Aug. 9, 2008
Read official "View From The Hill" blog about fall practice
Head coach Art Briles put his Baylor squad through its first scrimmage of the fall Saturday morning on the Baylor practice fields, what he termed a "half scrimmage" that followed an hour-and-a-half of practice.
The scrimmage, which lasted a little over one hour, was highlighted by a 56-yard touchdown scamper by true freshman quarterback Robert Griffin that drew loud applause from the fans in attendance. It was the first of three touchdown plays on the day, followed by a 44-yard scoring pass from senior transfer Kirby Freeman to junior David Gettis and a 28-yard TD throw from senior Ryan Roberts to true freshman Terrance Williams.
The team has an off day Sunday and will return to the field Monday with its eighth practice of fall camp at 3:30 p.m. [Briles quotes below]
BAYLOR HEAD COACH Art Briles - Aug. 9, 2008
General observation on Saturday's practice/scrimmage:
"For seven workouts in the last eight days, there still is quite a bit of energy. Honestly, I'm pretty pleased with both sides of the ball. I thought the defense really flew around and played with a lot of intelligent and intensity. You know, you can play hard, but you have to play smart. Offensively, I thought we made enough plays to be reckoned with. We still need to be a little consistent, but that's just going to take a little time. We've got to find ourselves, figure out what we can do exactly, but we're on the right path."
On the player's excitement to get into a scrimmage situation:
"There were some pretty good licks laid down, but the main thing is we stayed healthy. That's the number one thing we look for and that's what we gauged halfway through the scrimmage: How's our health? And it was good, so we kept going. Because when we jog down on the 28th (season-opener vs. Wake Forest), we want everybody feeling good and being at full tilt."
On player's learning the system:
"We're all the same. The guy that's been here five years has still been in the system five months, same as the guy that came at midterm. Some may have some game experience, but it might be some different experience with the schemes that we're in on both sides of the ball."
On how the first team offense and defense looked:
"I thought the first D really did a good job. First O, we had a couple things, but we quick-whistled a couple deals. Once again, just to keep everybody healthy and understanding that this isn't payday. Payday is the 28th, that's when we've got to turn loose and go."
On which players caught his eye:
"A lot of people did. Defensively, I think Jason Lamb and Vinnie Rhodes up front. I thought Earl Patin was very active, seems like Jordan Lake had a couple plays. And I thought the corners did well. Crawford had a big play over there. Offensively, of course Jason Smith, J.D. (Walton), without a doubt. I thought Jeremy Sanders is going to bring something to the table for us. We need to figure out exactly how to use him, but he's definitely got some talents that we need to utilize."
On the crowd at Saturday's scrimmage:
"Like I told our players, tell everybody thank you. It was a great crowd, great enthusiasm. And we just need to keep doing well and keep bringing them back. We need to give them reasons to come out here. We were thankful that they were out here today."
