Bears Open Spring Drills
3/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
March 29, 2005
2005 Baylor Football Spring Quick Facts, Roster & Depth Chart
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Under the direction of third-year coach Guy Morriss, the Baylor football team opens spring drills on Wednesday, March 30. The first practice is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on the Floyd Casey Stadium practice fields.
The Bears will practice a total of 14 times leading up to the April 23 Green-Gold Spring Game at Floyd Casey Stadium. All workouts are open to the public, however, fans should check www.baylorbears.com to confirm practice start times.
"There's going to be lots of competition at every position," said Morriss. "We need to develop some depth this spring and will do more hitting than we've done in the past. We are really going to try and mix it up a bit with more hitting and work our top units against one another more than we've done in the last two years. The practices will be a little more intense and the spring game will be more of the same."
Baylor returns 13 starters, including eight on the defensive side of the ball, from last year's team which went 3-8 overall and 1-6 in the Big 12. All-told, the Bears return 49 letterwinners -- 23 on offense, 22 on defense and four specialists, among their 122-man spring roster.
"It's wide open, no one's job is safe as we begin spring practice, even Daniel Sepulveda's," Morriss said. "I used Daniel as an example to the team in a meeting last week. Here's a kid who won a national award as the best collegiate punter, but if comes out here in the spring and doesn't get the job done, guess where he's going to be? Right there on the sideline with me. So it goes for all positions. Hopefully, the depth will be better, the competition will be better, because that's what will make us get better as a team."
All eyes will likely be on the Bears' battle at quarterback between junior Shawn Bell and sophomore Terrance Parks. For the second straight spring, Bell will take the first spring snap in the race to replace Dane King, who departed the Baylor program following the 2004 season. Bell, who has five career starts to his credit, drew three starts as a sophomore and directed Baylor's memorable 35-34 overtime win over Texas A&M. He broke a bone in his non-throwing hand at Oklahoma State which opened the door for Parks to start Baylor's 2004 finale against then-top-ranked Oklahoma at Waco.
"I would hope so (that a clear-cut No. 1 could emerge at quarterback by April 23 when spring ball ends), but I don't think its going to happen," Morriss said. "Those things usually take care of themselves and will just kind of play out. I'm sorry Dane left, but that was his decision which has left us a little short-handed at quarterback.
"But I think the offensive line will be better, so hopefully we won't have to go through two quarterbacks and then have to go recruit someone off the bench or out of the stands to be the third guy," he added. "But, I think the two guys who are going to be competing are both very capable, and again we are looking for the whole package. Get it done on the field, off the field in the classroom, that's all of the intangibles that we are looking for. Whoever wants it the most, who's going to move the club, that's who is going to start in September."
Spring workouts are scheduled for March 30, April 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20 and 21. The Green-Gold Spring Game will be at 1 p.m. on April 23. Weekdays, the Bears will be on the field at 3 p.m., while the first three Saturday workouts (April 2, 9 and 16) are scheduled to start at 9 a.m.
Baylor opens its 2005 season Sept. 3 with a 7 p.m. contest at SMU and plays five of its first seven games away from home.
Baylor Notes: As part of its 2005 Big 12 South Spring Football Tour schedule, Baylor will be featured on FSN Southwest April 5 and 6 ... FSN Southwest is also scheduled to do a 60-minute feature on Baylor's April 23 Green-Gold Spring Game ... Six NCAA Division I-A transfers are listed among the top three players at their respective positions, including junior Will Blaylock, who is listed No. 1 on the depth chart at center after sitting out the 2004 season as a transfer from Tulane ... Sophomore offensive tackle Nick Pace, who started all 12 games in 2003 as a true freshman along the offensive line, is listed No. 1 on the depth chart after missing the 2004 campaign as a medical redshirt ... Baylor's 78 percent graduation rate for its football student-athletes not only led the Big 12 Conference, but ranked 10th among all 117 Division I-A institutions ... Junior Daniel Sepulveda, the 2004 Ray Guy Award winner as the nation's top collegiate punter, will try and become the first player ever to claim two Guy trophies, an award presented annually by the Greater Augusta Sports Council. A consensus 2004 All-Big 12 performer, Sepulveda ranked No. 2 in the Big 12 and No. 3 nationally with his 46.0 yard average ... Senior free safety Maurice Lane's 205 career solo tackles rank as the fourth-best total in Baylor history, while his 281 total tackles sit just outside the school's top 10 list. He had 104 total tackles in 2004 to rank third among all Big 12 performers ... Six of Baylor's eight Big 12 opponents earned 2004 bowl invitations ... In addition to its Sept. 3 season-opener at SMU, Baylor hosts Samford (Sept. 10) and plays at Army (Sept. 24) before opening Big 12 play at Texas A&M on Oct. 1 ... Senior outside safety Willie Andrews led the Big 12 and ranked 24th nationally with his kickoff return average of 24.7 yards.
