Nov. 18
Oklahoma 36 ... Baylor 10
OU overcame five turnovers to blow
away Baylor on an interception
return for a touchdown from Reggie
Smith, a safety, and a 88-yard
kickoff return for a score by
Juaquin Iglesias. The offense got
into the act on a ten-yard Joe Jon
Finley scoring catch and a
seven-yard Chris Brown run on the
way to a 36-3 lead after three
quarters. The Bears finally got into
the end zone on a 56-yard Braelon
Davis fumble return for a touchdown.
The Sooner defense came up with five
sacks holding BU to -48 rushing
yards.
Player of the game ...
Oklahoma RB Chris Brown ran for 169
yards and a touchdown on 24 carries.
Stat Leaders: Oklahoma
- Passing: Paul Thompson,
12-19, 178 yds, 2 TDs, INT
Rushing: Chris Brown, 24-169,
1 TD Receiving: Malcolm
Kelly, 5-115, 1 TD
Baylor - Passing:
Blake Szymanski, 22-45, 188 yds,
2 INTs
Rushing: Paul Mosley, 7-14 Receiving:
Paul Mosley, 5-23
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... After
things went so well over the first
half of the season, the wheels
completely came apart for the Bears
over the last month with four
straight losses and not even coming
close against the teams in the
South. Blake Szymanski wasn't able
to get the passing game going
showing how much Shawn Bell was
missed, but the real problem was the
defense. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State
ran at will over the last two weeks,
and while that'll certainly be
addresses in the off-season, job one
is to find some semblance of a
running game.
|
2006
Schedule
CFN
Prediction:
4-8
2006 Schedule:
4-8
Preview 2006 predicted wins |
| 9/2 |
TCU L 17-7 |
| 9/9 |
Nwestern St
W 47-10 |
| 9/16 |
at Wash St L 17-15 |
| 9/23 |
Army
L 27-20 OT |
|
9/30 |
Kansas State
W 17-3 |
| 10/7 |
at Colo. W 34-31 3OT |
| 10/14 |
at Texas L 63-31 |
| 10/21 |
Kansas
W 36-35 |
| 10/28 |
Texas A&M L 31-21 |
| 11/4 |
at Texas Tech L 55-21 |
| 11/11 |
at Oklahoma St L 66-24 |
| 11/18 |
Oklahoma L 36-10 |
|
|
2005
Schedule
CFN
Prediction: 3-8
2005 Schedule: 5-6
Preview 2005 predicted wins |
| 9/3 |
at SMU
W 28-23 |
| 9/10 |
Samford
W 48-14 |
| 9/17 |
at Army
W 20-10 |
| 10/1 |
at Texas A&M L 16-13 OT |
| 10/8 |
at Iowa State W 23-13 |
| 10/15 |
Nebraska L 23-14 |
| 10/22 |
at Oklahoma L
37-30 2OT |
| 10/29 |
Texas Tech L 28-0
|
| 11/5 |
Texas L 62-0 |
| 11/12 |
at Missouri L 31-16 |
| 11/19 |
Oklahoma State W 44-34 |
|
Nov. 11
Oklahoma
State 66 ... Baylor 24
Oklahoma State converted five Baylor
turnovers into touchdowns and
finished with six takeaways in the
blowout win. Tied at three in the
first quarter, OSU went on a
48-point run with two Keith Toston
touchdown runs, two Bobby Reid
touchdown passes to Brandon
Pettigrew, and in the first four
minutes of the second half, a
23-yard Darnell Smith interception
return for a touchdown and a 57-yard
Donovan Woods fumble recovery for a
score. Down 52-3, the Bears got two
Blake Szymanski touchdown passes
with an eight-yard Paul Mosley
scoring run.
Player of the game ... Oklahoma State RBs Dantrell
Savage and Keith Toston combined for
208 yards and three touchdowns on 24
carries
Stat Leaders: Baylor - Passing: Blake
Szymanski, 24-41, 262 yds, 2 TD, 3
INT
Rushing: Paul Mosley, 8-62, 1 TD. Receiving:
Carl Sims, 7-62
Oklahoma State - Passing:
Bobby Reid, 9-10, 88 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Dantrell Savage, 13-116, 1 TD Receiving:
Brandon Pettigrew, 3-33, 2 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... How much
does Baylor miss Shawn Bell? The
offense had no hope of keeping pace
with Oklahoma State, while the
mistakes and turnovers from Blake
Szymanski were part of a freaky-fast
Cowboy run to make it a laugher.
This game was when a running game
would've been nice to rely on once
things started going south, and
there wasn't much. The bowl dream is
gone after a three-game losing
streak with Oklahoma to close things
out. Consider the season an
interesting stepping stone for the
future, but it'll be hard to forget
about how things are closing out.
Oct. 28
Texas A&M 31 ... Baylor 21
Texas A&M got Martellus Bennett
touchdown catches from three and 75 yards out and controlled the game with the
rushing attack throughout. Baylor got two short touchdown runs from Brandon
Whitaker and Paul Mosley to go along with a 79-yard touchdown catch from
Dominique Ziegler, but the Aggies controlled the fourth quarter closing it out
with a 22-yard Layne Neumann field goal, after getting an attempt blocked
earlier, and a 64-yard Mike Goodson touchdown run.
Player of the game ... Texas A&M TE Martellus Bennett
caught five passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns.
Stat Leaders: Texas A&M - Passing:
Stephen McGee, 12-21, 215 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Mike Goodson, 8-96, 1 TD. Receiving:
Martellus Bennett, 5-133, 2 TD
Baylor - Passing:
Shawn Bell, 14-20, 260 yds, 1 TD
Rushing:
Paul Mosley, 13-53, 1 TD Receiving: Dominique Ziegler,
5-180, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... Baylor
needed to keep the chains moving and get the Texas A&M running game off the
field to have a chance to win, but the offense couldn't do it. Even though Shawn
Bell had a nice game, and Paul Mosley ran well, it wasn't able to generate
nearly enough in the fourth quarter after fighting to get even at 21-21. Bell
couldn't come up with the big play needed, and he'll need to be on for BU and
has to not only hit the big plays, but also control the clock to stay in the
almost certain firefights ahead against Texas Tech and Oklahoma State.
Oct. 21
Baylor 36 ... Kansas 35
Baylor got three Shawn Bell
touchdown passes in the final 9:22
in a wild comeback after being down
35-17 going into the fourth quarter.
Jon Cornish ran for two scores for
the Jayhawks, Kerry Meier threw a
touchdown pass and ran for another,
and Arist Wight returned an
interception for a 28-yard score,
but the secondary couldn't handle
Bell, who threw for a school-record
394 yards and five touchdown passes
with two to Trent Shelton and a
ten-yard throw to Dominique Ziegler
with 1:08 to play for BU's first
lead since early in the first
quarter. KU's final drive never got
going with Dwain Crawford
intercepting Adam Barmann on fourth
and 22.
Player of the game ... Baylor QB Shawn Bell completed
33 of 55 passes for 394 yards and
five touchdowns with two
interceptions
Stat Leaders: Kansas - Passing: Kerry
Meier, 6-11, 62 yds, 1 TD
Rushing:
Jon Cornish, 24-196, 2 TD
Receiving:
Dexton Fields, 4-36, 1 TD
Baylor - Passing:
Shawn Bell, 33-55, 394 yds, 5 TD, 2
INT
Rushing: Paul Mosley, 8-75 Receiving:
Dominique Ziegler, 7-122, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ...
Purists might poo-poo a pure passing
attack like Baylor's but in a
shootout like the one against
Kansas, it's the offense you want to
have. Shawn Bell was magnificent
spreading the ball around well and
coming up with the big plays the
offense desperately needed to have
in the fourth quarter to pull off
the win and stay alive in the hunt
for a bowl game. The defense was
nothing to write home about and its
probably going to be steamrolled
over by Texas A&M next week, as long
as Bell is bombing, the team has a
shot.
Oct. 14
Texas 63 ... Baylor 31
In a strange game that saw big play
after big play, Colt McCoy set a
Texas record with six touchdown
passes, Matt Melton returned a pick
for a score, Robert Killebrew
returned a fumble for a score, and
McCoy connected on big play after
big play. Baylor started out with a
67-yard touchdown from Trent Shelton
on its first play from scrimmage got
a 56-yard scoring dash from Paul
Mosley, but couldn't keep up the
pace. A 19-yard scoring grab from
Limas Sweed broke the game wide open
in the third quarter, and a 50-yard
Sweed score and a 62-yard touchdown
from Billy Pittman added to the
blowout.
Player of the game ... Texas QB Colt McCoy completed 31
of 32 passes for 275 yards and six
touchdowns
Stat Leaders: Texas - Passing: Colt
McCoy, 21-32, 275 yds, 6 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Jamaal Charles, 14-64. Receiving:
Limas Sweed, 6-98, 2 TD
Baylor - Passing:
Shawn Bell, 25-47, 303 yds, 2 TD, 1
INT
Rushing: Paul Mosley, 5-64, 1 TD Receiving:
Trent Shelton, 6-114, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... Texas
might have blown the doors off the
Baylor defense, but could the Bears
have even thought about throwing on
a team this good a few years ago?
Even though the passing game is
hardly a polished product, Shawn
Bell get slinging it and kept the
Longhorns on their heels and forced
them to up their intensity
throughout the game. Having the
athletes to compete with the best of
the best will always be a problem,
but at least this offense will throw
a scare into everyone. Bell is a
fearless bomber.
Oct. 7
Baylor 34 ... Colorado 31 3OT
Baylor's Ryan Havens hit a 22-yard
field goal in the third overtime,
and then the defense sealed the win
with an interception from Joe
Pawelek. The Bears took a 17-10 lead
late in the fourth quarter on a
28-yard Paul Mosley touchdown run,
but Colorado came back with a
nine-yard touchdown run from Byron
Ellis. In the first overtime, Mosley
ran for a one-yard score, but
Colorado got a ten-yard scoring grab
from Rian Greer. Hugh Charles tore
off a 25-yard touchdown run for the
Buffs in the second OT, and Baylor
answered with a ten-yard Trent
Shelton touchdown grab.
Player of the game ... Baylor LB Joe Pawelek made 14
tackles, one tackle for loss, and
sealed the win with an interception
in the third overtime.
Stat Leaders: Baylor - Passing: Shawn
Bell, 31-44, 272 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Paul Mosley, 20-85, 2 TD. Receiving:
Dominique Ziegler, 7-71
Colorado - Passing:
Bernard Jackson, 9-24, 75 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Bernard Jackson, 15-93,
1 TD Receiving:
Riar Geer, 3-39
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... Was the
win at Colorado the biggest in the
Guy Morriss era? There have been
bigger upsets and some shockers, but
this put the Bears in the bowl hunt
needing three more wins to get in.
There was a running game for the
first time all season long with Paul
Mosley motoring well to give Shawn
Bell and the passing game a little
bit of a break. The defense couldn't
hold up against the run, and there
will be big problems against Texas
next week, but the pass defense was
terrific.
Sept. 30
Baylor 17 ... Kansas State 3
Baylor got a 75-yard touchdown from
Trent Shelton, an 11-yard scoring grab from Dominique Ziegler and a 22-yard Ryan
Havens field goal and let the defense do the rest holding Kansas State to 45
rushing yards and just a 41-yard Jeff Snodgrass field goal. The Wildcats moved
the ball through the air, but turned it over five times with Dwain Crawford
picking off two passes.
Player of the game ... Baylor QB Shawn Bell completed
25 of 46 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns with one interception
Stat Leaders: Kansas State - Passing:
Josh Freeman, 11-33, 196 yds, 3 INT
Rushing:
Thomas Clayton, 18-38
Receiving:
Rashaad Norwood, 7-27
Baylor - Passing: Shawn Bell, 25-46, 282
yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Paul Mosley, 7-33 Receiving:
Dominique Ziegler, 8-73, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ...
Baylor's offense still needs plenty
of fine tuning, but the defense did its job against Kansas State coming up with
big play after big play and putting the offense into great positions. Two
scoring drives started on KSU's side of the field. Shawn Bell had one of his
strongest games yet, but he's still not effective enough to overcome the lack of
any sort of running game. At some point, the offense has to figure out how to
get Paul Mosley going.
Sept. 23
Army 27 ... Baylor 20 OT
Army scored on its overtime possession thanks to a Tony Moore
run on fourth down to keep the drive alive before running for a four-yard score
for the lead. Baylor's possession went four and out with Shawn Bell misfiring on
a fourth down pass to give Army the win. Baylor sent it into overtime with a
24-yard Ryan Havens field goal after Army scored ten fourth quarter points
highlighted by a 21-yard touchdown pass to Moore. Baylor started off with a 10-0
lead in the first quarter on a Bell seven-yard touchdown pass to Trent Shelton,
but it was only able to come up with one more touchdown on a two-yard Paul
Mosley run late in the third. Army's offense had problems getting going until
Jeremy Trimble returned a punt 59 yards for a score to tie it at ten.
Player of the game ... Army linebackers Barrett Scruggs
and Cason Shrode combined for 20 tackles
Stat Leaders: Army - Passing: David
Pevoto, 15-22, 138 yds, 1 TD
Rushing:
Wesley McMahand, 22-93
Receiving:
Jeremy Trimble, 7-63
Baylor - Passing: Shawn Bell, 26-35, 241
yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Paul Mosley, 14-38, 1 TD Receiving:
Trent Shelton, 7-79, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ...
Baylor needed to use the Army game to fight
through the growing pains of the passing offense, but Shawn Bell still didn't do
nearly enough to push the ball down the field on a consistent basis and there
continues to be no running attack to balance things out when Bell isn't on. Even
so, the offense came up with its best drive of the game when it desperately
needed it late in the fourth quarter to force overtime, but the overtime drive
showed what can happen when the offense isn't working. At 1-3, the team needs a
big win next week at Kansas State or be in big trouble over the next several
weeks. A bowl game is now an impossible dream.
Sept. 16
Washington State 17 ... Baylor 15
Washington State got stuffed at the goal line, but won the
game with a 17-yard Loren Langley field goal with nine seconds to play to cap
off a sloppy game with eight total turnovers and -10 rushing yards from Baylor.
The Bears made enough plays to stay alive getting a 40-yard fumble recovery for
a score from Anthony Arline with just over five minutes to play, but the Cougars
answered with Alex Brink, who caught a four-yard touchdown pass in the third
quarter, taking the team on its best drive of the day for the final points.
Jason Hill caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Gary Rogers in the second
quarter for the Cougars. Baylor got out to a 9-0 lead on a safety and a 12-yard
touchdown catch from Justin Fenty.
Player of the game ... Washington State QB Alex Brink
completed 21 of 32 passes for 251 yards with an interception and caught a
four-yard touchdown pass
Stat Leaders: Washington State - Passing:
Alex Brink, 21-32, 251 yds, 1 INT
Rushing:
DeMaundray Woolridge, 18-54
Receiving:
Michael Bumpus, 7-64
Baylor - Passing: Shawn Bell, 31-48, 256
yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Brandon Whitaker, 6-20 Receiving:
Brandon Whitaker, 9-57
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ...
The new passing game
experiment to try to be another
Texas Tech only works if there's
some sort of a running game. There
hasn't been since the start of the
season, and -10 yards against
Washington State, helped by a slew
of Cougar sacks, proved to be the
team's downfall. On the positive
side, BU turned it over four times,
had no running game, and gave up
five sacks, yet still had a chance
to win late losing on a last-second
field goal. If there's no ground
game against an awful Army run
defense next week, then it's really
time to panic.
Sept. 9
Baylor 47 ... Northwestern State 10
Shawn Bell threw four touchdown
passes, with two to Thomas White,
and C.J. Wilson returned an
interception for a touchdown as
Baylor cruised to an easy win. The
Bears got up 20-0 at halftime, but
NSU broke the run on the opening
drive in the second half with a
ten-yard Chris Miller touchdown
pass. BU outgained NSU 330 passing
yards to 182, but was outrushed 147
yards to 20. NSU committed 20
penalties for 139 yards and Baylor
committed 11 for 130.
Player of the game ... Baylor WR Trent Shelton caught
nine passes for 58 yards and a
touchdown.
Stat Leaders: Northwestern State - Passing:
Ricky Joe Meeks, 13-25, 179 yds, 1
TD, 3 INT
Rushing: Patrick Earl, 13-64. Receiving:
Derrick Doyle, 4-102
Baylor - Passing:
Shawn Bell, 25-41, 288 yds, 4 TD, 1
INT
Rushing: Brandon Whitaker, 4-23. Receiving: Trent
Shelton, 9-158, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... Running
game, schmunning game. You schedule
teams like Northwestern State to
work on what needs working on, and
Baylor needed live reps for its
passing game. It came up with a
great game spreading the ball around
well and looking like the lite
version of Texas Tech that it's
trying to become. Shawn Bell isn't
razor-sharp yet, but he made some
good throws and had a better command
of the offense than he did against
TCU.
Sept. 2
TCU 17 ... Baylor 7
TCU overcame a 7-0 deficit and the
loss of starting quarterback Jeff
Ballard to score 17 unanswered
points in the second half as Marcus
Jackson connected with Aaron Brown
on a 84-yard touchdown and Quinton
Cunigan on a three-yard scoring
strike. Baylor scored on a 21-yard
touchdown pass to Mikail Baker, but
had problems maintaining possession
in the second half and turned the
ball over twice in TCU territory
killing good scoring chances.
Player of the game ... TCU QB Marcus Jackson completed
11 of 13 passes for 148 yards and
two touchdowns
Stat Leaders: TCU - Passing: Marcus
Jackson, 11-13, 148 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Aaron Brown, 15-49. Receiving:
Quentil Harmon, 5-96
Baylor - Passing:
Shawn Bell, 31-47, 286 yds, 1 TD, 1
INT
Rushing: Paul Mosley, 10-34. Receiving: Terrance
Parks, 7-65
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ...
The new passing attack was able to
generate some decent yards against
TCU, but it wasn't able to come up
with the big play in the second half
and it wasn't able to take advantage
of all the openings. Lost in the
hope to be like Texas Tech is the
need for a ground game. The Red
Raiders always have some semblance
of a rushing threat, and Baylor
needs to get Paul Mosley going on
the ground to keep defenses
guessing. The attack will get a
chance to tune up next week against
Northwestern State.
Baylor 2006 Preview
Baylor Preview |
Offense |
Defense |
Depth Chart
|
Further Analysis
It has taken ten years of Big 12 play, but Baylor finally
can go into the season honestly thinking it won't be the league's
worst team.
While that might not seem like much, it's a huge step for the
woebegone program that hasn't had a winning season since 1995 and
got its first conference road win last season.
It has been a case of baby steps under head coach Guy
Morriss as the team has slowly upgrades the overall talent level and
has started to become more competitive. However,
it's time for the near misses to turn into wins. This is a program
way overdue for good things to happen, and under Morriss, the breaks
should start to come.
The 2005 Bears lost to Texas A&M by three and to Oklahoma by seven,
but it beat the teams they were supposed to and come up with a
shocker against Iowa State in Ames. This isn't a good enough team to
beat all the Big 12 big boys and be a player in the race for the
South title, but it has just enough to pull off a few upsets, beat
the average teams, and finally get a winning season again.
While it might seem like
Baylor is on the verge of being much better, it's undergoing a little
bit of a transformation on offense. While a balanced offense that can do
a little of everything well would be nice, strength, not speed, has been
the team's biggest problem over the years; it can't pound the ball on
anyone. Expect more passing in the spread offense with even more four
and five wide sets than last year.
The defensive front six in the 4-2-5 alignment isn't going to scare
anyone, but the secondary should be one of the Big 12's best with a
solid group of unheralded talents and good new safeties to replace
former stars Maurice Lane and Willie Andrews. The special teams will be
among the best in America led by punter Daniel Sepulveda, last year's
Ray Guy Award winner.
The question then becomes when Baylor will improve to the point to where
it becomes a true threat to go to a bowl. First of all, it has to prove
it can handle itself better in Big 12 play. For all the positive steps
taken under Morriss, the Bears have still only gone 4-14 in conference
play in his tenure. Every time it looks like things are about to turn,
long losing streaks kick in.
In 2003, BU started 3-2 before losing the final seven games. In 2004
there was a 2-1 start before going 1-7 the rest of the way. Last year, a
five-game losing streak did the team in after a great start. However,
there's a shot to avoid the big skid this season because of ...
The
Schedule: BU
gets the biggest break possible playing the North's two weakest teams,
Kansas State and Kansas, in very winnable home games. Spread out with
games against teams like Army, Oklahoma State and Northwestern State,
it's doubtful the Bears will go on anything more than a three-game
losing streak. With dates at Colorado, Texas and Texas Tech, forget
about a second Big 12 road win until mid-November against OSU. Getting
Texas A&M at home is a major plus.
Best
Offensive Player: Senior WR Dominique Ziegler. A possession receiver
extraordinaire, Ziegler has a shot at owning several of the school's
receiving records. He needs 72 catches and ten touchdowns to be the main
man in those two areas, but it might be possible in the new passing
attack.
Best
Defensive Player: Senior CB C.J. Wilson. Good enough to play either
safety of corner, Wilson has good size and great ball skills. He picked
off five passes last season as one of the Big 12's steadies corners, and
he should once again be a star in a solid secondary.
Key player
to a successful season: Senior QB Shawn Bell. While he's not going
to put up unbelievable numbers, he should be a consistent leader. He
needs to spread the ball around effectively and keep the mistakes to a
minimum. If he can start being better at throwing the deep ball, all the
better.
The season
will be a success if ...
BU wins six games. It's a far taller task than it might
seem with the only sure wins to come against Northwestern State and
Army. Yeah, the Bears should be able to hang with Kansas State, Kansas,
Texas A&M, and at Oklahoma State, but they're not going to win all four
of those, and they're not good enough to beat TCU, at Washington State,
at Colorado, at Texas, at Texas Tech, or Oklahoma.
Key game:
Sept. 30 vs. Kansas State. The Wildcats will be looking to rebound
in a hurry under a new coaching staff and will be desperate to come away
from Waco with a win. Baylor needs this to avoid a three game losing
streak with games at Colorado and Texas ahead.
2005 Fun
Stats:
- Penalties: Baylor 89 for 766 yards - Opponents 65 for 540 yards
- Fourth down conversion percentage: Opponents 14 of 20 (70%) - Baylor 5
of 12 (42%)
- Red zone scoring percentage: Opponents 85% (26 TDs, 9 FGs) - Baylor
65% (17 TDs, 13 INT)
The Last Time Baylor…
…played in a bowl game…1994
(Alamo Bowl vs. Washington State)
…missed a bowl game…2005
…pitched a shutout…1995 (NC State)
…was shutout…2005 (Texas)
…scored 50 points…2002 (Samford)
…went undefeated…1900
…won a conference title…1994 (share, SWC)
…had a 3,000-yard passer…never
…had a 1,000-yard rusher…2003 (Rashad Armstrong)
…had a 1,000-yard receiver…2002 (Reggie Newhouse)
…had a first-round draft choice…1996 (DT Daryl Gardener)
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