Aug. 9, 2005

For the second consecutive day, wet grounds forced Coach Guy Morriss' Baylor football team to practice on the Floyd Casey Stadium turf, as the Bears drilled for more than two hours in helmets and shorts Tuesday afternoon.

"Defensively we were pretty sharp and crisp out there, the enthusiasm and communication was good," Morriss said. "Offensively, it was typical of early camp days, we had some drive-killers, some dropped balls, bad throws and bad snaps that make you look ragged.

"They (the offense) are really thinking hard now with regard to some of the new wrinkles we've put in," he added. "But, I think it will come together."

A point of emphasis during fall camp for the Bears' defense is forcing turnovers. A year ago, Baylor created just nine miscues (five fumble recoveries and four interceptions), but the coaching staff has put in a system this fall that will reward defenders for creating a miscue.

"Once we get deeper into camp we are going to emphasize the big play even more," Morriss said. "We try and tell them that football is a game of four quarters of grinding and somewhere in there the big plays will come, but you have to seize the moment when the opportunity is there to make the big play and we want them thinking about that.

"We are going to have a punishment-reward system for big plays," he continued. "I don't know what the formula will be quite yet, but say we want 25 big plays from both sides of the ball. For every big play they get, we'll take off a gasser or something like that."

Wednesday's workout is slated to begin at 4 p.m. on the grass practice fields and the Bears will put on the shoulder pads for the first time this fall. Friday's workout will be the first in full pads. All practices during fall camp are open to the public.

Notes: Through two 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 ... With summer classes on the Baylor campus not ending until Wednesday, four players missed all or part of today's workout.