No. 23 Baylor started the season in superb fashion by decimating FCS opponent Wofford 69-3 on Saturday night at Floyd Casey Stadium.
With all the questions surrounding Baylor football heading into the season with a new quarterback, a revamped offensive line and returning the 113th ranked scoring defense, the Bears resoundingly answered those lingering questions by dominating Wofford in every facet of the game.
After three years of backing up Robert Griffin III and Nick Florence, fourth year junior Bryce Petty played in his first career collegiate start at quarterback.
“Being out there, it was very humbling,” Petty said. “Just a blessing. It wasn’t necessarily a blur, but I was just in the moment.”
Petty looked poised early in the pocket, finishing 7-8 with 113 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter, including a 27-yard bomb to Antwan Goodley in the back of the end zone.
Trouble ensued early in the second quarter when Petty had a stretch of having a ball batted down from his hand for a fumble, dropping a snap and throwing a pass to a defender that was mercifully dropped.
The Baylor Bears started the 2013 season off with a dominating 69-3 win over the Wofford Terriers with a high-octane offensive barrage and an intense defensive effort at Floyd Casey Stadium on Saturday night.
“It’s a great way to start,” head coach Art Briles said. “We know that we certainly have a long way to go. That’s a team that is a very well respected team. Over the last few years they’ve played a lot of football games and won a lot of football games. But, we should be better and we were better. We were tonight. That’s our job. We were at home and we should win. Our thought process going in was, we are going to play Big 12 football.”
Shehan Jeyarajah, sports writer for The Baylor Lariat, takes a look at each of the Big 12 teams playing this week and their opponents in a preview of week one of college football.
The Baylor Lariat Sports Editor Daniel Hill, wrote this football preview taking a look at the Baylor Bears football team position by position. Positions covered include: quarterback, receivers, tight ends, linebackers, running backs, offensive line, defensive line, defensive backs.
Who will come out on top? That’s the burning question many are asking as Big 12 teams went though the offseason. Eights teams are expected to have different quarterbacks this fall and some teams made coaching changes. Texas Tech gained a new coach in Kliff Kingsbury, the former Tech quarterback was Johnny Manziel’s former offensive coordinator at Texas A&M during his Heisman winning season. The Big 12 also didn’t get much respect in the AP poll. No Big 12 team is ranked in the top 10 this season. This was also the first time since 2000 that Oklahoma began outside of the top 10. The Big 12 is up for grabs this year with no obvious clear-cut favorite.
It’s officially game week for the Baylor Bears football team. Fall camp has wrapped up and head coach Art Briles and the players have been working feverishly to game plan for the home season opener versus the Wofford Terriers at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
Originally the Bears were scheduled to open up against Southern Methodist University, but SMU recently changed conferences from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference. As a result, the Mustangs replaced the Baylor matchup with a game against Montana State. This forced the Bears to search for an opponent.
Ever since the beginning of the Art Briles era in 2008, Baylor has been characterized by strong receiver play. David Gettis, Kendall Wright, Josh Gordon and Terrance Williams are wide receivers from Baylor who have been drafted since the Briles era began. All four Baylor products are expected to produce for NFL teams this season.
This 2013 team has much of the same talent as other teams that were under the direction of Briles, but the vast majority of this receiving corps is unknown and unproven.
If there’s one thing that junior Baylor running back Lache Seastrunk does not lack, it’s confidence.
“I’m going to win the Heisman. I’m going to win it in 2013,” he said last December.
When recently asked whether he regretted making the Heisman comments, he was clear.
“I said I would win the Heisman because that’s what I believe,” Seastrunk said. “I have conviction. Nobody is going to take that away from me, that I believe I can do it.”
Seastrunk’s journey to this point has been anything but conventional.
“Baylor Football finally returns home,” said Judge Ken Starr, president of Baylor University, at a press conference held Tuesday, May 7, to update on the new Baylor Stadium.
Johnny Manziel has decided he’s not going to allow the pitfalls of fame stop him from having a good time, forging friendships with rival quarterbacks or even going back to class — in person.
As for the pressure inherent in living up to the Heisman Trophy standard he set for himself in only his first season as quarterback at Texas A&M, isn’t concerned about that, either.
Two former Baylor receivers are hoping to hear their names called at the NFL Draft that starts today and ends Saturday.
Terrance Williams, the unanimous All-American performer, is expected to be the earliest Baylor player selected in the NFL Draft. Another Baylor receiver, Lanear Sampson, is also expected to be selected in the NFL Draft.
Fresh off of three straight bowl game appearances and back-to-back bowl wins, Baylor football looks to win the Big 12 Conference this season.
Baylor football concluded spring practice on Saturday with the annual spring game. It was a chance for Baylor fans to get a peak at this fall’s football team.
Beginning this fall, Baylor’s future quarterbacks will receive financial assistance thanks to an endowed scholarship in honor of Baylor alumnus and Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III.
Baylor has added a home game against Wofford College to its 2013 football schedule after its game at SMU was canceled last week.
The Bears will open the season Aug. 31 against Wofford, a Football Championship Subdivision school from Spartanburg, S.C. The Terriers, a member of the Southern Conference, finished 9-4 last season.
Baylor’s recruiting class has drawn some national attention. ESPN ranked Baylor’s recruiting class at No. 28 in the country, just behind Oklahoma State and Oregon. There are only three Big 12 schools ahead of Baylor on the list: No. 15 Texas, No. 16 Oklahoma, and No. 27 Oklahoma State.
The Bears’ most highly touted recruit this year is wide receiver Robbie Rhodes. As a senior at Southwest High School in Fort Worth, Rhodes racked up 20 touchdowns, including 15 through the air. During his three years on varsity, Rhodes tallied 2,500 receiving yards and 751 rushing yards.
Last year, the Baltimore Ravens lost a gut-wrenching match against the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship after wide receiver Lee Evans dropped a sure touchdown and kicker Billy Cundiff missed a chip-shot field goal. Baltimore Ravens middle linebacker Ray Lewis went on to give a passionate post game speech.
To put it lightly, when Baylor football first went to the Texas Bowl in 2010, it was a big deal. It marked Baylor’s first bowl game appearance since 1994. Baylor nation was happy just to go to a bowl game, never mind actually winning it. But times have changed in Waco. The Bears have won two straight bowl games with the Alamo Bowl against Washington in 2011 and the Holiday Bowl versus UCLA in 2012.
As the NFL season comes to an end after the Super Bowl on Feb. 3, the NFL teams will be looking back on their season trying to figure out what adjustments they need to make for next season.
With construction of the Baylor Stadium under way, fans now have a chance to help piece the stadium together.
Baylor Bricks is a new marketing campaign set up by University Development that allows fans to purchase bricks to be inlaid in the stadium’s walkway.
The brick campaign is one that is evident in other Baylor staples such as the Bill and Eva Williams Bear Habitat and the Dutch Schroeder Athletic Plaza.
When the San Francisco 49ers play their brand of football, they cannot be beaten. In all but one of their losses this year, their opponent jumped out to a quick lead and San Francisco couldn’t regroup and get back into the football game.
Everybody wondered how Nick Florence was going to follow Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III.
SAN DIEGO – The Baylor Bears will travel back home to celebrate the new year as the champions of the Bridgeport Education Holiday Bowl.
SAN DIEGO – At the end of the third quarter, Baylor maintains a commanding 42-13 lead.
SAN DIEGO – Bears lead No. 17 UCLA Bruins 35-10 at halftime of the Bridgeport Education Holiday Bowl.
SAN DIEGO – The Baylor Bears got off to a hot start against the UCLA Bruins and currently lead 14-0.
Nearly 300 Baylor University students will board six “Baylor-wrapped” buses Wednesday morning in Waco for the 1,300-mile trip to San Diego, all to support the Baylor football team in its Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl game versus the UCLA Bruins.
San Diego is famous for a lot of things. Sunshine, beautiful landscapes, Ron Burgundy and the Bridgeport Education Holiday Bowl are just naming a few of the great things that this city has to offer.
With 5:11 remaining in the final game at Floyd Casey Stadium and a seven-point Baylor lead, sophomore Lache Seastrunk broke through the line of scrimmage at the Baylor 24-yard line and saw the light of the Promised Land.
Halfway to the end zone, Seastrunk caught a cramp in his left hamstring. At this point, he had two options: he could fall down in pain or believe that he could finish and take the rock to the house.
The spread offense is commonly associated with accurate quarterbacks and athletic wide receivers, but this year’s Baylor football team is showing that great running backs can thrive in a five-wide set.
