seasons, based the concept on the Cornhuskers' Blackshirts defense. The jerseys are green around the torso with gold shoulders and sleeves.
Multi-Sport Bears
Baylor's Kevin Steele believes strongly in recruiting multi-sport athletes. On the current Bear roster, wide receivers Martin Dossett and Randy Davis are members of the Baylor track squad, while true freshman wideout Robert Quiroga is a member of the AAU 1,600-meter national champion relay team.
Academic Power
For the fourth time in five years, the American Football Coaches Association recognized Baylor for producing one of the top football teams in America in terms of academic performance.
The Bears were one of 25 schools nationally - and the only one in the Big 12 Conference - to receive the AFCA's award for graduating over 70 percent of its players.
Baylor Through the Years
Baylor is 491-448-44 since beginning football play in 1899 ... Baylor has had winning seasons in nine of the last 15 campaigns ... The school record for wins came in 1980 when the conference champion Bears won 10 games ... Baylor has 16 seasons of eight-or-more wins and five of nine-or-more victories ... The Bears' last eight-win season came in 1991 and the last nine-win mark in 1986.
Baylor Football on the Air
The Baylor Radio Network provides Bear broadcasts to 21 stations throughout the state of Texas. For a complete listing of the affiliates, click here.
Baylor Games on the Internet
The radio call from all of Baylor's games can be heard live on the internet on Baylor's official online website, www.GoBaylorBears.com, or at www.yahoo.broadcast.com.
GoBaylorBears.com also offers real-time game coverage of all Bear home football games.
Preseason BU Honors
A trio of Bears were honored during the preseason by a number of publications.
CB Gary Baxter was named first-team All-Big 12 and was ranked the No. 15 corner in the nation by The Sporting News.
LB Kris Micheaux was a second-team All-Big 12 preseason selection, and was named the No. 10 inside linebacker nationally by TSN.
QB Greg Cicero was recognized as the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year by several publications.
BU Staff Returns Intact
For the first time in 11 years, Baylor returns its entire coaching staff intact. The legendary Grant Teaff was the last Bear head coach to keep the same staff in place for consecutive seasons.
Bear Miscellany
With its 20-7 win at North Texas, Baylor improved to 64-30-5 all-time in season openers.
Inside BU Sports TV Show
Inside Baylor Sports, a half-hour look at the world of Baylor athletics, will air weekly throughout Central Texas and other regional outlets. The program, co-hosted by John Morris and Lori Scott-Fogleman, airs on KCEN-TV Channel 6, Fox SportsNet Southwest and the College Channel (Waco cable channel 18).
KCEN carries the show at 10:30 p.m. Sundays while Fox shows it at 2:30 p.m. Wednesdays.
