Sept. 26, 2005

Coach Guy Morriss' 3-0 Baylor football team returned to the practice field Monday evening with a two-hour workout in helmets and shoulder pads under the Floyd Casey Stadium lights. The Bears, who were idle last weekend, open Big 12 play Oct. 1 in a nationally televised (Fox Sports Net) 11:30 a.m. contest at 2-1 Texas A&M.

Monday's workout marked Baylor's fourth since beating Army, 20-10, at West Point, N.Y., Sept. 17. The Bears practiced on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday last week before enjoying a three-day break, their first extended leave since fall camp opened back in August.

"It (the break) was just something I felt that might help springboard us into the conference season," said Morriss. "More so than anything, I think we were a little bit mentally tired. I guess it worked, because tonight was really good. We had a lot of energy and were really crisp.

"Tonight is a heavy teaching night with putting in some of the new wrinkles and all that stuff," he added. "But, I thought it was a pretty good practice. The chatter was good and they are excited about being back and getting started. They missed playing (last weekend) more than anything."

Baylor will practice at 3:10 p.m. for the remainder of the week before departing for College Station Friday afternoon.

Notes: Kickoff for Baylor's Oct. 8 game at No. 23 Iowa State has been set for 1 p.m. at Cyclone Stadium/Jack Trice Field and there will be no television coverage of the contest ... Saturday's game marks the first time since 1979 that Baylor has opened its conference schedule against Texas A&M ... Baylor hasn't beaten the Aggies in consecutive seasons since 1984 and 1985 ... The Bears' win over the Aggies in 1984 marked their last victory at College Station, as they've gone 0-8-1 at Kyle Field over their last nine visits ... Baylor's No. 3 DT, junior Corey Ford, is sidelined with a knee injury sustained in the Samford game and won't play against the Aggies ... Single-game tickets for Baylor's remaining home games are on sale through the school's Athletic Ticket Office (1-800-BAYLOR-U).