Old Foes Meet in 2006 Opener

8/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football

Aug. 27, 2006

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GAME ONE

BAYLOR (0-0) vs. #22 TCU (0-0)

SUNDAY, SEPT. 3, 2006 • 4:40 P.M. CDT

FLOYD CASEY STADIUM (50,000)

WACO, TEXAS

SERIES RECORD

Baylor leads 49-47-7

LAST MEETING

at Baylor 27, TCU 24 (10.28.95)

COACHES

BAYLOR: Guy Morriss (TCU, 1973)

Record at Baylor: 11-23 (4th season)

Career Record: 20-37 (6th season)

Record vs. TCU: 0-0

TCU: Gary Patterson (Kansas State, 1983)

Record at TCU: 43-18 (6th season)

Career Record: 43-18 (6th season)

Record vs. Baylor: 0-0

BAYLOR/ISP RADIO NETWORK

John Morris, play-by-play

J.J. Joe, color analyst

Ricky Thompson, sideline

Sirious Satellite Radio, Channel 159

FOX SPORTS NET TELEVISION

Joel Meyers, play-by-play

Dave Lapham, color analyst

Jim Knox, sideline

INTERNET FEEDS

www.BaylorBears.com

OLD FOES MEET IN 2006 SEASON OPENER

Baylor faces former Southwest Conference foe TCU in the 2006 season opener for both programs Sunday, Sept. 3. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:40 p.m. CDT at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas. The game will be televised nationally on Fox Sports Net. This is the first meeting between Baylor and TCU since 1995, the SWC's final season.

BAYLOR-TCU SERIES

Baylor and TCU meet for the 104th time Sunday. Despite the fact that the teams have not met since 1995, this still is the most-played series in Baylor football history, ahead of Texas A&M (102 meetings) and Texas (95 meetings).

The Bears and the Horned Frogs first played to a scoreless tie in the final game of the 1899 season, Baylor's first year of intercollegiate varsity football.

The teams faced each other twice two years later; Baylor won both games by scores of 39-0 and 42-9. That was the first of nine consecutive seasons in which the Bears and the Frogs played each other at least twice, including three meetings during the 1902, 1904, 1905, 1907 and 1908 campaigns (Baylor did not field a team in 1906). Baylor and TCU once were crosstown rivals when both institutions were located in Waco.

Baylor went 7-0-3 against TCU in the teams' first 10 meetings before TCU scored a 5-0 victory Nov. 24, 1905, in Waco. The Bears are 17-5 against the Frogs since 1974, including a 6-1 mark in the final seven seasons of the Southwest Conference.

BAYLOR vs. MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE FOES

Baylor is 60-51-7 all-time against teams currently playing as members of the Mountain West Conference. The vast majority of those games -- 103 of the 118 -- have been against TCU. Baylor also is 3-1 against Wyoming, 3-0 against Air Force, 2-1 against both UNLV and Nevada, and 1-1 against BYU.

BAYLOR IN SEASON OPENERS

Baylor is 66-33-5 in season openers. Last year's 28-23 victory at SMU snapped a three-game losing streak in openers. Baylor is 4-6 in its last 10 season openers.

The Bears open their season at home for just the fourth time since 1995. Baylor went 1-2 in its previous three season openers at Floyd Casey Stadium, falling to 13th-ranked Miami, Fla., 45-14 in 1997, defeating Arkansas State 24-3 in 2001 and falling to UAB 24-19 in 2003.

SUNDAY GAMES RARE FOR BEARS

The season opener against TCU is Baylor's first regular-season Sunday game since Nov. 12, 1933, when the Bears defeated Texas 3-0 at Austin. This is Baylor's seventh Sunday game all-time; the Bears are 5-1 in such games. The lone Sunday loss was a 17-5 setback Nov. 19, 1905, at Texas A&M.

Since 1900, Baylor has played 91 non-Saturday regular-season games, 23 of which were on Thanksgiving Day and 75 of which were played prior to the 1930 season.

Baylor is 49-36-6 all-time in non-Saturday regular-season games, including a 14-7-2 mark on Thanksgiving Day.

This marks the first time Baylor has played a game on a day other than Saturday since opening the 2000 season Thursday, Aug. 31, at North Texas; the Bears won that game 20-7. Baylor and Texas played on Thanksgiving Day during the 1994 and 1995 seasons, the Bears' first Turkey Day games since 1928.

This is the fifth time Baylor has opened a season on a Sunday. The Bears also did so in 1900 (def. Austin College 11-0), 1901 (def. St. Edwards 23-0), 1913 (def. Howard Payne 15-6) and 1915 (def. Howard Payne 3-0).

LAST TIME vs. TCU

BAYLOR 27, TCU 24

Oct. 28, 1995 • Floyd Casey Stadium • Waco, Texas

Jerod Douglas rushed for 149 yards and two touchdowns as Baylor knocked off TCU in a homecoming tilt on Raycom TV.

Douglas gave Baylor an early lead it would never relinquish with a 28-yard scoring jaunt on the game's seventh play from scrimmage. After a TCU field goal on the Frogs' ensuing drive, the teams traded three touchdowns each the rest of the way.

TCU pulled to within three points with seven seconds remaining. The Frogs attempted an onside kick, but it bounced out of bounds. Baylor retained possession and ran out the clock.

Baylor out-rushed TCU 223-105 and averaged 4.7 yards per rush on the day. Turnovers also plagued the Frogs, who lost one fumble and had three passes intercepted.

Jeff Watson finished 13-of-22 for 167 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions for Baylor; he also had a nine-yard scoring run.

Pearce Pegross snagged eight of Watson's passes for 123 yards and one touchdown.

Jarvis Van Dyke missed an extra point attempt following Baylor's final touchdown. That snapped the Bears' Southwest Conference record of 137 consecutive successful extra point attempts. Baylor eclipsed Houston's previous SWC mark of 136 earlier in the game.

BAYLOR-TCU CONNECTIONS

• Baylor head coach Guy Morriss is a 1973 TCU graduate.

• TCU assistant coach Eddie Williamson served as offensive line coach at Baylor during the 1983 season and as offensive coordinator at Baylor during the 1998 campaign.

• TCU graduate assistant Kevin Brown is a Waco High School graduate.

BAYLOR-TCU SERIES

Overall: Baylor leads 49-47-7

Waco: Baylor leads 31-28-4

Fort Worth: TCU leads 19-18-1

Neutral Site: Tied 0-0-2

SERIES NOTES

• This is the most-played series in Baylor football history (103 previous meetings).

• Baylor has more wins against TCU (49) than any other program.

• The Bears and the Horned Frogs played at least once every season in which both schools fielded teams from 1925 to 1995 (71 seasons).

• Both teams have enjoyed eight-game winning streaks once in the series' history. TCU won eight consecutive meetings from 1964 to 1971, while Baylor won eight consecutive meetings from 1974 to 1981.

• This is the earliest in the season Baylor and TCU have ever met. The teams have met prior to Oct. 1 only twice previously -- Sept. 30, 1905, and Sept. 28, 1946.

• Baylor's secondary had a field day against TCU in 1949, snagging a school-record nine interceptions. The Bears forced 11 turnovers that day, also a school mark.

• In 1968, Brian Blessing registered a then-Baylor-record 30 tackles. His mark was eclipsed by Mike Singletary 10 years and nine days later. Blessing's 30 total still ranks second in Baylor history.

• Baylor tallied 388 yards passing in the 1984 meeting at Fort Worth, still a school record. The Bears were 29-of-56 through the air with three TDs.

• Maurice Pierce connected with Raymond Reeves for an 89-yard TD pass in the 1931 meeting. That remains the longest pass play in Baylor history.

BAYLOR IN HOME OPENERS

Baylor is 77-22-5 all-time in home openers, including a 39-17 mark since moving to Floyd Casey Stadium in 1950. The Bears are 6-4 in their last 10 such contests. Baylor defeated Samford 48-14 in the 2005 home opener.

BAYLOR vs. RANKED OPPONENTS

Baylor is 38-147-5 all-time against ranked opponents, 22-127-1 when unranked and playing a ranked opponent. The Bears are 2-30 against ranked opponents since the inception of the Big 12 Conference (33-30 against 20th-ranked North Carolina State in 1998, and 35-34 in overtime against 16th-ranked Texas A&M in 2004).

Since the Associated Press began conducting weekly polls in 1936, Baylor has played at least one ranked opponent every season except 1987.

This is the 16th time Baylor has opened a season against an opponent ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. The Bears are 3-12 in such games, but only three were played in Waco (Baylor is 1-2 in those games).

BAYLOR IN TELEVISED GAMES

Sunday's game is the 102nd televised game in Baylor football history; the Bears are 37-62-2 all-time in televised games. Baylor is 2-9 in televised games under head coach Guy Morriss after posting a 1-5 mark in such games last season.

The six televised games last season were the most at Baylor since 1991, in which the Bears played five regular season televised games plus a televised bowl game. Baylor's six regular season televised games last season were the most since the 1986 season also featured six.

This is the 10th consecutive season in which Baylor has played on Fox Sports Net. The Bears are 2-18 all-time on FSN with wins over North Carolina State (9.19.98) and Colorado (10.4.03).

Baylor opens its season on television for the first time since 2000, when the Bears defeated North Texas 20-7 at Denton in a College Sports Southwest regional broadcast. The last time Baylor's season opener was a national broadcast was in 1999, when the Bears dropped a 30-29 overtime decision at Boston College on ESPN.

BELL NAMED TO MANNING AWARD WATCH LIST

QB Shawn Bell was among 22 student-athletes named to the 2006 Manning Award Watch List, announced Aug. 23 by the Sugar Bowl Committee. Bell joins Iowa State's Bret Meyer and Nebraska's Zac Taylor as the only Big 12 Conference quarterbacks on the list. Also on the list is Washington State's Alex Brink, whom the Bears face Sept. 16 at Qwest Field in Seattle, Wash.

The Manning Award was created in honor of the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning and will be presented to the recipient following the holiday bowl season. It is the only quarterback award which takes into consideration the candidates' bowl performances.

The winner will be determined by a select panel of national media covering college football, as well as each of the Mannings.

SHELTON LOOKS TO KEEP STREAK INTACT

WR Trent Shelton has recorded at least one reception in 33 consecutive games, one shy of Baylor's all-time record established by Reggie Newhouse from 2000 to 2002. Shelton's streak is the fourth-longest among active players in Division I-A.

BELL POISED TO REWRITE BAYLOR RECORDS BOOK

QB Shawn Bell enters his senior season as the most accurate passer in Baylor football history, having completed 59.9 percent of his passes (318-of-531).

Bell's touchdown-to-interception ratio of 2.714 (19-to-7) also ranks first in school history, significantly better than second-place Adrian Burk (1.538, 20-to-13). In fact, Bell is one of only five quarterbacks in Baylor history with at least 15 touchdown passes to record more TDs than interceptions.

Of Baylor quarterbacks with at least 300 career attempts, Bell also ranks first with a .0132 interception percentage. Second-place Jeff Watson is a distant .0337 (27 interceptions in 802 attempts).

However, Bell should make a run for the top in several other statistical categories by season's end. He starts the 2006 campaign 11th in yards (3,084), 10th in attempts (531), ninth in completions (318), 12th in touchdowns (19) and seventh in passing efficiency (117.86).

SENIOR LEADERSHIP

Two years after fielding the nation's second-youngest football team, Baylor's 2006 hopes may well rest on the shoulders of its 31 seniors, 25 of whom are fifth-year players. Of those 31 seniors, 16 are listed No. 1 at their respective position on the Bears' preseason depth chart -- eight on offense, six on defense as well as its No. 1 place-kicker and punter.

The Baylor roster featured an average of just 17.3 seniors over its first 10 seasons in the Big 12 and only once prior to 2006 had the Bears carried more than 20 seniors (the 2002 roster listed 22 seniors) on the squad.

SEPULVEDA NAMED TO GUY AWARD WATCH LIST

P Daniel Sepulveda is one of six members on the Greater Augusta Sports Council's 2006 Ray Guy Award Preseason Watch List, comprised of the top non-graduating finalists from the previous year and Sepulveda, the award's 2004 winner. Also on the list are Purdue's Dave Brytus, Georgia's Gordon Ely-Kelson, Virginia Tech's Nic Schmitt, Kansas' Kyle Tucker and Florida's Eric Wilbur.

Sepulveda, who was selected as the nation's No. 1 punter by The Sporting News in its 2006 preview magazine, ranked second in the Big 12 and third nationally with a 46.18-yard punting average in 2005 en route to All-America and All-Big 12 honors. That averaged ranked as the second-best single-season average in Baylor history, just ahead of his 2004 mark of 46.0 ypp.

The Ray Guy Award is presented to the nation's best collegiate punter as determined by a national selection committee made up of sports writers, college football coaches and sports information directors, former punters and members designated by the Greater Augusta Sports Council. Wake Forest's Ryan Plackemeier won the 2005 Ray Guy Award.

ZEIGLER, SHELTON AMONG TOP BIG 12 RECEIVERS

Baylor senior WRs Dominique Zeigler and Trent Shelton combined for 87 receptions in 2005 and figure to challenge for 2006 postseason honors.

Zeigler stands fifth on Baylor's career receptions list with 112 grabs, tied for ninth in touchdown receptions (nine) and 11th in career receiving yards (1,182). He needs 72 receptions and 10 touchdown catches to surpass those school marks, but would need nearly 1,500 yards to break that record. A 2005 second-team All-Big 12 pick by the league's coaches, Zeigler hopes to join Gerald McNeil (1981-82-83) and Reggie Newhouse (2000-01-02) as the only Bears to lead the team in receptions for three straight seasons. In 2005, Zeigler led Baylor in receptions (48), receiving yards (563) and touchdown receptions (five). Zeigler has recorded at least two receptions in 21 consecutive games played.

Shelton ranks sixth on the Bears' career reception chart (102) and 12th on the school's all-time receiving yards list (1,126). He has recorded at least one reception in 33 straight games, the longest such string for a Bear since Newhouse ended his career with a school-record 34-game string that spanned the 2000, 2001 and 2002 seasons.

GETTING BETTER YEAR BY YEAR

In Baylor's three seasons under head coach Guy Morriss, the Bears have improved in 10 of the 14 major team statistical categories tracked by the NCAA. The categories in which Baylor ranked lower nationally in 2005 than it did in 2002, the year prior to Morriss' arrival, were total offense, passing offense, pass efficiency offense and rushing defense.

Those improvements have obviously made the Bears more competitive. In the season prior to Morriss' arrival, Baylor lost five games by at least 40 points, but his teams have combined for just five such setbacks and three of those came during his first season.

Morriss' Bears have won 11 games over the past three seasons, two more victories than the program posted from 1999 through 2002 and just two wins shy of its entire output from 1997 through 2002.

OFFENSIVE NUGGETS

• The Bears return 97.7 percent of their rushing yards and 77.4 percent of their receptions from 2005. Baylor returns its top five ground gainers and four of its top five receivers from a year ago.

• The Bears averaged 32.6 points in their five 2005 victories compared to 12.2 points in six losses. Baylor is 8-3 all-time under Guy Morriss when scoring at least 24 points, including 3-1 in 2005.

• The Bears' projected offensive line starters feature three fifth-year senior starters in LT Travis Farst, C Yancy Boatner and RG Will Blaylock, a junior in LG Chad Smith and sophomore RT Jason Smith.

• Fifth-year senior RB Paul Mosley will attempt to become just the fifth Baylor back to lead the Bears in rushing for at least three consecutive seasons, following in the footsteps of Ronnie Bull (1959-61), Walter Abercrombie (1978-81), Eldwin Raphel (1988-90) and Darrell Bush (1997-2000). Last year, Mosley rushed for a team-high 657 yards, an average of 59.7 yards per game.

• Mosley and fellow 2006 co-No. 1 RB Brandon Whitaker combined for 323 touches in 2005 without a fumble.

• Mosley needs 97 yards to crack Baylor's all-time top 20 chart for career rushing yardage. He enters the TCU game with 1,239 career yards.

• Whitaker averaged 4.9 yards on 131 touches (101 rushes & 30 receptions) in 2005.

WILSON NAMED TO THORPE AWARD WATCH LIST

Senior All-America candidate CB C.J. Wilson, who earned first-team 2005 All-Big 12 honors from six media outlets at cornerback, is one of 33 players named to the 2006 Jim Thorpe Award Watch List. Wilson is one of four Big 12 players selected to the list, joining Texas' Michael Griffin, Missouri's David Overstreet and Oklahoma's Reggie Smith. The list was derived through a point system based on 10 preseason All-American teams.

Wilson headlines a Baylor defense whose 2006 strength could well be the secondary. Wilson shared the Big 12 lead and tied for ninth nationally with a team-high five interceptions in 2005.

He also ranked seventh on the team in tackles with 45 stops and was tied for seventh in the Big 12 with 0.91 passes defended per game. Wilson needs five interceptions in his final Green and Gold campaign to crack the Bears' all-time list.

DEFENSIVE QUICK HITS

• Baylor returns 24 lettermen, including four starters, from last year's defensive unit which was No. 63 nationally in total defense (378.0 ypg).

• Baylor's total-defense average was its lowest since 1995 when it allowed 263.9 ypg and 43 yards less than it was in 2004.

• The 2005 Bears ranked No. 13 nationally in pass defense efficiency with a 106.2 rating.

• Baylor ranked No. 8 in the Big 12 and No. 65 nationally in scoring defense at 26.5 points per game, its fewest allowed since 1995 (15.1).

• The Bears yielded 18.8 points in their five 2005 wins compared to 32.8 in their six setbacks. Baylor's defense allowed 23 or fewer points in six of 11 games and fewer than 20 points in four games.

• Fifth-year senior CB Anthony Arline is one of two returning starters in the Baylor secondary. He had 24 tackles in 2005 and his 21 career starts are second-most of any 2006 Baylor returnee.

• Senior DE Marcus Foreman is slated to start along the Baylor defensive line for the second consecutive season. Baylor's top returning tackler from 2005, Foreman had 58 stops as a junior.

• Fifth-year senior DT M.T. Robinson has the most career starts (22) of any Baylor returnee on either side of the ball.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

Colin Allred's 25-yard interception return for a touchdown in the 2005 season-finale against Oklahoma State was Baylor's 13th non-offensive score in 34 games under head coach Guy Morriss. The 2005 Bears produced four such scores, including both punt and kickoff returns for touchdowns by return specialist Shaun Rochon, a 29-yard fumble return touchdown by Jamaal Harper and Allred's score.

The 2004 Bears forced just nine turnovers and Baylor ranked No. 113 nationally in turnover margin at minus 1.36 per game. But, in 2005, Baylor forced 29 opponent miscues (13 fumbles and 16 interceptions) to rank No. 30 nationally in turnover margin at plus 0.45 per game.

• 2003 vs. UAB -- James Todd blocked punt for safety

• 2003 vs. Colorado -- Jamaal Harper 7-yard fumble return (forced by Derrick Cash)

• 2003 at Kansas -- James Todd blocked punt recovery in end zone (blocked by Michael Boyd)

• 2003 at Kansas State -- Robert Quiroga 98-yard kickoff return

• 2003 vs. Texas Tech -- Robert Quiroga 100-yard kickoff return

• 2003 vs. Oklahoma State -- Willie Andrews 30-yard fumble return (forced by John Garrett)

• 2004 vs. Texas State -- Justin Crooks 9-yard fumble return (forced by Montez Murphy)

• 2004 vs. North Texas -- Braelon Davis blocked punt recovery in end zone (blocked by Davis)

• 2004 vs. Iowa State -- Braelon Davis defensive PAT (interception return)

• 2005 vs. Samford -- Jamaal Harper 29-yard fumble return (forced by Colin Allred)

• 2005 vs. Samford -- Shaun Rochon 85-yard punt return

• 2005 at Oklahoma -- Shaun Rochon 98-yard kickoff return

• 2005 vs. Oklahoma State -- Colin Allred 25-yard interception return

SPECIAL SPECIAL TEAMS

Without question, Baylor's special teams play has been the strongest facet of Guy Morriss' first three squads. The 2005 Bears ranked 14th nationally in kickoff returns (23.9 ypr), 16th in net punting (36.8 ypp) and 29th in punt returns (11.5 ypr). The year prior to Morriss' arrival, BU ranked 91st nationally in punt returns, 115th in kickoff returns and 117th in net punting.

The kicking game will again be in good hands with the return of 2004 Ray Guy Award winner P Daniel Sepulveda and PK Ryan Havens.

Sepulveda, a two-time All-American, tore the ACL in his right (non-kicking) knee over the 2006 Easter holiday weekend, and he is expected to return to action sometime in September. His 44.85-yard career average ranks as the best in school history, second-best among all active Division I-A punters and ninth-best in NCAA history for players with 150 to 249 career punts.

Havens hit 22-of-24 PATs and 16-of-23 field goals as a junior for a team-high 70 points in his first season handling placements. He ranks No. 10 on Baylor's all-time field goals made list (16) and needs 21 points to crack its career kick scoring chart.

The 2006 return game, though, must replace Baylor's all-time kick return yardage leader Willie Andrews and 2005 Big 12 kickoff return leader Shaun Rochon. Andrews, the first two-time, first-team All-Big 12 coaches selection in school history, left Waco with five school career records to his credit, including marks for total kick returns (164) and total kick return yards (2,596). Rochon averaged 27.4 yards per kickoff return to lead the Big 12 and rank 14th nationally in 2005.

BEARS TAP TEXAS TALENT POOL

Baylor leads the Big 12 Conference with 111 former Texas high school athletes on its 2006 football roster, according to research by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. The Bears also rank first in the conference with 40 student-athletes from Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex high schools. The other 14 Bears hail from Louisiana (three), California (two), Oklahoma (two), Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey and Virginia (one each).

AFCA HONORS BAYLOR FOR GRADUATION RATES

Baylor was one of 29 NCAA Division I-A schools nationally to have its football program honored with the 2006 Academic Achivement Award by the American Football Coaches Association.

Six institutions registered graduation rates of 90 percent or more for their freshman football classes of 2000-2001, including SMU, which earned top honors from the Touchdown Club of Memphis with its 100 percent mark. Baylor joined Big 12 schools Iowa State, Nebraska and Texas Tech among the 23 institutions who received honorable mention recognition with a graduation rate of 70 percent or higher.

The overall graduation rate of the survey-record 104 schools that responded was 58 percent. Since the NCAA began tracking graduation rates in 1991, the Baylor football program has averaged a 65.3 percent rate and seven times in the last nine years it has recorded a 60.0 percent or higher mark.

THE GRADUATES

Baylor is one of 10 schools in Division I-A with at least six graduates on its 2006 football roster, according to research conducted by Tony Neely at the University of Kentucky. Auburn leads the way with 11, followed by Notre Dame and Texas Tech (nine each); Miami, Fla. (eight); Boston College, Louisiana Tech and Penn State (seven each); and Baylor, Kentucky and West Virginia (six each).

FORMER WALK-ONS EARN SCHOLARSHIPS

Five senior members of the Baylor football team who began their careers as walk-ons have been awarded scholarships for the 2006-07 academic year, head coach Guy Morriss announced at the end of the Bear's Aug. 18 practice.

OS Bryan Bays, FB Damon Dotson, FS Bennett Hoefer, WR Craig Munn and RB Mario Price were rewarded by the Bears' staff. Hoefer, who will graduate in May 2007, is the only one of the five who is not a fifth-year senior. Price earned his undergraduate degree from Baylor last weekend.

Since Morriss' arrival in Waco, 22 walk-ons have earned scholarships, 11 of which are on the Bears' 2006 roster. The most notable walk-on turned scholarship recipient is P Daniel Sepulveda, who won the 2004 Ray Guy Award as the nation's top collegiate punter. Sepulveda, who had not punted since early in his high school career, walked-on as a linebacker and became Baylor's top punter as a redshirt freshman in 2003. He was placed on scholarship by Morriss after earning second-team All-Big 12 honors in January 2004.

2006 SCHEDULE FEATURES SIX 2005 BOWL TEAMS

After playing six of 11 games a year ago against teams that went on to earn bowl invitations, Baylor will face six 2005 bowl teams in 2006, including five of its eight Big 12 opponents. But, that's nothing new for coach Guy Morriss' program, as 21 times in his first 34 games (including 19 of 24 Big 12 contests) along the Baylor sideline he's faced an opponent who ended the season in a bowl game.

The Bears' 12 2006 opponents combined for an 82-57 (.590) record a year ago and six earned bowl bids--TCU (EV1.net Houston champion), Colorado (Champs Sports), Texas (Rose champion), Kansas (Fort Worth champion), Texas Tech (Cotton) and Oklahoma (Holiday champion). Baylor's eight 2006 Big 12 foes went 58-37 (.611) in 2005 and accounted for three of the league's five bowl victories.

Over his first three years in Waco, Morriss' Bears have tackled the nation's 55th- (2003), sixth- (2004) and 28th- (2005) most difficult schedules according to the NCAA.

Five of Baylor's six 2005 losses came at the hands of eventual bowl-bound teams while it knocked off 2005 EV1.net Houston Bowl participant Iowa State, 23-13, to record its first-ever Big 12 Conference road victory. All-told, the Bears ranked 28th among all I-A programs (No. 7 in the Big 12) in 2005 strength of schedule based on their opponents' cumulative winning percentage. Baylor's 2005 foes posted a 57-43 (.570) record.

COACHING STAFF SPORTS NEW FACES IN 2006

Baylor's coaching staff had three changes during the off-season with the arrival of assistant coaches Lee Hays (offensive coordinator), Wes Phillips (quarterbacks) and Gary Kinne (linebackers). Chris Lancaster, who coached the Bears' offensive line the past three years, will serve as running backs coach and special teams coordinator in 2006, while head coach Guy Morriss has returned to his roots as the team's offensive line coach.

In addition to his collegiate and NFL playing experience in the trenches, Morriss spent 11 of his 12 seasons as an assistant coach developing offensive lines in the NFL (three total seasons -- two with New England and one with Arizona), CFL (one year at San Antonio) and the collegiate ranks (seven total seasons -- four at Kentucky, one at Mississippi State and two at Valdosta State).

A fourth new face, Don Wnek, joined the Baylor staff as defensive line coach two days prior to the start of fall camp a year ago.

The 2006 Baylor coaching staff boasts a combined 174 years of experience in the professional, collegiate and high school ranks. Four members of the 2006 staff have been with Morriss since he first became a Division I-A head coach in 2001 at Kentucky -- Larry Hoefer (safeties), Harold Jackson (receivers), Wesley McGriff (cornerbacks) and Lancaster.

The veteran Baylor coaching staff features three men, Morriss (one), defensive coordinator Bill Bradley (three) and Jackson (five), who combined to earn nine NFL All-Pro awards between them.

OVER THE AIR

Bear football games can be heard live on the Baylor/ISP Sports Radio Network. The network includes 11 affiliates across Texas, including flagship stations ESPN KRZI-AM (1660) in Waco. All Baylor games are broadcast by the "Voice of the Bears" John Morris, a veteran broadcaster in his 12th season as the signature voice of Baylor Athletics. Former Baylor football standouts J.J. Joe (color analyst) and Ricky Thompson (sideline reporter) complete the broadcast team.

BAYLOR/ISP SPORTS FOOTBALL RADIO NETWORK

Abilene - KYYW-AM - 1470

Amarillo - KIXZ-AM - 940

Big Spring - KBST-AM - 1490

Dallas/Fort Worth - WBAP-AM - 820

Dallas/Fort Worth - KKDL-AM - 1160

Houston - KKHT-FM - 100.7

Jacksonville - KXAL-FL - 100.3

Lubbock - KJAK-FM - 92.7

Lufkin - KYBI-FM - 101.9

San Antonio - KRPT-FM - 92.5

Waco (Flagship) - KRZI-AM - 1660 ESPN

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 College Sports TV network. CSTV currently hosts sites for more than 100 universities, including four Big 12 schools and the conference office.

BAYLOR GAMES ON THE INTERNET

The radio call from all of Baylor's games can be heard free of charge live on the Internet at www.BaylorBears.com.

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 (Sunday, 11 p.m. CT), Fox Sports Southwest (Wednesday, 1 p.m. CT), College Sports Television (Friday, 1 p.m. CT) and the College Channel (Waco cable 18).

UP NEXT ...

Baylor returns to action Saturday, Sept. 9, hosting Northwestern State for a 6 p.m. CDT kickoff at Floyd Casey Stadium. This marks the first time Baylor has opened a season with consecutive home games since 2001 and just the second time in the last 14 years.