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BAYLOR
vs.
COLORADO

Oct. 4, 2003 * 11:30 a.m. CDT
Floyd Casey Stadium (50,000)
Waco, Texas

Baylor opens Big 12 Conference play Saturday, Oct. 4, hosting Colorado at Floyd Casey Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. CDT. Both teams enter the contest after open weeks on their respective schedules. Baylor (2-2, 0-0) defeated Sam Houston State 27-6 at home two weeks ago. That same day, Colorado (2-2, 0-0) lost 47-7 at ninth-ranked Florida State. Saturday's game will be telecast live on FOX Sports Southwest. Joel Myers handles play-by-play duties; David Lapham provides color analysis and John Rhadigan reports from the sideline.

SERIES
This is the 13th meeting between Baylor and Colorado, the fourth as Big 12 Conference foes. The Buffaloes hold an 8-4 advantage in the all-time series, which dates back to a 15-7 Baylor victory at Boulder in 1959. Colorado has won five consecutive meetings, including a 34-0 decision last season at Boulder. Baylor's last victory in the series was a 16-14 triumpth Sept. 14, 1991 at Folsom Field. Baylor is 1-3 against Colorado at Floyd Casey Stadium, winning in 1960 and losing in 1966, 1992 and 1999. The Bears and the Buffaloes have played one neutral-site contest, a 21-9 Baylor victory at the 1986 Bluebonnet Bowl in Houston.

COACHES
Guy Morriss (TCU, 1973) is 2-2 in his initial season at Baylor. In his third year as a collegiate head coach, Morriss has a 11-16 career record. This is his first meeting with Colorado. Now in his fifth season at Colorado, Gary Barnett (Missouri, 1969) owns a 31-23 record with the Buffaloes. Barnett, who previously coached at Northwestern and Fort Lewis, is 74-79-2 in 14 seasons as a collegiate head coach.

CONNECTIONS
* Baylor head coach Guy Morriss played against Colorado assistant head coach Brian Cabral in Super Bowl XX.
* Colorado tight ends coach John Wristen began his coaching career at Weslaco [Texas] High School in 1985.
* Colorado's roster features 22 players from the state of Texas. PK Nick Riley prepped at Kingwood HS with Baylor QB Mark Murphy and DS Franklin Patterson.

BEARS CLAIM WIN NO. 500
Baylor captured win No. 500 in the program's 101-season history with the 27-6 victory over Sam Houston State. The Bears began playing football in 1899; Baylor is 500-475-43 all-time. Through games of Sept. 20, 2003, 56 Division I-A teams have reached 500 victories. TCU and Wyoming reached the plateau earlier this year. Miami, Fla., and Baylor reached the plateau Sept. 27. North Carolina State (497), Fresno State (494) and South Carolina (493) all have a chance at win No. 500 this season. Baylor is the eighth Big 12 school to reach 500 wins. Iowa State (459), Oklahoma State (458), Texas Tech (452) and Kansas State (419) trail the Bears in all-time victories.

BAYLOR IN CONFERENCE OPENERS
Baylor is 43-39-4 (.523) all-time in conference openers, but 1-6 in Big 12 Conference openers. The Bears claimed the first victory in a Big 12 opener last season, defeating Kansas 35-32. In 79 seasons as a member of the Southwest Conference, Baylor was 42-33-4 (.557) in league openers. The Bears won six of their last seven, 10 of their last 12 and 14 of their last 17 such games. This marks the fourth time Baylor has opened Big 12 play at home. The Bears lost to Texas Tech in 1997, lost to Iowa State in 2000 and defeated Kansas last year. This is the second time Baylor has faced Colorado to open its Big 12 slate. The Buffaloes were 18-16 winners at Folsom Field in 1998.

BAYLOR IN TELEVISED GAMES
Saturday's game against Colorado is Baylor's 92nd all-time televised game. The Bears are 36-53-2 in such contests, 1-9 in games televised on FOX Sports Net. Baylor has lost its last five TV games, dating back to a 20-7 triumph Aug. 31, 2000 at North Texas on College Sports Southwest. Baylor's first televised game was a 27-0 victory Sept. 29, 1956 over Texas Tech on NBC.

ARMSTRONG AMONG NATIONAL RUSH LEADERS
RB Rashad Armstrong ranks third in the Big 12 Conference and 21st nationally with 105.8 rushing yards per game. With 152 yards against UAB in the season opener, Armstrong became just the fourth Bear to ever rush for at least 100 yards in three straight games. He narrowly missed becoming the first Baylor player to ever rush for 100 yards in four straight games. Armstrong had 88 yards rushing in the first half against North Texas before leaving the game with bruised ribs. A dangerous receiver out of the backfield, Armstrong also ranks third in the conference and 29th nationally in all-purpose yards with 132.8 per game. Armstrong has two of the three longest receptions this season for Baylor - a 53-yarder against Sam Houston State and a 38-yard catch-and-run against UAB.

YOUNGER SEPULVEDA MAKES MARK
P/LB Daniel Sepulveda ranks second in the Big 12 Conference and ninth nationally, averaging 46.1 yards per punt. In 25 punts, Sepulveda has tallied 1,153 yards. If the season ended today, Sepulveda would rank second in school history for punting average. Ty Atteberry established the standard at 46.35 in 1996. Sepulveda's punting has made Baylor the Big 12's top punting team in terms of net yards per punt. The Bears average 42.0 yards per punt, eighth nationally.

KARAS THIRD AMONG ACTIVE BIG 12 PASSERS
QB Aaron Karas ranks third among active Big 12 signal callers in career passing yardage with 2,953 yards. Oklahoma State's Josh Fields (4,209 yards) is the active leader, followed by Missouri's Brad Smith (3,073). Karas is followed by Texas A&M QB Dustin Long (2,692). Former Texas Tech QB Kliff Kingsbury holds the Big 12 record with 12,429 career passing yards.

BAYLOR SCHEDULE AMONG NATION'S TOUGHEST
Baylor's 2003 schedule is tied with Missouri as the nation's 32nd toughest, according to the Sept. 28 NCAA strength of schedule report. The Bears' Division I-A opponents currently have an 28-19 overall record (.596). Iowa State has the nation's toughest schedule; the Cyclones' opponents are 36-11. Colorado and Texas A&M (39-12) are tied for second. Texas (32-17) is 11th, Kansas State (32-18) is 14th, Nebraska is 22nd (32-19), and Kansas is 28th (29-18). Baylor's future opposition winning percentage of .735 (25-9) is fourth behind Iowa State (28-7), Texas A&M (27-7) and Colorado (27-8). Six of the top seven, seven of the top 11, nine of the top 16 and 10 of the top 20 future opponent schedules are Big 12 teams.

OTHER SCHEDULE FACTS
Seven of Baylor's 12 2003 opponents (North Texas, Colorado, Texas, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State) participated in bowl games last season. Eight of the Bears' 2003 opponents (including Texas A&M) finished at or above .500. Baylor's 2003 opponents went a combined 88-53 (.624) in 2002. Five of the Bears' 12 opponents are currently ranked in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Furthermore, the Big 12 boasted three teams in the top five spots of the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Preseason Poll. Baylor and Iowa State both have all three - Kansas State, Oklahoma and Texas - on their respective schedules. The Bears and the Cyclones are the only teams in the nation to have three preseason top-five teams on their schedules.

STREAKS...
* Rashad Armstrong has rushed for at least 50 yards in eight consecutive games.
* Aaron Karas has completed at least 10 passes in eight consecutive games.
* Robert Quiroga has caught at least one pass in 18 consecutive games.
* John Martin has caught at least one pass in six consecutive games.
* Marques Roberts has caught at least one pass in six consecutive games.
* John Garrett has registered at least one solo tackle in 26 consecutive games.

RECORDS & MILESTONES WATCH
* Aaron Karas owns a career completion percentage of .597 (244-of-409), which tops Baylor's career chart (ahead of second-place Don Trull, .557).
* Aaron Karas is 10th on Baylor's career passing yardage list (2,953). He needs 735 yards to catch ninth-place Tom Muecke (3,688).
* Aaron Karas ranks 10th on Baylor's career completions list (244). Here is what Karas needs to move into:
8th - 56 completions (Don Trull, 299)
7th - 78 completions (Neal Jeffrey, 321)
* Robert Quiroga is fifth on Baylor's career receptions list (96). Here is what Quiroga needs to move into:
4th - 3 catches (Kalief Muhammad, 98)
3rd - 48 catches (Lawrence Elkins, 144)
* Robert Quiroga ranks 14th all-time at Baylor in career receiving yards (1,085). Here is what Quiroga needs to move into:
13th - 4 yards (Derrius Thompson, 1,088)
12th - 17 yards (Harold Riley, 1,102)
11th - 21 yards (Derek Davis, 1,106)
10th - 36 yards (Tommy Davidson, 1,121)
9th - 88 yards (Morris Anderson, 1,173)
* Derrick Cash is fifth on Baylor's career interception return yardage list with 189 yards, 5 yards shy of fourth-place Thomas Everett (194) and 28 yards back of third-place Del Shofner (217).
* Derrick Cash has a career yards-per-interception-return average of 25.8, ranking seventh in school history.

FIELDS, JOHNSON SELECTED AS CAPTAINS
Senior C Cedric Fields and senior CB Matt Johnson were selected as team captains earlier this week. Fields is a three-year letterman from Corsicana, Texas. Johnson hails from Pearland, Texas, and has earned three letters.

FAMILY TIES
* The father of FB 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.
* WR John Martin is the son of Dave Martin, current associate AD at Oklahoma State and one-time interim commissioner of the Big 12.
* CB Michael Boyd is the cousin of former Baylor standout Thomas Everett, a two-time All-SWC performer and winner of the inaugural Thorpe Award in 1986.
* DL Lorenzo Davis is the cousin of 14-year NBA veteran Derrick McKey.
* LB Jamaal Harper is a cousin of Kenyon Martin, who plays for the NBA's New Jersey Nets.
* Freshman TE Iris Williams has a pair of notable family members. Uncle Elvis Patterson won a pair of Super Bowl rings with the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys, while cousin and former Baylor standout Fred Miller is a starting offensive lineman for the Tennessee Titans.
* Freshman WR Trent Shelton is the nephew of the Atlanta Falcons' receivers coach George Stewart.
* Freshman CB Jason Reaux is the son of Tommy Reaux, who lettered for Baylor's football team from 1967 to 1969.

BU LEADS BIG 12 IN GRADUATION RATES
According to the latest NCAA graduation rates, Baylor's football team has posted a 77 percent success rate in this category, the best figure in the Big 12 and far above the NCAA division I average (52 percent). Texas Tech was second among Big 12 football programs with a 73 percent graduation rate, followed by Nebraska (67), Texas A&M (59), Iowa State (50), Missouri (50), Texas (50), Oklahoma State (48), Kansas State (44), Kansas (43), Colorado (38) and Oklahoma (6).

OVER THE AIR
Bear football games can be heard live on the Baylor Radio Network. The network includes 18 affiliates across Texas, including flagship stations KRZI-AM (1660/1580) and KLRK-FM (92.9) in Waco. All Baylor games are broadcast by the "Voice of the Bears" John Morris, a veteran broadcaster in his eighth season. Former Baylor football standouts Walter Abercrombie and Ricky Thompson are in their third season providing analysis.

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.BaylorBears.com, or at www.yahoo.broadcast.com.

BAYLORBEARS.COM
Baylor's official athletic web site can be found at www.BaylorBears.com. The comprehensive site, which includes releases, photos, biographical sketches and audio broadcasts, is part of the Official College Sports Network. OCSN currently hosts sites for more than 100 universities, including four Big 12 schools.

INSIDE BAYLOR SPORTS TV SHOW
Inside Baylor Sports, a half-hour look at the world of Baylor athletics, will air weekly throughout Central Texas and other outlets. The program, co-hosted by John Morris and Lori Scott Fogleman, airs on KCEN-TV Channel 6, Fox Sports Southwest and the College Channel (Waco cable 18).

NEXT UP...
Baylor and Texas A&M renew their 105-year-old rivalry with their 100th all-time meetings Saturday, Oct. 11. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas. The Aggies have won 12 straight in the series and are 16-0-1 since a 20-15 Baylor victory in 1985. The Bears have not won at College Station since 1984.