March 27, 2004

WACO, Texas -- Saturday was a day of firsts for coach Guy Morriss' Baylor football team, as the Bears' donned full pads for the first time this spring and practiced for the first time on the new Prestige System artificial playing surface that was recently installed at Floyd Casey Stadium.

"I believe the players really liked the new surface," said Morriss following the Bears' two-hour, 30-minute workout. "The more we work on it, the better it is going to get. So, we are going to come out here and use it during the next three weeks. We want the players to get a good feel for it, so we'll be out here testing different shoes on it so we can find out which type work the best.

The new turf is similar to rubber infill fields currently in use at fellow Big 12 Conference institutions Nebraska, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, as well as at several NFL stadiums. Baylor's Floyd Casey Stadium featured a grass playing surface from 1950 through 1971, then utilized various artificial surfaces from 1972 through 1997 before returning to natural grass in 1998.

"I'm very pleased with the way it looks and plays, I think it will be a fast track," Morriss said. "I wish I would have had this to play on back when I was playing. It is a lot softer than Astro Turf."

After two days in helmets and shorts, today's practice was Baylor's first this spring in full pads, and Morriss was pleased with the results.

"The players are working very hard out there, and I'm pleased with how things are going," Morriss said. "We tried to work pretty close to full-speed, but we want to take care of our quarterbacks, so that's why they think it isn't quite so full-speed. Overall, the tempo was pretty good."

Baylor will practice four times next week, with workouts scheduled for Tuesday (3-30), Thursday (4-1), Friday (4-2) and Saturday (4-3).

"It was a good first week of practice," Morriss said. "We are not figuring out where to line up and how to get to the line of scrimmage and that of stuff like we were at this time last year. Our emphasis this spring will be on details."

One of the most-watched position battles this spring will be at quarterback, where senior Aaron Karas, sophomore Shawn Bell, redshirt freshman Terrance Parks and junior college transfer Dane King are battling for the top spot.

"I thought Shawn has looked particularly well in all three practices so far," Morriss said. "We've seen a lot of good things from him."