Aug. 1, 2006

105-Man Fall Camp Roster
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Key 2006 Baylor Football Dates

Aug. 2 Team Reports
Aug. 4 First Practice, 6 p.m.
Aug. 19 Meet the Bears Day, 4 p.m.
Aug. 21 Fall Semester Classes Begin
Aug. 29 First Guy Morriss Press Conference, 11:30 a.m.
Aug. 31 First Guy Talk Radio Show, 6 p.m.
Sept. 3 TCU at Baylor, 4:40 p.m. (FSN)

Note: From Aug. 4 through Aug. 19, Baylor is scheduled to practice daily at 6 p.m. Practices are open to the media and public, however, those interested in attending any workout should confirm the Bears' daily schedule with either the football office or the athletic media relations office, as it is subject to change.

2006 Bears Have Sights Set on Bowl Bid

Fresh off Baylor's most-successful football season in a decade, head coach Guy Morriss' Bears look to take the next step in 2006 and earn the program's first bowl bid since 1994. The Bears' 105-man roster reports to Waco on Wednesday, Aug. 2 and will hit the field for the first time on Friday, Aug. 4 at 6 p.m. Baylor will practice daily at 6 p.m. through Saturday, Aug. 19, then settle into its normal academic year practice schedule on Tuesday, Aug. 22, in preparation for its Sept. 3 season opener against 2005 Mountain West Conference champion and longtime Southwest Conference rival TCU. The TCU game will be televised by FSN, marking the first time Baylor's season opener has been televised nationally since 1999.

Baylor will sport a new offensive look in 2006 as Morriss elected to install the spread formation after running multiple sets in his first three seasons in Waco. While the offense transitions to the spread, the Baylor defense must replace seven starters from last year's unit which ranked 63rd nationally in total defense (378.0 ypg).

"Anytime you start with a new system, who knows what's going to happen?," Morriss said. "I think especially early (in 2006), the defense is going to have to carry us.

"I just thought we needed a little better production," he added when discussing his off-season switch to the spread offense. "We were disastrous in the red zone (inside the opponents' 20-yard line) last year, and that obviously led to fewer points than you would like to put up. Just a handful of points here and there would have gotten us that sixth win and into a bowl game."

Baylor, which plays four of its first five and seven total home games in 2006, returns 51 lettermen, including 13 starters (seven on offense, four on defense and two specialists), from last year's team which went 5-6 overall and 2-6 in the Big 12 Conference.

2006 Schedule Features Six 2005 Bowl Teams

After playing six of 11 games a year ago against teams that went on to earn bowl invitations, Baylor will face six 2005 bowl teams in 2006, including five of its eight Big 12 opponents. But, that's nothing new for coach Guy Morriss' program, as 21 times in his first 34 games (including 19 of 24 Big 12 contests) along the Baylor sideline he's faced an opponent who ended the season in a bowl game.

The Bears' 12 2006 opponents combined for an 82-57 (.590) record a year ago and six earned bowl bids--TCU (EV1.net Houston champion), Colorado (Champs Sports), Texas (Rose champion), Kansas (Fort Worth champion), Texas Tech (Cotton) and Oklahoma (Holiday champion). Baylor's eight 2006 Big 12 foes went 58-37 (.611) in 2005 and accounted for three of the league's five bowl victories.

Over his first three years in Waco, Morriss' Bears have tackled the nation's 55th- (2003), sixth- (2004) and 28th- (2005) most difficult schedules according to the NCAA.

Five of Baylor's six 2005 losses came at the hands of eventual bowl-bound teams while it knocked off 2005 EV1.net Houston Bowl participant Iowa State, 23-13, to record its first-ever Big 12 Conference road victory. All-told, the Bears ranked 28th among all I-A programs (No. 7 in the Big 12) in 2005 strength of schedule based on their opponents' cumulative winning percentage. Baylor's 2005 foes posted a 57-43 (.570) record.

Experienced Coaching Staff Sports New Faces in 2006

Baylor's coaching staff had three changes during the off-season with the arrival of assistant coaches Lee Hays (offensive coordinator), Wes Phillips (quarterbacks) and Gary Kinne (linebackers). Chris Lancaster, who coached the Bears' offensive line the past three years, will serve as running backs coach and special teams coordinator in 2006, while head coach Guy Morriss has returned to his roots as the team's offensive line coach.

In addition to his collegiate and NFL playing experience in the trenches, Morriss spent 11 of his 12 seasons as an assistant coach developing offensive lines in the NFL (three total seasons--two with New England and one with Arizona), CFL (one year at San Antonio) and the collegiate ranks (seven total seasons--four at Kentucky, one at Mississippi State and two at Valdosta State).

A fourth new face, Don Wnek, joined the Baylor staff as defensive line coach two days prior to the start of fall camp a year ago.

The 2006 Baylor coaching staff boasts a combined 174 years of experience in the professional, collegiate and high school ranks. Four members of the 2006 staff have been with Morriss since he first became a Division I-A head coach in 2001 at Kentucky--Larry Hoefer (safeties), Harold Jackson (receivers), Wesley McGriff (cornerbacks) and Lancaster.

The veteran Baylor coaching staff features three men, Morriss (one), defensive coordinator Bill Bradley (three) and Jackson (five), who combined to earn nine NFL All-Pro awards between them.

Baylor Honored by AFCA for Football Graduation Rate

Baylor was one of 29 NCAA Division I-A schools nationally to have its football program honored with the 2006 Academic Achievement Award by the American Football Coaches Association.

Six institutions registered graduation rates of 90 percent or more for their freshman football classes of 2000-2001, including SMU, which earned top honors from the Touchdown Club of Memphis with its 100 percent mark. Baylor joined Big 12 schools Iowa State, Nebraska and Texas Tech among the 23 institutions who received honorable mention recognition with a graduation rate of 70 percent or higher.

The overall graduation rate of the survey-record 104 schools that responded was 58 percent. Since the NCAA began tracking graduation rates in 1991, the Baylor football program has averaged a 65.3 percent rate and seven times in the last nine years it has recorded a 60.0 percent or higher mark.

Getting Better Year by Year

In Baylor's three seasons under head coach Guy Morriss, the Bears have improved in 10 of the 14 major team statistical categories tracked by the NCAA. The categories in which Baylor ranked lower nationally in 2005 than it did in 2002, the year prior to Morriss' arrival, were total offense, passing offense, pass efficiency offense and rushing defense.

Those improvements have obviously made the Bears more competitive. In the season prior to Morriss' arrival, Baylor lost five games by at least 40 points, but his teams have combined for just five such setbacks and three of those came during his first season.

Morriss' Bears have won 11 games over the past three seasons, two more victories than the program posted from 1999 through 2002 and just two wins shy of its entire output from 1997 through 2002.

Road Sweet Road

After years of playing better at home, Baylor posted a 3-3 record away from Floyd Casey Stadium in 2005 with two of those losses coming in overtime. It marked Baylor's first .500 or better road mark since 1995 (4-2).

The 2005 Bears snapped a 24-game overall road skid with their season-opening 28-23 win at SMU, won outside the Lone Star state for the first time since 1997 with their win at Army (20-10) and picked up their first-ever Big 12 road win with a 23-13 decision at Iowa State.

Supporting the Bears

Baylor drew a total of 194,493 fans for its five-game 2005 home schedule, an average of 38,899 fans per game. The 2005 per-game average ranked as the sixth-largest in the stadium's 56-year history, and the highest since 1995 when the Bears averaged 40,456 for their four-game home slate. Baylor topped the 40,000 mark three times with a season-high (No. 25 home crowd all-time) 44,783 fans on hand for the Nov. 5 game against then-No. 2 and eventual national champion Texas.

A total of 510,541 fans saw the Bears play (home and away) in 2005, the fourth-largest season total in school history. Baylor's Oct. 22 game at Oklahoma drew a crowd of 83,456, the fifth-largest crowd ever to watch a Baylor game. The four larger crowds were two games at Michigan and two games at Ohio State.

Senior Leadership

Two years after fielding the nation's second-youngest football team, Baylor's 2006 hopes may well rest on the shoulders of its 32 seniors, 26 of whom are fifth-year players. Of those 32 seniors, 17 are listed No. 1 at their respective position on the Bears' preseason depth chart--eight on offense, seven on defense as well as its No. 1 place-kicker and punter.

The Baylor roster featured an average of just 17.3 seniors over its first 10 seasons in the Big 12 and only once prior to 2006 had the Bears carried more than 20 seniors (the 2002 roster listed 22 seniors) on the squad.

2005 Bears Post Baylor's First Five-Win Season in Decade

Baylor's season-ending 44-34 victory over Oklahoma State allowed the 2005 Bears to finish 5-6 on the season, the program's first five-win campaign since the 1995 team ended 7-4. The Oklahoma State win also gave the Bears two Big 12 wins in the same season for the first time in the league's 10-year history and ensured fifth-place in the South Division after nine consecutive sixth-place finishes.

Since posting the program's last winning season in 1995 at 7-4, Baylor has finished with five wins once (2005), four victories once (1996), three wins four times (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004), two victories three times (1997, 1998, 2000) and one win once (1999).

Bell Tolls Again In 2006

Fifth-year senior Shawn Bell returns for his second season as Baylor's starting quarterback after leading the Bears to a 5-4 record as a starter a year ago. The program's all-time leader in completion percentage (.599), touchdown-to-interception ratio (2.71) and interception percentage (.013), he also ranks No. 7 in career passing efficiency (117.86), No. 8 in career 200-yard passing games (seven), No. 9 in career completions (318), No. 10 in career pass attempts (531) and No. 11 in career passing yards (3,084). Bell needs 13 touchdown passes, 106 completions, 271 attempts and seven 200-yard performances to break the school's career marks in those categories, as well as 916 yards to become the Bears' seventh career 4,000-yard passer.

Bell graduated from Baylor with an education degree in May 2006 and currently is pursuing a master's degree in sports management.

Zeigler, Shelton Among Big 12's Best Receivers

Baylor senior wide receivers Dominique Zeigler and Trent Shelton combined for 87 receptions in 2005 and figure to challenge for 2006 postseason honors.

Zeigler stands fifth on Baylor's career receptions list with 112 grabs, tied for ninth in touchdown receptions (nine) and 11th in career receiving yards (1,182). He needs 72 receptions and 10 touchdown catches to surpass those school marks, but would need nearly 1,500 yards to break that record. A 2005 second-team All-Big 12 pick by the league's coaches, Zeigler hopes to join Gerald McNeil (1981-82-83) and Reggie Newhouse (2000-01-02) as the only Bears to lead the team in receptions for three straight seasons. In 2005, he led Baylor in receptions (48), receiving yards (563) and touchdown receptions (five).

Shelton ranks sixth on the Bears' career reception chart (102) and 12th on the school's all-time receiving yards list (1,126). He has recorded at least one reception in 33 straight games, the longest such string for a Bear since Newhouse ended his career with a school-record 34-game string that spanned the 2000, 2001 and 2002 seasons.

Offensive Nuggets

• The Bears return 97.7 percent of their rushing yards and 77.4 percent of their receptions from 2005. Baylor returns its top five ground gainers and four of its top five receivers from a year ago.

• The Bears averaged 32.6 points in their five 2005 victories compared to 12.2 points in six losses. Baylor is 8-3 all-time under Guy Morriss when scoring at least 24 points, including 3-1 in 2005. • The Bears' projected offensive line starters feature three fifth-year senior starters in left tackle Travis Farst, center Yancy Boatner and right guard Will Blaylock, a junior in left guard Chad Smith and a converted tight end in sophomore Jason Smith at right tackle.

• Fifth-year senior running back Paul Mosley will attempt to become just the fifth Baylor back, following in the footsteps of Ronnie Bull (1959-61), Walter Abercrombie (1978-81), Eldwin Raphel (1988-90) and Darrell Bush (1997-2000), to lead the Bears in rushing for at least three consecutive seasons. Last year, he rushed for a team-high 657 yards, an average of 59.7 yards per game.

• Mosley and fellow 2006 co-No. 1 running back Brandon Whitaker combined for 323 touches in 2005 without a fumble.

• Whitaker averaged 4.9 yards on 131 touches (101 rushes & 30 receptions) in 2005.

Wilson Leads Defense

Senior All-America candidate C.J. Wilson, who earned first-team 2005 All-Big 12 honors from six media outlets at cornerback, headlines a Baylor defense whose 2006 strength could well be the secondary. Wilson shared the Big 12 lead and tied for ninth nationally with a team-high five interceptions in 2005.

He also ranked seventh on the team in tackles with 45 stops and was tied for seventh in the Big 12 with 0.91 passes defended per game. Wilson needs five interceptions in his final Green and Gold campaign to crack the Bears' all-time list.

Defensive Quick Hits • Baylor returns 24 lettermen, including four starters, from last year's defensive unit which was No. 63 nationally in total defense (378.0 ypg).

• Baylor's total-defense average was its lowest since 1995 when it allowed 263.9 ypg and 43 yards less than it was in 2004.

• The 2005 Bears ranked No. 13 nationally in pass defense efficiency with a 106.2 rating. • Baylor ranked No. 8 in the Big 12 and No. 65 nationally in scoring defense at 26.5 points per game, its fewest allowed since 1995 (15.1).

• The Bears yielded 18.8 points in their five 2005 wins compared to 32.8 in their six setbacks. Baylor's defense allowed 23 or fewer points in six of 11 games and fewer than 20 points in four games.

• Fifth-year senior cornerback Anthony Arline is one of two returning starters in the Baylor secondary. He had 24 tackles in 2005 and his 21 career starts are second-most of any 2006 Baylor returnee.

• Senior defensive end Marcus Foreman is slated to start along the Baylor defensive line for the second consecutive season. Baylor's top returning tackler from 2005, Foreman had 58 stops as a junior.

• Fifth-year senior defensive tackle M.T. Robinson has more career starts (22) than any Baylor returnee on either side of the ball.

Opportunity Knocks

Colin Allred's 25-yard interception return for a touchdown in the 2005 season-finale against Oklahoma State was Baylor's 13th non-offensive score in 34 games under head coach Guy Morriss. The 2005 Bears produced four such scores, including both punt and kickoff returns for touchdowns by return specialist Shaun Rochon, a 29-yard fumble return touchdown by Jamaal Harper and Allred's score.

The 2004 Bears forced just nine turnovers and Baylor ranked No. 113 nationally in turnover margin at -1.36 per game. But, in 2005, Baylor forced 29 opponent miscues (13 fumbles and 16 interceptions) to rank No. 30 nationally in turnover margin at +0.45 per game.

Special Special Teams

Without question, Baylor's special teams play has been the strongest facet of Guy Morriss' first three squads. The 2005 Bears ranked 14th nationally in kickoff returns (23.9 ypr), 16th in net punting (36.8 ypp) and 29th in punt returns (11.5 ypr). The year prior to Morriss' arrival, BU ranked 91st nationally in punt returns, 115th in kickoff returns and 117th in net punting.

The kicking game will again be in good hands with the return of 2004 Ray Guy Award winner Daniel Sepulveda and place-kicker Ryan Havens. Sepulveda, a two-time All-American, tore the ACL in his right (non-kicking) knee over the 2006 Easter holiday weekend, but he is on track to return for the season-opener against TCU. His 44.85-yard career 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.

Havens hit 22-of-24 PATs and 16-of-23 field goals as a junior for a team-high 70 points in his first season handling placements. He ranks No. 10 on Baylor's all-time field goals made list (16) and needs 21 points to crack its career kick scoring chart.

The 2006 return game, though, must replace Baylor's all-time kick return yardage leader Willie Andrews and 2005 Big 12 kickoff return leader Shaun Rochon. Andrews, the first two-time, first-team All-Big 12 coaches selection in school history, left Waco with five school career records to his credit, including marks for total kick returns (164) and total kick return yards (2,596). Rochon averaged 27.4 yards per kickoff return to lead the Big 12 and rank 14th nationally in 2005.