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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

While quarterback Seth Russell was near-perfect, hitting his first nine passes and throwing for 233 yards and three touchdowns, Baylor's first-team defense was equally impressive in Saturday's 72-minute scrimmage at McLane Stadium.

Russell was an efficient 17-of-21 passing and connected on TD passes of 77 yards to Corey Coleman, 18 to tight end Tre'Von Armstead and a two-yarder to Jay Lee as the first-team offense scored on four of its drives.

"I knew he was on," head coach Art Briles said of Russell's performance during an 89-play scrimmage and the Bears' first full-pad work of fall camp. "I thought he made some good checks at the line of scrimmage and protected the football. That's what it's all about. He's just continually gotten better the last three years. I think his confidence level is really rising. . . . It's hard to play good when you're not happy, and he seems happy when he's playing."

The fourth-year junior quarterback said the Bears still need to start faster.

"We struggle din the situational drills," Russell said. "If it's third-and-long, we need to get close - like fourth-and-1 - and then maybe we can go for it. In those situational drills, we need to start faster and get positive yardage."

It was a rough day for the backup quarterbacks. Jarrett Stidham and Chris Johnson split reps with the No. 2 offense and completed just 3-of-12 passes for 31 yards, while freshman walk-on QB Zach Bennema went with the No. 3 unit and was 2-of-7 for eight yards.

Briles said he expects solid play like that from a first-team defense that returns nine of 11 starters and "won a bunch of football games and got a lot of experience."

"Those guys should be good," he said. "It's not like we're whoopin' and hollerin' every time we get somebody in third-and-8. That's what we expect."

Sophomore nickel back Travon Blanchard, one of the two newcomers to the defense, had one of the team's seven sacks for the day.

"It felt good to be out here in full pads, flying around and everything," Blanchard said. "It felt good to put yourself in a live situation every day and finally you get paid. . . . We only have limited days, so each day we need to make a stride to get better. We're trying to be the best defense in the nation, so I feel like we took a step toward that goal."

Like preseason NFL exhibition games, Briles says you can't read too much into fall camp scrimmages.

"It's just hard to tell. We're judging against ourselves," he said. "We're healthy, that's the No. 1 thing. Like I was telling them at the end (of the scrimmage), everybody in this huddle we want at SMU on Sept. 4. The whole thing is keeping these guys healthy, getting them to the game and then turning them loose and letting them play."

Coleman led the receiving corps with 102 yards on four catches. Armstead hauled in three passes for 60 yards, with Lynx Hawthorne adding three catches for 18 yards and Lee, KD Cannon and Trevor White grabbing two apiece.

Between the three units, the Bears rushed for just 98 yards on 49 attempts. Splitting reps with the No. 2 offense, redshirt freshman Terence Williams and true freshman JaMycal Hasty combined for 56 yards on 13 carries.

Defensive leaders included safety Taion Sells with nine tackles, linebacker Taylor Young with two stops behind the line and cornerback Ryan Reid with three pass breakups.

In the special teams area, Chris Callahan booted field goals of 20 and 35 yards, freshman punter Drew Galitz averaged 41.3 yards on three kicks and Coleman, Johnny Jefferson and freshman J.W. Ketchum were returning kicks.

"We're still in the learning phase, 10 days in," Briles said. "I saw some good things on both sides of the ball. We were really fast defensively, and we executed offensively pretty well. Special teams were pretty clean."

After wrapping up the second week of fall camp, the Bears will take Sunday off before resuming workouts Monday. Baylor will open the season Sept. 4 with a nationally televised game (ESPN) against SMU in Dallas, Texas, followed by the home opener at McLane Stadium Sept. 12 against Lamar.

SCRIMMAGE STATS

SCORING PLAYS:
Corey Coleman 77 yard pass from Seth Russell (No PAT)
Tre'Von Armstead 18 yard pass from Seth Russell (Chris Callahan kick)
Jay Lee 2 yard pass from Seth Russell (Chris Callahan kick)
Callahan 20 yard field goal
Callahan 35 yard field goal

PASSING (Cmp-Att-Yds-TD-Int)
Seth Russell - 17-21, 233 yards, 3 TD; Jarrett Stidham - 3-6, 31 yards; Zack Bennema - 2-7, 8 yards; Chris Johnson - 0-6.

RUSHING (Att-Yds)
Terence Williams 5-31; JaMycal Hasty 8-25; Johnny Jefferson 4-21; Seth Russell 6-19; Devin Chafin 5-12; Wyatt Schrepfer 7-9; Zack Bennema 1-(-4); Jarrett Stidham 8-(-5); Chris Johnson 5-(-10).

RECEIVING (Rec-Yds)
Corey Coleman - 4-102, TD; Tre'Von Armstead - 3-60, TD; Chris Platt - 1-23; Lynx Hawthorne - 3-18; LaQuan McGowan - 1-13; KD Cannon - 2-12; Ishmael Zamora - 1-11; Jay Lee - 2-9, TD; Davion Hall - 1-8; Trevor White - 1-4; Terence Williams - 1-4; Gus Penning - 1-4.

TACKLES (Solo-Assisted-Total):
Taion Sells (7-2-9), Raaquan Davis (3-2-5), Alfred Pullom (4-1-5), Taylor Young (4-0-4), Chance Waz (4-0-4), Terrence Singleton (4-0-4), Patrick Levels (2-2-4), Aiavion Edwards (2-1-3), Lenoy Jones Jr. (3-0-3), Brian Nance (2-1-3), Shawn Oakman (2-0-2), Grant Campbell (2-0-2), Xavien Howard (2-0-2), Jordan Williams (2-0-2), Eric Ogor (0-2-2), Andrew Morris (0-1-1), Travon Blanchard (1-0-1), Greg Roberts (1-0-1), Ryan Reid (1-0-1), Tion Wright (1-0-1), Verkedric Vaughns (0-1-1), Xavier Jones (0-1-1), Clay Johnston (0-1-1), Ross Matiscik (1-0-1).

TACKLES FOR LOSS (Total):
Taylor Young (2), Travon Blanchard (1), K.J. Smith (1), Andrew Billings (1), Jamal Palmer (1), Beau Blackshear (1), Xavier Jones (1), Shawn Oakman (1), Patrick Levels (1), Aiavion Edwards (1).

SACKS (Total-Yards Lost):
Travon Blanchard (1-6 yards), Jamal Palmer (1-6 yards), Beau Blackshear (1- 6 yards), Patrick Levels (1-6 yards), Xavier Jones (1- 4 yards), Aiavion Edwards (1- 4 yards), Andrew Billings (1-3 yards).

PASS BREAKUPS (Total):
Ryan Reid (3), Shawn Oakman (1), Alfred Pullom (1), Verkedric Vaughns (1), Taion Sells (1), Travon Blanchard (1), Clay Johnston (1), Jordan Williams (1).

PUNTS:
Drew Galitz 3-124 (41.3)
Tom Bennett 2-79 (39.5)

POST-SCRIMMAGE QUOTES

On being back at McLane Stadium:
"We're sitting in a beautiful stadium, first and foremost. You never take this thing for granted. It always adds a lot of inspiration to our players. We're very grateful and humbled to all of the people who made it happen in Baylor Nation."

Thoughts on the scrimmage:
"We're still in the learning phase, 10 days in. Our guys are getting better, first day really in full pads. We did a little bit of live, not a lot. Had an hour and 15 minute scrimmage, and kept everybody healthy. I saw some good things on both sides of the ball. We were really fast defensively, and we executed offensively pretty well. Special teams were pretty clean."

On the defense making plays:
"That's what we expect. We have nine guys back that played in 13 games last year that won a bunch of football games and got a lot of experience. Those guys should be good. It's not like we're whoopin' and hollerin' every time we get somebody in 3rd and 8. That's what we expect."

On Travon Blanchard and Taylor Young:
"They're just active guys. They're just ballhawks. They have great instincts, and they love the game."

On Seth Russell completing his first 9 passes and 12 of his first 13:
"I knew he was good. I knew he was on. I thought he was really calm. I thought he made some good checks at the line of scrimmage, and protected the football. That's what it's all about. He's just continually gotten better the last three days. I think his confidence level is really rising. He seems to be having a good time. It's hard to play good when you're not happy, and he seems happy when he's playing. I think he's on the right track. We have three more weeks to get better for SMU."

On if the team is where he wants it to be at this point in fall camp:
"I think so. It's just hard to tell. We're judging against ourselves. We're healthy. That's the number one thing. Like I was telling them at the end, everybody in this huddle we want at SMU on Sept. 4. The whole thing is keeping these guys healthy, getting them to the game and then turning them loose and letting them play."

"A lot of the guys were moving fast today. We started rolling and do what we do. We need to start faster. We have to get positive yards, and if we don't then we have to punt. We struggled in the situational drills and if it is third and long we need to get close like fourth and 1 then maybe we can go for it. In those situational drills we need to start faster and get positive yardage."

"It felt good to be out here in full pads, flying around and everything. It felt good to put yourself in a live situation every day and finally you get to pad up. Every day is a work day. Every day you use it to get better. We only have limited amount of days, so each day we need to make a stride to get better. We're trying to be the best defense in the nation, so I feel like we took a step towards that goal."