Baylor is 119-61-2 all-time in September including an 11-6 mark under head coach. The Bears have posted an above-.500 record in three of Morriss' first four seasons.
The Bears have played at least one game within the year's ninth month each season since 1933. Baylor's first September game was a 17-5 loss to
Baylor has played at least three September games and gone winless only twice going 0-3 in 1978 and going 0-4 in 1999. Interestingly the Bears' two September ties came in consecutive weeks during the 1975 season -- a 10-10 draw at home against
Baylor's 2007 Big 12 Conference opener Sept. 29 at Texas A&M has been selected for national broadcast on the Versus Network. Kickoff between the Bears and the Aggies is scheduled for 11:30 a m. CDT at Kyle Field in
Baylor is 37-68-2 all-time in televised games including a 2-15 mark during head coach Guy Morriss' tenure. This is the first time the Baylor-Texas A&M game has been televised since 2005 a 16-13 Aggies' victory in overtime.
• Baylor's defense has held the opposing offense without a first-quarter touchdown in 16 of the last 25 games including 13 first-quarter shutouts in that time.
• Baylor has scored 76 points in its last two games its most in a two-game span since scoring 76 against SMU (28) and Samford (48) to open the 2005 season.
• Baylor has been flagged 16 times for 129 yards through this season's first three games. Last year the Bears were penalized 27 times for 260 yards through the first three games.
• Baylor's defense has logged nine quarterback sacks through the first three games of the 2007 season after recording only 11 sacks in 12 games last year.
in head coach Guy Morriss' five-year tenure. Baylor won at Army in 2005 and lost at UAB in 2004; the latter was the Bears' first trip east of the
location. The Bears are 1-6 all-time at Louisiana State and also defeated the Bayou Bengals 21-7 in the 1985 Liberty Bowl at Memphis. Tenn. Baylor also has played at Miami. Fla. five times (2-3) at Georgia four times (0-4) and at Tulane four times (1-3).
). RB Brandon Thermilus (Flower Mound-Marcus). CB (Cedar Hill). QB Ed Young (Fort Worth-Eastern Hills). Thompson was a high school teammate of three current Baylor players: LB. OL and DE.
tallied 77 receptions as a fullback from 1986 to 1989. Whitaker has recorded 30 receptions in each of the past two seasons. He established career highs with nine receptions for 57 yards at
With 11 touchdown passes through the season's first three games. QB already is nearing Baylor's all-time single-season touchdown passes list. Szymanski's next scoring toss would put him in a tie with Don Trull (1963). Neal Jeffrey (1973). Cody Carlson (1983) and (2005) for seventh place on Baylor's all-time list.
Szymanski already has established a Baylor record for touchdown passes by a sophomore. His next scoring pass would tie Carlson's 1983 school mark for touchdown passes by an underclassman.
Through the season's first three games. Szymanski is on pace for 328 completions. 4,156 passing yards and 44 touchdown passes all of which would shatter Baylor's single-season records.
Inside and slot receivers have accounted for 42.5 percent of Baylor's receptions this season (37 of 87). 45.3 percent of Baylor's receiving yards (482 of 1065) and 36.4 percent of Baylor's touchdown receptions (4 of 11).
Baylor's top two receivers in all three categories are inside receivers leads the team in receptions (13) and yards (210) while ranks second in both receptions (11) and yards (147). Taylor and Akers are tied for the team lead in touchdowns (2). SR is tied for third on the team in receptions (9) and fifth in yards (99). IR also has three catches for 19 yards and has one reception for seven yards.
ranking as the fifth-best single-half total and the third-best first-half total in school history. The performance came one week after Szymanski established both records with 280 yards in the first half against Rice.
Szymanski joined Neal Jeffrey as the only players in Baylor history to pass for at least 230 yards in a half twice. Jeffrey did so once in each half. Szymanski has seen most of his first-half success in the first quarter completing 27 of 40 passes for 383 yards and five touchdowns in the opening quarter over the last two games.
Baylor's defense allowed just 57 first-quarter points in 12 games last season averaging 4.8 points per game allowed in the opening period. Two of the seven first-quarter touchdowns allowed by the Bears last season were scores by the opponent's defense meaning Baylor's defense allowed only 3.6 first-quarter points per game. The Bears' defense allowed only six first-quarter touchdowns (two of which were followed by missed extra points) and one field goal. No team scored more than one offensive touchdown only two scored more than once -- Texas Tech (offensive touchdown and field goal) and
That success has carried over to the 2007 season as the Bears have allowed only one first-quarter score through the first three games. Baylor held TCU and
In 25 games since the 2005 season opener at SMU. Baylor has held the opponent without a first-quarter offensive touchdown 16 times with 13 first-quarter shutouts. Texas Tech last season is the only opponent to record more than one first-quarter offensive score during that time. Baylor has not allowed multiple first-quarter offensive touchdowns since UAB scored three first-quarter touchdowns in the 2004 season opener a span of 36 games. The Bears have held the opponent without a first-quarter offensive touchdown 20 times and scoreless 15 times in those 36 games.
• Baylor's passing yardage total (412) was the second-best single-game total in school history trailing only last week's 423-yard performance against Rice.
In four-plus seasons under head coach. Baylor has established a bit of a vicenary rule on the scoreboard. The Bears are 15-11 when scoring at least 20 points and 2-21 when scoring less than 20 points since the start of the 2003 season. Likewise the Bears are 10-3 when holding the opponent to fewer than 20 points and 7-29 when allowing 20 or more points in that time.
Baylor ranked 113th nationally in turnover margin and forced just nine opponent miscues over the 11-game 2004 campaign but the last two-plus seasons it has reversed that trend. The Bears' defense has forced 60 turnovers (33 interceptions. 27 fumble recoveries) since the start of the 2005 season to rank fourth in the Big 12 and tied for 17th nationally among Division I-A teams in that span. Baylor has come up with at least one turnover in 23 of 26 games since the start of the 2005 season including 15 games with two or more.
Baylor forced 34 turnovers over 23 games in Guy Morriss' first two seasons compared to the 60 it has totaled over the last 26 outings. Here's a look at the teams with most turnovers forced over the last three seasons:
At the end of spring practice the Baylor staff also placed junior WR on scholarship. Including the seniors receiving scholarships prior to the start of the season. Baylor's 2007 roster features eight walk-ons who have earned scholarships.
A three-year letterman and the team's offensive captain. Whitaker will enter his senior season 317 yards shy of becoming the 28th Bear to rush for 1,000 or more career yards. He was Baylor's third-leading receiver in 2006 with 30 receptions for 192 yards and one touchdown.
Baylor's 2007 special teams captain is another senior. Weeks who joined the program as a walk-on long snapper in 2004 and has gone on to handle those chores for the Bears in 30 of the last 34 games. He was rewarded for his special teams work with a scholarship by the Baylor staff in January 2005.
Pawelek will captain the Bears' defense as a sophomore after earning freshman All-America honors in 2006. He led the Bears in tackles with 86 stops (46 solos) while playing in every game with 10 starts as a rookie en route to 2006 Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year honors from multiple media outlets.
Baylor was one of 34 NCAA Division I-A schools to have its football program honored with the 2007 Academic Achievement Award by the American Football Coaches Association.
In the most-recent AFCA survey four institutions registered graduation rates of 90 percent or more for their 2001-02 freshman football class including Northwestern and Notre Dame which earned top honors from the Touchdown Club of Memphis with their 95 percent marks.
and Texas Tech among the 32 institutions who received honorable mention recognition with a graduation rate of 70 to 90 percent. Baylor also was recognized in the AFCA's 1996. 1997. 1999. 2000. 2001. 2003 and 2006 surveys.
After playing seven of 12 games a year ago against teams that went on to earn bowl invitations. Baylor will face eight 2006 bowl teams this season including six of its eight Big 12 opponents. But that's nothing new for coach Guy Morriss' program as 28 times in his first 46 games (including 25 of 32 Big 12 contests) along the Baylor sideline he's faced an opponent who ended the season in a bowl game.
The Bears' 2007 opponents combined for an 85-67 (.559) record a year ago and eight earned bowl bids -- TCU (Poinsettia champion). Rice (New Orleans). Texas (Alamo champion). Kansas State (Texas). Texas A&M (Holiday). Texas Tech (Insight champion). Oklahoma (Fiesta) and Oklahoma State (Independence champion). Baylor's eight 2007 Big 12 foes went 60-43 (.583) a year ago and recorded all three of the league's bowl wins.
The Bears' 2007 roster includes the sons of six former Baylor football standouts three of whom were All-Americans during their Baylor careers. True freshmen and join three other sons of Baylor legacies already in the program--sophomore offensive guard redshirt freshman receiver and sophomore running back who must sit out the season as a transfer from
Singletary's father. Mike was a three-time All-American and two-time Davey O'Brien Award winner who is enshrined in both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame after standout playing careers at Baylor and with the NFL's Chicago Bears. McElroy's father. Vann was a two-time All-America defensive back at Baylor who went on to play in two Pro Bowls with the NFL's Los Angeles Raiders. The younger Francis' father. James earned 1989 All-America and Southwest Conference Player of the Year honors and was a first-round NFL Draft pick of the Cincinnati Bengals.
David Sledge was an All-Southwest Conference performer for the Bears in 1978. Alfred Anderson the third-leading rusher in school history and Ervin Randle an eight-year NFL veteran with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs were Baylor teammates in the early 1980s.
Ground was broken May 10. 2007 on the Alwin O and Dorothy Highers Athletics Complex and the Simpson Athletics and Academic Center a $34 million complex that will integrate the Baylor athletics department and football program into the campus environment for the first time since the late 1950s.
The lead gift for the privately funded project and the largest single gift in school history is from the estate of Alwin O. Highers Jr of Alexandria. La. A native Texan and a 1939 Baylor business graduate. Mr. Highers was well known as the owner of
's Dr Pepper Bottling Co. He also was a dedicated supporter of Baylor athletics and in particular its football program until his death in 2003. He is survived by his wife. Dorothy who still resides in
adjacent to Baylor's Mayborn Museum Complex and the university's other athletic facilities that are part of the Julie and Jim Turner Riverfront Athletic Complex on the
graduate and generous Baylor supporter. Bob R. Simpson is a co-founder chairman of the board and chief executive officer of XTO Energy Inc of
His leadership at XTO has been recognized by numerous publications including Barron's ("30 most respected CEO's in the world," March 27. 2006). Oil & Gas Explorer ("Executive of the Year," March 2006). Institutional Investor ("Best CEOs," January 2006). BusinessWeek ("The BusinessWeek Top 50 Performers," April 2006) and Forbes ("2,000 Leading Companies in the World," April 17. 2006).
will include functions that are currently housed at Floyd Casey Stadium such as a main athletics training room equipment room football team locker room coaches' locker room and weight room. Floor two will hold administrative offices the football office and meeting rooms as well as an academic center which will benefit all Baylor student-athletes.
The Highers Athletics Complex will include three football practice fields two with a natural surface and the other with artificial turf. Construction will take approximately 18 months and is expected to be completed by July 2008.
All Baylor games are broadcast by the "Voice of the Bears" John Morris a veteran broadcaster with 21 years' experience in the Baylor broadcast booth and in his 13th 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'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.
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. 4 p m. CT) and the College Channel (
to open Big 12 Conference play against Texas A&M. Kickoff between the Bears and the Aggies is scheduled for 11:30 a m. CDT at Kyle Field on the Texas A&M campus. The game will be televised nationally on the Versus Network.
Texas A&M leads the all-time series 64-30-9; this is the second most-played series in Baylor football history behind only TCU (105 meetings). The last three meetings have been decided by a total of 14 points since the Aggies' 63-point victory in 2003.
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