April 13, 2004

After a four-day break, the Baylor football team went back to work Tuesday with a two-hour and 20-minute practice in helmets and shoulder pads. The Bears again spent the first half of the workout on the grass practice fields before moving inside Floyd Casey Stadium for the last half of practice.

"After four days off, I thought it was a pretty good practice," said Baylor coach Guy Morriss. "I thought the tempo and attitude were both good. They were chattering and having some fun out there with some good things on both sides of the ball."

The extended break for the Easter holiday gave Morriss and his staff time additional time to analyze film from last week's second major scrimmage of spring camp, and the second-year coach saw some good things from his team during last Thursday's session.

"I thought Paul Mosley ran especially hard and our quarterbacks are still kind of remained clumped in a knot," Morriss said. "There were some defensive players who had a good scrimmage, Brannon Moton again, C.J. Wilson and Justin Crooks all played well. Our two defensive ends, Khari Long and Montez Murphy, play well every time we step out here. I think we are coming along.

"I feel good about our running back spot, as all four of our backs have looked pretty good this spring and I've been especially pleased with Paul Mosley," he added. "I feel good about the quarterback spot even though I don't know who is going to be the starter yet. But, they are having a good competition. There is a lot of speed and athleticism in the secondary and I feel good about that area. Our depth at defensive line will be better and if can keep our two defensive ends healthy, we'll be able to put some heat on people."

The Bears will practice Wednesday and Thursday before taking Friday off and winding up Morriss' second spring in Waco with Saturday's annual Green and Gold Game.

The Green and Gold game kicks off at 1 p.m. in Floyd Casey Stadium and admission to the contest is free. Fans are encouraged, though, to bring a canned food item to support Mission Waco. The first 300 fans in attendance at the game will receive free t-shirts and all fans can pick up a copy of this year's 2004 schedule poster.

"Traditionally, most of our heavy work is done before we play the game on Saturday," Morriss said. "We like to have an atmosphere that's not too relaxed, but we want to go out and have some fun, not get anyone hurt and let our fans come down and meet the players and get some autographs (after the game). We've got some alums coming back to play a flag football game for the first quarter, and even though it is relaxed, we are going to get after it a little bit."

Note: As part of Fox Sports Net's Big 12 South Spring Football Tour, the Bears will be featured on the Tuesday, April 13 Southwest Sports Report at 10 p.m. John Rhadigan's report on the Baylor will include an update on the squad's spring practice, interviews with the players and coaches, and a look at academics on campus.