Aug. 18, 2007

Meet the Bears Photo Gallery

After signing autographs for 90 minutes during the annual Meet the Bears event Saturday afternoon, the Baylor football team concluded fall camp with a 70-minute practice on the Floyd Casey Stadium turf Saturday evening. The Bears scrimmaged, complete with Big 12 game officials, for the final 30 minutes of the workout.

"We were very vanilla, obviously," said Baylor head coach Guy Morriss. "Larry (Hoefer, Baylor defensive coordinator) played base all night and we stayed with out base offense. We got some of the younger guys to take most of the reps, but I thought it was a good practice. I know the kids are anxious to get away from it for a day."

Redshirt freshman quarterback Tyler Beatty took every snap under center during the 38-play scrimmage and led the offense to four scores in four drives--three touchdowns and a field goal. He completed 16-of-25 passes for 237 yards and three scores with no interceptions.

Sophomore wide receiver Ernest Smith was Beatty's top target, hauling down four receptions for 125 yards and three scores, while junior inside receiver Eddy Newton caught three passes for 37 yards and sophomore inside receiver Kyle Mitchell had two receptions for 30 yards.

"Every rep he (Beatty) gets, every throw that he makes, is good for his confidence," Morriss said. "He's got a great arm."

Beatty marched the Bears 70 yards on the first drive, which culminated with a 41-yard TD pass to Ernest Smith. On the drive, Beatty was 5-of-6 for 65 yards.

True freshman place-kicker Shea Brewster, who made all three PATs in the scrimmage, ended the second drive with a 32-yard field goal.

Beatty then hit Ernest Smith for a 69-yard TD pass on the third drive and again found him for an 8-yard strike to close out the scrimmage.

The Bears off-day Sunday will include the annual team fish fry. Classes start Monday at Baylor and the Bears are scheduled to practice at 6 p.m. before settling into their in-season practice time of 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday. All practices are closed to the public.

"The only one (practice) I've been upset at all with was last night," Morriss said. "And, that was my fault. I was going to try and throw them a bone and put them out here in shorts and shoulder pads, and I think they took that as a sign where they could relax a little bit.

"I should have known better and I'll take the blame for that," he added. "Otherwise, every practice we've had has been very productive--the energy has been up and the attitude has been great."

Notes: The Bears had no turnovers and just one penalty during the scrimmage ... Junior WR Thomas White (sore quad), sophomore QB Blake Szymanski (ankle sprain), senior DE Geoff Nelson (left ankle sprain), sophomore OT Thad Boatner (right knee strain), freshman linebacker Chris Francis (left knee strain) sophomore WR David Gettis (hamstring) and DE Jameon Hardeman (sprained ankle), all missed Saturday's practice, as did junior Mikail Baker (illness) ... Morriss indicated that Szymanski may be close to full-speed by Monday and that he expected to get several others out of the training room and onto the field ... Antonio Johnson will start his Baylor career as a strong safety and is expected to play on the Bears' special teams units this fall ... Baylor has 11 practices remaining prior to its Sept. 1 season-opener at No. 22 TCU. -baylor-