Aug. 10, 2005
A trio of fifth-year senior Bears, wide receiver Lee Chandler (Plano, Texas), quarterback Mark Murphy (Kingwood, Texas) and offensive guard Chris Rogers (Joshua, Texas), have all been placed on scholarship for the 2005-06 academic year, Baylor head coach Guy Morriss announced following Wednesday's two-hour workout in helmets and shoulder pads.
Since Morriss' arrival in Waco, 17 Bears have gone from walk-on to scholarship recipient, the most-notable of which being 2004 Ray Guy Award winner Daniel Sepulveda (Dallas, Texas). Twelve of the 17 former walk-ons are on the 2005 Baylor roster.
"It (playing on the scout team) isn't a glamorous job by any means, it is a lot of practice time and not much time on the field," Morriss said. "For that, we try to reward them as best we can. These three young men have worked very hard and I'm happy that we are able to do this. I believe very strongly in rewarding walk-ons when we have a chance to do so."
For the third straight day, rain forced the Bears to work on the Floyd Casey Stadium turf, but Morriss was pleased with his squad's first day in shoulder pads. Friday the squad will donn full pads for the first time in fall camp.
"It (the rain) really hasn't stopped us from implementing anything," Morriss said. "But, most of our sleds and dummies we like to warm up with are over on the other field sitting in the mud. But, it hasn't bothered us that much and it might be good for us because we haven't been able to do too much too fast.
"We had another good workout today," he added. "I thought the tempo and enthusiasm were both good. If anything, the defense may have had a little bit of an edge. They kind of out-worked us today, but that's to be expected early. I think wheels are kind of smoking a little bit with the offensive guys, but we'll catch up."
Thursday's workout is again slated to begin at 4 p.m. on the grass practice fields. All practices during fall camp are open to the public.
Notes: Through three workouts, the Bears have reported no serious injuries ... Both season and single-game tickets for Baylor's five-game home schedule are on sale through the school's Athletic Ticket Office (1-800-BAYLOR-U) ... True freshman wide receiver David Gettis (Los Angeles, Calif.) remains sidelined while he awaits word on his status from the NCAA Clearinghouse ... Baylor's annual Meet the Bears Day is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 20, at 1 p.m. at Floyd Casey Stadium ... Preseason honors continue to roll in for 2004 Ray Guy Award winner Daniel Sepulveda (Dallas, Texas), who recently earned second-team All-America honors from rivals.com and third-team honors from collegesportsreport.com.
