Aug. 25, 2005

The short-handed Baylor football team continued preparations for its Sept. 3 season-opener at SMU with a two-hour half-pad workout on the grass practice fields at Floyd Casey Stadium. After being without 17 players for Wednesday's practice due a wave of strep throat infections that have hit the team, 18 Bears were missing from Thursday's workout.

"We gained one (who had strep throat) and lost a couple more," said Baylor coach Guy Morriss. "But, we should get most all of them back Friday."

As the Bears continue to prepare for SMU, the coaching staff has been using Baylor's top offensive and defensive units to simulate the Mustangs rather than a scout team.

"We're getting better, working good on good," Morriss said. "Take for instance the pass rush. It's a lot better against our number one defense than it would be a scout team and vice versa. They are seeing more speed and better athletes, which I believe will prepare us.

"They just run what's on the card," he added. "There is some cross-over in language. We can put it in our terms so they can understand the same look and what we want."

Baylor will practice at 3:10 on Friday then workout under the lights Saturday night at 7 p.m. before taking Sunday off. The Bears will then practice in the evening on Monday before returning to afternoon workouts next Tuesday.

Notes: True freshman wide receiver David Gettis continues to wait on a decision on his eligibility status from the NCAA Clearinghouse, Morriss said ... Senior wide receivers Ryan Jeffrey (broken left hand) and J Fields (hamstring) missed Thursday's workout as did freshman linebacker Justin Osinde (knee), senior offensive tackle Hunter Herring (knee) and junior offensive tackle Travis Farst (kneecap) ... 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).