March 24, 2007
The Baylor football team concluded its first week of spring practice on Saturday morning with a full-pad workout on the grass practice fields at Floyd Casey Stadium.
Saturday's practice included some controlled contact work between the Bears' offensive and defensive units. Game officials were brought in to work that portion of the practice.
"I thought overall today was pretty good," said fifth-year Baylor head coach Guy Morriss. "The quarterbacks looked pretty good across the board as a group. We did some better things up front in the o-line today, which was good to see. They are improving and you can tell are more comfortable in the system.
"We've got a little more run game in, so it's a little more of a problem for the defense having to defend more and see more looks. As we go along next fall, we may take some out or add another wrinkle or two. For the most part, I think they understand we have to be able to run the football and to do that, you have to knock people off the ball and work hard in the weight room."
While Baylor's move to the spread offense a year ago allowed it to average a school-record 275.0 passing yards per game, the shift also saw the Bears production in the run game drop to just 40.2 yards per contest. That average marked only the fifth time since 1945 that the Baylor offense failed to average at least 100 rushing yards per game and improvement in the run game is a priority for the Bears this spring, Morriss said.
"We have to rush the ball for a minimum of about 100 yards to have the success we are seeking," Morriss said. "We'd like to get up into the 140s, which in this offense would be really good. They understand that and are working at it."
Baylor is scheduled to practice Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday next week with Saturday's workout scheduled to be held on the Floyd Casey Stadium turf.
Note: Junior defensive end Adam Geib injured his right hand during the morning workout, but the extent of the injury was not yet known according to Baylor football trainer Mike Sims.
