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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

Other than a 72-yard touchdown pass from Seth Russell to Chris Platt on the final play, Baylor's offense lacked its normal explosive plays and looked a "little sluggish" in the Bears' 89-play scrimmage Saturday morning at McLane Stadium.

"I told the team, I really felt like offensively we were a little sluggish," head coach Jim Grobe said after the Bears' first scrimmage of fall camp and 10th practice overall. "I didn't feel a lot of electricity in the air. We just didn't have any real juice or energy. It seemed more like being at practice, and you can't do that when you come to the stadium. We've put in a lot of work and worked really, really hard, but I just felt like we were flat offensively."

After giving up a pair of 35-yard touchdowns early, the defense controlled the rest of the scrimmage, giving up just 3.3 yards per rush, forcing four turnovers and racking up nine sacks and seven other tackles for loss.

"We gave up some explosive passes, which we pride ourselves on not giving up. We want to make the offense earn every yard they get," junior nickel back Travon Blanchard said. "Besides a few explosive plays, as a defense I felt like we looked really good. We were able to force a few turnovers, which is very big, getting the ball back in our offense's hands. Today was a good day for the defense."

Despite the defense's domination at times, Grobe said he didn't see the "kind of energy that I'd like to see us start with."

"Maybe that's normal when you've been working as hard as we've been working," he said. "We've got about three weeks left, so I'm not panicking. But, I think we need to do better the next scrimmage. And this next week in practice, hopefully we'll continue to compete, and both sides will win some and lose some."

Right out of the box, the offense started on fire, scoring on a 35-yard touchdown run by JaMycal Hasty and a 35-yard TD freshman-to-freshman strike from Zach Smith to Jared Atkinson. Smith was 12-of-21 for 117 yards and one touchdown with one interception, while Atkinson led all receivers in catches with five for 81 yards.

When Smith tried to hit Trevor White with a deep pass, safety Davion Hall picked it off and returned it 19 yards.

Kick-started by a pass interference penalty, the first-team offense drove 75 yards in just five plays and scored on a one-yard TD run by Terence Williams. Seth Russell connected with Ishmael Zamora for a 42-yard pass and also hit Lynx Hawthorne for a seven-yard gain.

Grobe said his "biggest enjoyment" came from a kicking game that included field goals of 45 and 37 yards by Chris Callahan, a 46.7-yard average by punter Drew Galitz and kickoffs by freshman Connor Martin. He also praised long snappers Chris Lutzel and Clint Kelly and punt returner Tony Nicholson.

"With the speed we've got on our football team, there's no reason why special teams couldn't be a real plus for us," Grobe said. "By definition means you haven't done it yet, but with the potential I see, I think we can make some real improvements on our special teams. And I think as we get a little further along in camp and get our legs under us a little bit, we'll see a spark out of both sides of the ball."

Hall and redshirt freshman nickel back Eric Ogor led the defense with six tackles apiece. Other defensive standouts included sophomore end Greg Roberts with two sacks, redshirt freshman linebacker Jordan Williams with two tackles for loss and a forced fumble and freshman cornerback Grayland Arnold with three pass breakups, one interception and a tackle for loss.

Russell was 4-of-11 for 135 yards, hooking up with Platt for the 72-yard TD pass. With Shock Linwood graduating and Johnny Jefferson out with an injury, Williams and Hasty had to carry the running load with the first-team offense, finishing with a combined 70 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.

The leading rusher was redshirt freshman walk-on Dwyer Bucey with 80 yards on 21 totes.

Through the first 10 days of fall camp, Grobe said there have been "give and take" between the offense and defense.

"Really early, the offense with their pace, they were doing some really good things," he said. "And then the defense caught up a little and started playing better. But what I've liked in practice is we'll have a good series for the offense and then a good series for the defense; a big play for the offense, a big play for the defense. It's really gone back and forth, and I think that's the way you want it as a coach. You really don't want to be in a situation where one side or the other is much stronger."

After taking Sunday off, the Bears will resume workouts Monday in preparation for the Sept. 2 season opener versus Northwestern State. All practices are closed to the public.

FALL SCRIMMAGE STATS (8-13-16)

SCORING PLAYS:
JaMycal Hasty 35-yard run (No PAT)
Jared Atkinson 35-yard pass from Zach Smith (No PAT)
Terence Williams 1-yard run (Chris Callahan kick)
Chris Callahan 45-yard field goal
Chris Callahan 37-yard field goal
Chris Platt 72-yard pass from Seth Russell (Chris Callahan kick)

PASSING (Cmp-Att-Yds-TD-Int)
Seth Russell (4-11-135-1-0), Zach Smith (12-21-117-1-1), Preston Heard (1-3-17-1), Zack Bennema (1-2-2-0-0)

RUSHING (Att-Yds-TD)
Dwyer Bucey (21-80-0), JaMycal Hasty (8-49-1), Terence Williams (11-21-1), Wyatt Schrepfer (7-21-0), Zach Smith (1-3-0), Seth Russell (2-0-0), Zack Bennema (2-(-4)-0)

RECEIVING (Rec-Yds-TD)
Chris Platt (2-86-1), Jared Atkinson (5-81-1), Ishamel Zamora (2-50-0), Trevor White (2-19-0), Tony Nicholson (3-16-0), Blake Lynch (1-9-0), Lynx Hawthorne (1-7-0), Obim Okeke (1-7-0), Marques Jones (2-4-0)

TACKLES (Solo-Assisted-Total)
Davion Hall (6-0-6), Eric Ogor (4-2-6), Henry Black (2-3-5), Kyle Boyd (1-4-5), Aiavion Edwards (4-1-5), Deonte Williams (2-3-5), Chad Kelly (0-4-4), Jordan Williams (1-3-4), Lenoy Jones, Jr. (2-1-3), Jarrod Koym (0-3-3), Andrew Morris (1-2-3), K.J. Smith (2-1-3), Verkedric Vaughns (2-1-3), Grayland Arnold (1-1-2), Thomas Cletcher (1-1-2), Cody George (0-2-2), Patrick Levels (2-0-2), Ira Lewis (1-1-2), Edosa Ona (0-2-2), Chance Waz (2-0-2), Tion Wright (0-2-2), Allan Anderson (1-0-1), Koby Bullard (0-1-1), Raaquon Davis (0-1-1), Mallory Franklin (1-0-1), Jameson Houston (1-0-1), Tyler Jaynes (0-1-1), Michael Johnson (0-1-1), Clay Johnston (1-0-1), Will Jones (0-1-1), Chris Miller (0-1-1), Rajah Preciado (0-1-1), Greg Roberts (0-1-1), Bravvion Roy (0-1-1), John Singletary (0-1-1)

TACKLES FOR LOSS (Total)
Jordan Williams (2), Grayland Arnold (1), Thomas Cletcher (1), Bravvion Roy (1), K.J. Smith (1), Deonte Williams (1)

SACKS (Total-Yards Lost)
Greg Roberts (2-5, 6 (-11)), Travon Blanchard (1-4 (-4)), Raaquan Davis (1-1 (-1)), Jamie Jacobs (1-4 (-4)), Andrew Morris (1-5 (-5)), Eric Ogor (1-1 (-1)), Edosa Ona (1-3 (-3)), Jordan Williams (1-5 (-5))

PASS BREAKUPS (Total)
Grayland Arnold (3), Tyler Jaynes (2), Patrick Levels (1), Ira Lewis (1), Tion Wright (1)

INTERCEPTIONS (Total-Yards Gained)
Davion Hall (1-19), Grayland Arnold (1-0)

FORCED FUMBLES (Total)
Jordan Williams (1)

FUMBLE RECOVERIES (Total)
Davion Hall (1), Ira Lewis (1)

QB HURRIES (Total)
Jamie Jacobs (1), Greg Roberts (1)

FIELD GOALS
Chris Callahan (3-3 (45, 37))

PUNTS
Drew Galitz (3-140 (46.7)) Connor Martin (1-38 (38.0))