Bears Host Second-Ranked Sooners in Season Finale
11/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
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GAME 11
BAYLOR (3-7, 1-6) vs. 2 OKLAHOMA (10-0, 7-0)
Nov. 20, 2004 • 11:10 a.m. CST
Floyd Casey Stadium (50,000) • Waco, Texas
Baylor concludes its 2004 season Saturday, Nov. 20, hosting No. 2 Oklahoma for a Big 12 Conference South Division matchup. Kickoff is scheduled for 11:10 a.m. CST at Baylor's Floyd Casey Stadium. The game will be televised live on a split-national basis by FOX Sports Net. Drew Goodman will handle play-by-play with Gary Reasons as color analyst and John Rhadigan as sideline reporter.
The Bears (3-7, 1-6) have lost two consecutive games, including a 49-21 defeat last Saturday at 25th-ranked Oklahoma State. The Sooners (10-0, 7-0), meanwhile, have won 22 consecutive regular season games after a 30-3 victory last Saturday at home against Nebraska. Oklahoma is ranked second nationally in this week's Associated Press, ESPN/USA Today Coaches and Bowl Championship Series polls.
The Bears are in their second season under the direction of head coach Guy Morriss, who has compiled a four-year career record of 15-30 and a 6-16 mark in two seasons at Baylor. Bob Stoops, a 1983 Iowa graduate, is in his sixth season with the Sooners. Stoops has compiled a 65-11 career record, all coming at Oklahoma.
BEARS SAY GOODBYE TO 19 SENIORS
Baylor's game Saturday against No. 2 Oklahoma will be the final collegiate game for 19 seniors: DS Bradley Aho, WR Baylor Barbee, DB Michael Boyd, LB Justin Crooks, C Joseph DeWoody, FB Jonathan Evans, RB Jonathan Golden, TE Luke Groth, LB James Irwin, QB Aaron Karas, RB Anthony Krieg, DE Khari Long, WR John Martin, OL Quintin Outland, WR Marques Roberts, DB David Schieck, LB Michael Tolbert, TE Marcus Venus and PK Kenny Webb.
BAYLOR-OKLAHOMA SERIES
This is the 14th meeting between Baylor and Oklahoma; the Sooners have dominated the series, winning each of the first 13 meetings. Oklahoma was a 41-3 winner last season at Norman; however, the Sooners entered the game as 56-point favorites. The Sooners' last trip to Waco resulted in a 49-9 Oklahoma victory.
While Oklahoma has won every game in the series, not all have been handily. In fact, the first three meetings as Big 12 foes were decided by a total of 17 points, including scores of 28-24 and 24-23 in the first two meetings.
Baylor and Oklahoma first met Oct. 26, 1901; the Sooners left Waco that day with a 17-6 victory. The teams did not play again until 1973.
SERIES NOTES: Oklahoma is the only Big 12 South team Baylor has never defeated. Kansas State is the only other Big 12 school the Bears have never topped (0-5). ... This marks the fifth consecutive season Baylor has faced an Oklahoma team ranked fourth or better in the Associated Press Top 25. The Sooners were ranked No. 1 in 2000, No. 2 in 2001, No. 4 in 2002 and No. 1 in 2003. ... When Baylor faced top-ranked Oklahoma in 2000, it was Baylor's second game against the nation's top-ranked team in a 15-day span. Three weeks prior, the Bears played then-No. 1 Nebraska. ... Baylor held Oklahoma to 56 yards rushing in the 2003 meeting, a season low for the Sooners and the fewest yards rushing allowed by a Baylor team since 1995. In fact, Oklahoma had negative rushing yards until late in the third quarter. ... In the 1989 season opener for both teams, then-No. 8 Oklahoma ran the ball on 70 of 72 plays en route to a 33-7 victory at Norman. The Sooners were 0-of-2 passing, the fourth and last time a Baylor opponent did not complete a pass. ... Baylor's five sacks against the Sooners last season tied the Bears' best-ever sacks output in a Big 12 game. ... Randy Davis returned a kickoff 93 yards for a TD against the Sooners in 2001. That still stands as the eighth-longest kickoff return in Baylor history. ... Pete Rutter's 81-yard punt against Oklahoma in 1989 still ranks fifth all-time at Baylor.
BAYLOR AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
Baylor is 38-144-5 all-time against ranked opponents, 22-124-1 when unranked and playing a ranked opponent. The Bears are 2-27 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 earlier this season). Since the Associated Press began conducting weekly polls in 1936, Baylor has played at least one ranked opponent every season except 1988.
BAYLOR IN TELEVISED GAMES
Saturday's game against Oklahoma is Baylor's 96th all-time televised game. The Bears are 37-56-2 in such contests, 2-12 in games televised by FOX Sports Net. Baylor's victory last season over Colorado on FOX Sports Net snapped a five-game losing streak in televised games.
Baylor makes its third TV appearance of the season this week, the first season since 2000 that the Bears have played three or more televised games. Baylor's first televised game was a 27-0 victory Sept. 29, 1956, over Texas Tech on NBC.
QUICK SLANTS ...
•Saturday's game against Oklahoma is one of seven Baylor contests in its final nine of the 2004 season against teams that participated in a bowl game last season. Only Iowa State and Texas A&M did not.
•Baylor's 2004 Big 12 foes are a combined 53-25 (.679) heading into games this weekend. Subtract a 6-1 record against Baylor and 16 games against each other, and Baylor's 2004 Big 12 opponents have an adjusted winning percentage of .855 (47-8).
•Six of Baylor's eight Big 12 opponents have been ranked at some point this season and seven of the eight are at least .500 on the season. Four of the Bears' five Big 12 South opponents are ranked in this week's ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and in this week's Associated Press Top 25.
•Baylor's 23 turnovers this season have led to 75 points for the opponent. Meanwhile, the Bears have scored just 21 points off nine opponent turnovers.
•Baylor QBs have completed 59.3 percent of their passes. The Bears established a school record last year, completing 56.7 percent of their pass attempts.
•Baylor QBs have thrown 17 TD passes this season, the most at Baylor since the 1998 squad had 18 TD passes and tied for third in school history (three shy of the program record set in 1983).
•The Bears have completed 221 passes this season, third all-time at Baylor and 13 shy of the 2001 team's school record.
•Baylor is 3-0 under head coach Guy Morriss when scoring at least 30 points, 4-1 when scoring at least 27 points.
•RB Paul Mosley has 49 carries of five-plus yards on the year out of 112 total carries, including 17 that have gone for 10-plus yards. Mosley averages 4.7 yards per tote, most of any Baylor player with at least five carries.
•WR Trent Shelton has caught at least one pass in 21 consecutive games, the longest such streak by a Bear since Reggie Newhouse closed his Baylor career with a 34-game streak that spanned the entire 2000, 2001 and 2002 seasons. However, Shelton's streak of 13 consecutive games with at least two receptions ended against Oklahoma State.
•LB Justin Crooks is fifth in the Big 12 with 8.0 tackles per game, fourth in the conference among linebackers. Crooks has averaged 8.4 tackles per game in seven Big 12 contests. He also is tied for fourth in the Big 12 with 14 tackles for loss.
•Crooks has recorded four or more tackles in 21 straight games and five or more tackles in 19 of the last 20 games. He has started 23 straight games for the Bears.
•FS Maurice Lane ranks third in the Big 12 with 9.0 tackles per game, 1.6 tackles per game more than any other DB in the league.
•OS Willie Andrews averages 115.4 all-purpose yards per game, the most in the nation by a player without offensive production. In fact, Andrews is one of only two players to rank in the top 100 nationally in all-purpose yardage without the benefit of offensive yardage. Andrews leads the nation with 1,154 total kick return yards this season, 156 yards ahead of second-place Scott Wesley of Army.
•Andrews is tied for 34th in the Big 12 with 5.7 tackles per game. He has been credited with five or more tackles in 17 of his last 19 outings and four or more tackles in 12 of his last 13 games. He has started 22 consecutive games for Baylor.
•OL Quintin Outland has started 36 consecutive games for the Bears along the offensive line and played in all 45 games of his BU career.
•RB Anthony Krieg needs 51 yards in Saturday's game to reach the 1,000-yard mark for his career.
•FS Maurice Lane cracked Baylor's career top 10 list for solo tackles last Saturday during the Oklahoma State game. Lane now has 194 career solo tackles, eighth in school history. He needs six solo tackles to become just the fifth player in Baylor history to reach the 200 plateau.
`ZIGGY' CATCHING FIRE
Over the past four games, WR Dominique Zeigler has caught 31 passes for 304 yards and three TDs. Zeigler has at least one reception in 14 of his last 15 games, dating back to the 2003 Texas game, and at least two receptions in every game this season.
Zeigler ranks fourth in the Big 12 and 30th nationally with 5.50 receptions per game. He is tied for fourth nationally among non-juniors-and-seniors in receptions per game, trailing only Jarrett Hicks of Texas Tech (6.20), Caleb Spencer of Nevada (6.00) and Jason Rivers of Hawai'i (5.56), and tied with Steve Savoy of Utah.
Thanks to his seven-catch performance last Saturday at Oklahoma State, Zeigler now has 55 receptions on the season for 536 yards and five TDs. He ranks sixth in school history for catches in a season and needs five snags to join Reggie Newhouse (75, 2002; 61, 2001), Lawrence Elkins (70, 1963), Gerald McNeil (62, 1983) as the only Bears to catch 60 or more passes in a season.
SEPULVEDA NAMED RAY GUY AWARD SEMIFINALIST
P Daniel Sepulveda joined nine others on the 2004 Ray Guy Award semifinalists list, announced Friday, Nov. 5, by the Greater Augusta Sports Council. Sepulveda was the only Big 12 Conference player on the list for the award that honors the nation's top collegiate punter and honors former NFL All-Pro punter Ray Guy.
Through games of Nov. 13, Sepulveda ranks second in the Big 12 and third nationally with 45.8 yards per punt. A product of Highland Park [Texas] High School, Sepulveda has recorded 19 punts of 50-plus yards and five punts of 60-plus yards this season. He also has placed 22 punts inside the opponent's 20 yard line and has a net average of 41.8 yards per punt.
In his two-season career, Sepulveda ranks first all-time at Baylor in yards per punt (44.15), third in punts of at least 50 yards (45), tied for second in punts of at least 60 yards (eight), ninth in total punting yards (6,269) and 10th in total punts (142).
Others named to the Guy Award semifinalists list were Dustin Colquitt of Tennessee, Gary Cook of UNLV, Brandon Fields of Michigan State, Bo Freeland of Alabama, Chris Kluwe of UCLA, Matt Payne of Brigham Young, Adam Podlesh of Maryland and Steve Weatherford of Illinois.
Three finalists will be named Nov. 23. The winner will be announced Dec. 9 during the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN.
THREE AMIGOS: ROBERTS, SHELTON, ZEIGLER
WRs Dominique Zeigler (55 receptions), Trent Shelton (37 receptions) and Marques Roberts (35 receptions) give the Bears a solid receiving corps. The trio has combined for 127 receptions, becoming just the eighth Baylor trio to combine for 100 or more receptions in a season. In fact, this is only the fifth time a Baylor team has produced three receivers with at least 30 receptions each.
Zeigler, Shelton and Roberts are the first trio in school history to record 35 or more receptions each in a season.
Here is a look at the eight seasons in which Baylor's top three receivers have combined for 100 or more receptions along with the four seasons in which those three receivers had at least 30 receptions each:
• 1963 -- 129 receptions
• 1964 -- 127 receptions (Lawrence Elkins - 50, Ken Hodge - 35, Harlan Lane - 32)
• 1966 -- 109 receptions (Tommy Smith - 41, Paul Becton - 38, Jack Eisenhart - 30)
• 1983 -- 113 receptions
• 1998 -- 107 receptions (Morris Anderson - 37, Derek Lagway - 37, Derrius Thompson - 33)
• 2001 -- 129 receptions (Reggie Newhouse - 61, Andra Fuller - 36, John Martin - 32)
• 2002 -- 140 receptions
• 2004 -- 127 receptions (Dominique Zeigler - 55, Trent Shelton - 37, Marques Roberts - 35)
UN-BELL-IEVABLE
QB Shawn Bell has gone 159 consecutive attempts without an interception, dating back to a second-quarter pick against Oklahoma last season in his first career start. That is the only interception of his career in 211 attempts. Bell's current streak ranks as the second-longest active streak in the nation behind only Sefan Lefors of Louisville (161).
NCAA DIVISION I-A ACTIVE STREAKS -- CONSECUTIVE PASSES WITHOUT AN INTERCEPTION
1. Sefan Lefors, Louisville161
2. Shawn Bell, Baylor159
3. Jay Cutler, Vanderbilt158
4. Omar Duarte, UTEP121
BAYLOR SCHEDULE AMONG NATION'S TOUGHEST
Through games of Nov. 13, Baylor's schedule ranks third nationally behind only Texas A&M (64-31, .674) and North Carolina (52-27, .658). The Bears' Division I-A opponents' cumulative record is 56-30 (.651). Baylor joins Alabama (Auburn), Brigham Young (Southern California) and Notre Dame (Southern California) as the only teams with only an undefeated team remaining on their regular-season schedules.
Not only is Baylor's schedule among the nation's elite, the Bears' opponents also play tough schedules. In fact, five Baylor opponents rank in the nation's top 20 for cumulative Division I-A opposition: Texas A&M (first), Texas (13th), Oklahoma (14th), Oklahoma State (t-16th) and Texas Tech (20th).
OPPORTUNISTIC BEARS FIND WAYS TO SCORE
When Braelon Davis intercepted an Iowa State pass on the Cyclones' two-point attempt and returned it 100 yards for a defensive two-point conversion, it marked the ninth time under the direction of head coach Guy Morriss (since the beginning of the 2003 season) the Bears have posted a non-offensive score:
•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)
NOTES FROM THE OKLAHOMA STATE GAME
•Baylor's turnover with 22 seconds remaining was its first offensive turnover since the fourth quarter of the Iowa State game, snapping a streak of 11 consecutive quarters without a turnover.
•Oklahoma State's punt return for a TD in the fourth quarter was the first against Baylor since 2000 (Oklahoma).
•Oklahoma State's 305 yards rushing were the most against Baylor since UAB had 343 in the season opener.
•The 21 points scored by Oklahoma State in the fourth quarter were the most surrendered by a Baylor team in a fourth quarter since California had 21 points in the fourth quarter Aug. 31, 2002. It was the most points allowed by Baylor in the fourth quarter of a Big 12 game since Nebraska had 27 points in the fourth quarter Oct. 13, 2001, and the most in a Big 12 road game since Texas had 22 points in the fourth quarter Oct. 24, 1998.
•The 35-point fourth quarter ties for the second-highest scoring fourth quarter in Baylor football history, tied with the 1992 game against Colorado and behind only the 36-point fourth quarter in the 2000 game against Missouri.
•WR Ryan Jeffrey made his first career start.
•QB Shawn Bell sustained a broken left hand early in the second quarter.
•P Daniel Sepulveda recorded his 45th career punt of 50 or more yards. He is now two shy of the school record.
•That punt was Sepulveda's 19th 50-plus-yard punt of the season. He is now tied for fourth on Baylor's single-season list.
•QB Terrance Parks' 11-yard run in the third quarter was a career long.
•Parks' 39-yard TD in the third quarter was the first TD pass of his career.
•Parks' 55-yard TD pass to Trent Shelton in the fourth quarter was the longest pass of Parks' career. It also was Shelton's career-long reception.
•That pass was the longest pass play this season for Baylor and the longest pass play by a Bear QB since a 68-yarder in the 2002 season finale against Oklahoma State.
•Parks established career game highs for completions (18), attempts (34), yards passing (261), passing TDs (2), rushing attempts (10) and yards rushing (19).
•RB Paul Mosley's 39-yard TD reception in the third quarter was the longest reception of his career and his first career TD reception.
•Mosley scored two TDs in a game for the first time in his career.
•With 47 yards in kickoff returns on the day, OS Willie Andrews moved into second place on Baylor's career yardage list. He now has 1,366 yards and is 59 yards shy of Kalief Muhammad's school record.
•With 48 yards in punt returns on the day, Andrews established a Baylor record for punt return yards in a season. He now has 429 yards on the season, passing the previous mark of 395 yards established by Gerald McNeil in 1980.
•Andrews' 34-yard punt return in the fourth quarter was his fourth this season of 30 or more yards.
•WR J Fields established a career high for receptions in a game (4).
•WR Shaun Rochon's 39-yard reception in the fourth quarter was the longest of his career.
•WR Trent Shelton extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one reception to 21 games. However, Shelton's streak of 13 consecutive games with at least two receptions came to an end.
BAYLOR AMONG NATION'S YOUNGEST TEAMS
With 96 underclassmen out of 135 players on its 2004 roster, Baylor ranks as the second-youngest team in Division I-A football behind only SMU. The Bears are 71.1 percent underclassmen, while SMU is 76.1 percent (86 of 113). Only one school has more underclassmen on its roster: Army, which lists 120 underclassmen on a roster of 178 players. North Carolina (92 of 135) is the only other team with at least 90 underclassmen.
Baylor's depth chart features 29 underclassmen out of 50 spots (two-deep at 25 positions). Nine underclassmen are listed as starters at their respective positions: QB Terrance Parks, WR Dominique Zeigler, DT Klayton Shoals, DE Marcus Foreman, OS Maurice Linguist, CB Braelon Davis, CB Anthony Arline, P Daniel Sepulveda and DS Jonathan Weeks.
FORMER WALK-ONS MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS
This season's roster features 11 players who joined the program as walk-ons and have since earned scholarships. The group features three starters -- C Joseph DeWoody, DT Michael Gary and TE Marcus Venus -- along with P Daniel Sepulveda and PK Kenny Webb. Four others rank second or third at their respective positions on the Baylor depth chart -- WRs Baylor Barbee and Shaun Rochon, and DT Quincy Jenkins, DL Julian Hill and OS/LB Tyler Lindstrom. DB David Schieck also has established himself as a key member of Baylor's special teams units and could see spot action in the secondary.
BAYLOR AGAIN RANKS HIGH IN GRADUATION RATES
For the fifth time in the Big 12 Conference's nine-year history, Baylor University posted the highest student-athlete graduation rate of any league institution, according to figures released last month by the NCAA.
The Bears' most-recent graduation rates, for the freshman class of 1997-98, is 78 percent, a school record by four points over the previous high of 74 percent in 2000. That figure is also 8 points higher than Baylor's general student population and 16 points better than the NCAA Division I national average of 62 percent.
Baylor also graduated a Big 12-best 76 percent of its male student-athletes and a league-high 82 percent of its female student-athletes. Five Baylor programs recorded 100 percent graduation rates and another five teams recorded a mark of at least 75 percent for the survey period. The Baylor football program produced a Big 12-leading 88 percent graduation rate, marking the fifth time in the league's history it has set the standard for classroom excellence.
The NCAA graduation-rates study has tracked entering classes of student-athletes annually since 1991. The study is a product of the Student Right To Know Act, a federal law that requires institutions to provide graduation-rate data to prospective student-athletes, parents, high-school coaches and counselors as part of the recruiting process. The percentage is derived from the number of freshmen on athletic aid in the 1997-98 school year who earned their degree in six years.
In addition to leading the Big 12 in graduation rates five times, Baylor ranked second on three other occasions. All-told, 88 percent of Baylor student-athletes who exhausted their eligibility and entered school from 1988-89 through 1997-98 have left with degree in hand according to the NCAA study.
