April 26, 2006

Baylor senior All-America punter Daniel Sepulveda will undergo surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee Thursday at a Dallas-area hospital. Sepulveda, who hopes to return for the Bears' 2006 season, injured his knee during a pick-up basketball game over the Easter holiday weekend.

"It is an unfortunate injury because Daniel has played a tremendous role in the success of our special teams the past three seasons," said Baylor coach Guy Morriss. "Hopefully, the surgery and rehab will go well and we'll have him back as quickly as possible."

The 2004 Ray Guy Award winner as the nation's top collegiate punter, Sepulveda's 44.85-yard career punting average ranks as the best in school history, second-best among all active Division I-A punters and ninth-best in NCAA history for players with 150 to 249 career punts. He owns Baylor career marks for 50-(69) and 60-(14) yard punts, stands No. 2 on its career punt yards list (9,463 yards) and No. 3 in career punts (211). Sepulveda has recorded at least one 50-yard punt in 31 of 34 career games with two or more such punts 21 times.

"Obviously, this is not the way that I planned my senior year to start off, but this is all part of God's plan for my life," said Sepulveda, who earned first-team Academic All-America and second-team Associated Press All-America honors as a junior in 2005 after ranking No. 3 nationally in punting with his 46.2-yard average. "I intend on rehabbing my knee and being on the field when the season kicks off Sept. 2 against TCU."

The Bears open the 2006 season Sept. 2 against TCU in Waco.