April 14, 2007

Photo Gallery

Baylor's green team beat the gold squad, 7-0, in the Bears' intra-squad scrimmage to conclude spring practice on a windy Saturday afternoon at Floyd Casey Stadium.

The scrimmage's lone score came in the fourth quarter when senior running back Brandon Whitaker caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Blake Szymanski. Whitaker rushed four times for a scrimmage-high 47 yards and his only reception on the day went for a touchdown.

"It took us a little while to get rolling, but we saw some things that we liked and some that we didn't like," said fifth-year Baylor head coach Guy Morriss. "Overall, I think it has been a good spring. We got done what we thought we could and feel pretty good about it."

As it has throughout the spring, the Baylor defense shined during the spring game, totaling four interceptions and six sacks. Senior outside safety Zach Jones had two of the four picks, while sophomore defensive tackle Trey Bryant and sophomore defensive end Jason Lamb both registered two sacks.

"They've (the defense) come after us all spring and we've struggled with that second (offensive line) group," said Morriss. "They put some pressure on us."

Despite the impressive performance by the Baylor defense, Morriss said he saw some bright spots offensively throughout the spring.

"That's kind of been our mo this spring, at times, it's that consistency (we are missing)," said Morriss. "There are some new things we are doing this spring that has them thinking a little bit, but we'd like to see them be a little more crisp and sharp. We've still got some time to work on all of that."

Baylor utilized five quarterbacks throughout the scrimmage, which consisted of four 12 minute periods with a running clock. Four of the five quarterbacks played for both squads, with junior Ryan Roberts completing 9 of 13 passes for 104 yards with one interception to lead the way. Senior Michael Machen, a transfer from Kent State who will have one season of eligibility remaining, was 8-of-18 for 61 yards and two interceptions.

Szymanski, who started the Bears' final three games a year ago, was 3-of-5 for 36 yards with no interceptions and one touchdown, while junior college transfer John David Weed was 2-for-5 for 12 yards with two interceptions.

"Right now in my mind, it is Machen's (Michael) job to lose," said Morriss. "But, we have a long way to go yet and anyone could step up (and win the job). So, we'll see."

Thirteen different receivers caught passes in the scrimmage, with junior inside receiver Carl Sims totaling a scrimmage-high four receptions for 43 yards and junior wide receiver Thomas White hauling in three balls for 36 yards. Of the 13 Bears who caught passes on the afternoon, eight recorded at least two receptions.

Nine Bears were held out of the scrimmage due to injury, including Baylor's No. 1 rover, Dwain Crawford. All nine of the players who missed Saturday's scrimmage are expected to be ready for action when fall camp begins.

The Bears will report for fall camp Aug. 1 in preparation for their Sept. 1 season-opener at TCU which will be televised by CSTV starting at 5 p.m.

Final Scrimmage Statistics

Green 7, Gold 0

SCORING

Fourth Quarter

Green - Whitaker 8 pass from Szymanski (Allen kick), 4:57

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Green, Whitaker 4-47, J. Jones 4-21, Szymanski 2-12, Finley 1-1, Roberts 1-(-4), Beatty 1-(-9). Gold, Pierce 1-9, Finley 2-(-3), Weed 2-(-8), Machen 2-(-10), Roberts 3-(-23). [combined: Roberts 4-(-27), Finley 3-(-2)].

PASSING-Green, Roberts 8-11-1 97, Machen 6-12-1 47, Szymanski 3-3-0 36 (TD), Beatty 2-4-0 25, Weed 0-1-1 0. Gold, Machen 2-6-1 14, Weed 2-4-0 12, Roberts 1-2-0 7, Szymanski 0-2-0 0. [combined: Roberts 9-13-1 104, Machen 8-18-2 61, Szymanski 3-5-0 36, Weed 2-5-1 12].

RECEIVING-Green, Sims 4-43, White 3-36, J. Jones 2-48, Fenty 2-23, Baker 2-16, Finley 2-10, Smith 1-16, Teasley 1-11, Taylor 1-9, Whitaker 1-8 (TD). Gold, Akers 2-14, Hurst 2-13, Pierce 1-6.

DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS

INTERCEPTIONS-Z. Jones 2, Mitchell 1, Price 1.

SACKS-Bryant 2, Lamb 2, Hardeman 1, Rhodes 1.