Aug. 16, 2008

Photo Gallery from Meet the Bears

Read official "View From The Hill" blog about fall practice

Baylor held its annual Meet the Bears event Saturday, following a 90-minute scrimmage at the Floyd Casey Stadium practice fields. It was the first full scrimmage of preseason drills for the Bears. The first-team offense ran 50 plays.

The Bears' defense was opportunistic, forcing numerous turnovers. Leon Freeman had two fumble recoveries, while Krys Buerck, Jordan Lake and Jason Lamb had one each. Joe Pawelek and Jake La Mar each forced a fumble. Tim Atchison, Ahmad Jenkins and Antonio Jones all had interceptions; the first two of those were off balls tipped by receivers.

Long plays highlighted the offensive effort. Kirby Freeman and David Gettis connected on a 50-yard touchdown pass, while Ryan Roberts hit Terrance Williams on a 49-yard scoring strike. Jarred Salubi had a 24-yard touchdown run. Jay Finley scored a 10-yard run that was set up by a 60-yard Robert Griffin pass to Ray Sims.

Sunday is an off day for the Bears. Baylor returns to the practice field Monday for its second of three two-session days. Beginning Monday, Baylor will conduct closed practices. [Briles quotes below.]

NOTES: Fifth-year senior defensive tackle Vincent Rhodes graduated Saturday with a Bachelor of Science degree in education. ... Season and single-game tickets for Baylor's seven home games are available for purchase (BaylorBears.com, 254.710.1000 or at the Floyd Casey Stadium ticket office). Several season-ticket options are offered with prices at $145 per ticket for the seven-game home schedule. ... Baylor opens its 2008 season Aug. 28 when it hosts 23rd-ranked Wake Forest at Floyd Casey Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in front of an FSN national television audience.

BAYLOR HEAD COACH Art Briles - Aug. 16, 2008
On the crowd that came out Saturday:
"We appreciate the people coming out. It was a great day. The atmosphere was really fun. We've got to show them something on the 28th. That's the main thing. We really do appreciate their energy they brought to the scrimmage."

On Saturday's scrimmage:
"I thought defensively we came out with a lot of energy, ready to play, ready to perform. Offensively, we kept waiting for something to happen to get us going. Something happened, it just wasn't good. It got us going alright, it just got us going in the wrong direction. From an offensive standpoint, you have to come out and create your momentum. That was probably the learning lesson for today. When we step that last foot off the ramp, we've got to be ready to play. I'm not sure we were as mentally prepared as we needed to be this morning."

On the lack of ball security during Saturday's scrimmage:
"We'd rather have it now than the 28th and that's the main thing. We'll have one more good scrimmage, next Thursday, under the lights. I certainly expect that to be a lot better from that standpoint (turnovers). So we just need to learn and grown at the same time. It makes you sick to your stomach because the one thing you can't do is help the other football team. You don't want self-inflected wounds. Some of those were self-inflected. Some we just didn't do a good job at securing the ball. That's something that's certainly on our minds because if you win the turnover battle, you're going to win the game, most of the time."

On the defense making plays:
"We've got some good football players and they did a good job of playing their side of the ball. We had some guys that played well offensively, it's just we had some bumps in the road that make you have a bad taste it your mouth. We've just got to correct it and move forward.

On the younger guys playing well:
"Once they got warmed up and got going, they looked good. You can't let the atmosphere control your performance. I feel like that was a little bit of the case early in the scrimmage especially with some of the younger guys."

On the offensive lineman Jordan Hearvey:
"We're moving a couple of players around. (Jordan) Hearvey is playing guard now. He looks good. He's athletic and he's doing a good job. He's really improved a lot since January. He's a big kid that can run and he plays with a lot of passion."