Bears Close Out Preseason Work With Scrimmage
8/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 21, 2002
Waco, Texas - Quarterback Greg Cicero once again stood out as Baylor scrimmaged for nearly two-thirds of its 90-minute practice at Floyd Casey Stadium Wednesday night, the Bears' final workout of preseason camp.
Cicero completed 9-of-10 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown, his second strong scrimmage performance in five days. Cicero, who completed his final eight attempts, connected with Reggie Newhouse on a 14-yard scoring play. Jonathan Golden scored the other touchdown of the scrimmage on a five-yard run.
Steele is pleased with Cicero's development under first-year offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin.
"Greg's improvement is a credit to a lot of things," Steele said. "Obviously, Dave Baldwin and Greg click. You know, Rich Gannon was just a quarterback until he got with Jon Gruden. Kurt Warner wasn't considered anything until he got with Mike Martz at St. Louis. That happens from time to time. Greg and Dave have clicked and Greg's confidence has grown because of it.
"Since our scrimmage last Saturday, Greg has looked like a 23-year-old, sixth-year quarterback is supposed to look like. He's been good all week in practice and he came out here tonight and made a lot of good throws."
Some key players, such as safety Derrick Cash, running back Anthony Krieg and defensive tackle Kevin Stevenson, were held out of Wednesday's scrimmage in order to heal from bumps and bruises sustained during the two weeks of preseason camp.
"We limited the snaps because we've had a lot of contact during the last two weeks. We have some guys banged up whom we held out and rested tonight. We know what those guys can do, so we looked at some different rotations tonight. I thought our execution was still there and we were mentally into it ... we just weren't very sharp. We didn't have that zip that we've had. But I don't think it's anything other than it was the last practice of two-a-days."
Baylor begins game-week preparations on Thursday for its 2002 season-opener at California. The Aug. 31 game is slated for a 12:30 p.m. (PDT) kickoff.
