Sunday With Guy
10/29/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 29, 2006
Baylor fifth-year senior quarterback Shawn Bell tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee late in the fourth quarter of the Bears' 31-21 loss to No. 22 Texas A&M and will miss the remainder of the 2006 season, head coach Guy Morriss said Sunday.
Redshirt freshman signal caller Blake Szymanski has been tabbed as the Bears' starter for Saturday's game vs. the Red Raiders, Morriss said.
Bell, who has directed the Baylor program to six of its 11-time Big 12 Conference road victories and its only two road wins in the league's 11-year history, will end his career as the school's all-time leader in pass completions (559) and attempts (914), touchdown passes (38), completion percentage (.6116), touchdown-to-interception ratio (2.24), interception percentage (.0186) and 200-yard passing games (16). He also stands No. 2 all-time at Baylor in passing yards (5,666), No. 3 in both total-offense attempts (1,015) and touchdowns responsible for (39), No. 4 in total-offense yards (5,454). Bell posted a 10-13 record as Baylor's starting signal caller with seven of those losses coming at the hands of nationally ranked opponents.
As a senior in 2006, the Baylor tri-captain broke his own school single-season record for completions (241 in 2006 after totaling 190 as a junior) and established new Baylor one-season standards for passing yards (2,582), pass attempts (383), completion percentage (.629), touchdown passes (19), 200-yard passing games (nine) and total-offense plays (410), while tying BU mark for 300-yard passing games (two by both Neal Jeffrey in 1973 and Cody Carlson in 1986). He also ended his career with school records for both consecutive 200-yard passing games (11) and consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass (11).
Szymanski, who sat out Baylor's 2005 season as a redshirt, has taken nine snaps in two appearances in relief of Bell this season. He has completed 2-of-5 passes for 40 yards and one touchdown with one interception while rushing three times for 10 yards. A native of Wichita Falls, Texas, Szymanski threw for 4,083 yards and 45 touchdowns in leading Rider High School to an 11-3 record as a senior in 2004.
Here are Morriss' thoughts on Bell's injury, Szymanski and the Bears (4-5/3-2) heading into Saturday's 11:10 a.m. (Central) game at Texas Tech (5-4/2-3), which will be televised on FSN.
Is Shawn Bell going to be able to play again this year?
"No, he's done for the year. We'll let the joint calm down and let some of the swelling go out of it. And they will surgically repair [his knee] probably in about three weeks according to our team doctors."
How important is Bell to the team?
"Well, he's kind of our leader over on the offensive side, and we'll miss him. He operates the system well, and the kids believe in him. And he'll be missed. That's all I can tell you, sorely missed."
Where do you go from here?
"We saddle up Blake Szymanski and give him a short list of things that he can operate and we go on."
How comfortable is Szymanski with the system?
"Well, he's been in it all spring and he went through two-a-days. He's been getting reps here in the fall. We're going to find out pretty quick how comfortable he is. We haven't talked about that as a staff, but we'll have to par it down for him a little bit. And we'll give him a list of things that he's comfortable with and that he feels good in his mind that he can execute. Don't overload him, you know. But we don't have a choice. He's our next best quarterback and that's what we're going to do."
With how close Shawn was to becoming Baylor's all-time passer, is it tough for you to see him go through this?
"It's tough for me to see him go through it because he was our best chance to get it done, to reach our goal (of a bowl game). And I know he's personally going to be disappointed. To me, I don't care about the records. It would be nice. It is icing on the cake, but he's the guy we felt gave us the best chance to win these next three games. That's the part I don't like."
What are you going to tell the team?
"I'm going to tell them the truth. Shawn's out and we got to rally around Blake. We've got to step our game up."
Is it a lot harder to accomplish your goals without Bell this season?
"Well, it is. I think Blake got a few snaps against Northwestern State. But, you know, we are trotting a guy that is virtually untested out there. But that's what we signed him for. He's got the arm. There's no question about that. It's just a matter of him reading it and processing it."
Where do you think the battle was lost last night?
"The big plays are what really killed us. They ran the ball a lot, but I don't think [Jorvorskie Lane] had any long runs over 12 or 15 yards. I think on the touchdown to the big tight end [Martellus Bennet] we were just too high on the tackle."
Was that a better Texas A&M team that you've played?
"That's the best one we've played, I think. I'm not including the 2003 team. But in the last three years that's the best."
What makes them better?
"Offensively it's [Stephen] McGee, no question. I think their front four is big and strong. They aren't as athletic as the D-line from Texas, but they put their head down and bull-rush you. They're bringing it."
How do feel about the performance last night?
"The thing that keeps sticking me is that we had a chance to go in [and take the lead late in the game] and we couldn't do it. That bothers me more than anything. I mean in those situations, you have got to bow up. It wasn't like we had been shut out all night. I mean we moved the ball, and they haven't stopped the post yet."
How is your mood personally?
"Well I'm disappointed, but in about 45 minutes, I've got to go down [to the locker room] and pick these guys off the deck."
Baylor Sunday Notes: Senior wide receiver Dominique Zeigler caught five passes for 180 yards and one TD against Texas A&M to register the second-best single-game receiving yardage total in school history ... Junior rover Brandon Stiggers totaled a career-high nine tackles (five solos) vs. the Aggies ... Senior running back Paul Mosley became the 11th Bear in school history to reach the 1,600-yard career rushing mark, as he enters Saturday's game at Texas Tech No. 11 on Baylor's career rushing list with 1,623 yards--91 shy of cracking the school's all-time top 10 ... For the second consecutive week, senior punter Daniel Sepulveda leads the nation with his 46.33-yard average ... With 87 career punts of 50-plus yards, Sepulveda needs two to break the NCAA career mark currently held by Mississippi's Brian Smith (1983-86) ... After losing nine fumbles in its first four Big 12 games, Baylor did not have a fumble against Texas A&M ... The Bears averaged 8.3 penalties over the season's first six games, but have averaged just 4.7 penalties in their last three games ... Texas Tech has won 10-straight overall from Baylor since the Bears' 9-7 win at Waco, Sept. 30, 1995, and seven straight at Lubbock since Baylor's 21-15 victory, Sept. 29, 1990 ... A Floyd Casey Stadium-record crowd of 51,385 attended Saturday's Baylor-Texas A&M game ... Seven of the 56-year-old stadium's top 10 crowds and four of its five all-time 50,000-plus crowds have come against the Aggies.
