Aug. 23, 2007

Six senior walk-on members of the Baylor football team were awarded scholarships for the 2007-08 academic year, Bears head coach Guy Morriss announced Thursday.

Those honored with scholarships include OG Ricky Hasoon, LB Daniel Lopez, CB Ralph Rodriguez, OL Ted Tanner, SS Zach Jones and FB Keegan Vann. At the end spring practice, the Baylor staff also placed junior WR Thomas White on scholarship. Including the seniors receiving scholarships today, Baylor's 2007 roster features eight walk-ons who have earned scholarships.

"Most of them have been here for quite awhile," said Morriss. "They are all seniors and I think three or four have been with us since we came that first season in 2003. So, we wanted to reward them for their hard work. They've been kids, haven't been in trouble and they help our GPA out, so we wanted to reward them for their efforts on the football field."

Since Morriss' arrival in 2003, 30 Bears have gone from walk-on to scholarship status.

Baylor practiced for two hours in full pads on the grass practice fields Thursday afternoon with mixed results according to Morriss.

"It was pretty good," said Morriss. "We had to help our offense push through a couple of periods. I didn't like the fact that we forced a throw down in the end zone and got picked. We just have to communicate a little better. But, for the most part I thought we finished pretty strong."

Morriss said that sophomore Blake Szymanski and redshirt freshman Tyler Beatty remain even in the race to earn the starting quarterback job for the Bears' Sept. 1 season-opener at No. 22 TCU.

"We'll let them compete through this weekend and if we have to we'll decide who we are going to go with and start putting the reps into which ever one that may be," Morriss said. "They are both pretty talented and have done a good job. At some point, you have to decide--either they decide it or we are going to have to name someone.

"We still feel pretty good about both of them," he added. "We are trying to split some reps and make sure we get a look at both of them every day and see how they can react to the pressure."

Baylor will return to practice Friday at 4:15 p.m. on the grass practice fields. All practices are closed to the public.

Notes: Sophomore offensive tackle Thad Boatner (right knee strain) and freshman linebacker Chris Francis (left knee strain) missed Thursday's practice, while redshirt freshman running back Jay Finley (shoulder) and senior OG Chad Smith (tendonitis in knee) left practice early with injuries ... Former Baylor All-America defensive tackle Santana Dotson watched practice and addressed the team at the end of the workout.