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Baylor will have new look this year
Bears have new coach in Briles, who'll make debut against Deacons
AP File Photo
Quarterback Blake Szymanski of Baylor passed for 2,844 yards and 22 touchdowns last season.
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Published: August 27, 2008
No Texas twisters or prairie dusters are predicted for Waco, but Wake Forest will nevertheless be flying blind into Thursday's opener at Baylor.
The Bears have a new coach, Art Briles, a new staff, a new quarterback and a renewed resolve to establish the kind of success that eluded so many of Briles' predecessors.
No one, Coach Jim Grobe of Wake Forest said yesterday, is ever sure of what to expect in a season opener. The uncertainty is more of a concern going against a team with a first-year head coach.
"We don't have a handle on their personnel," Grobe said. "I think they've got good players, but we're not real sure how they're going to use their talent."
Studying tapes of Baylor's games last season offers little help. Guy Morriss, who coached the Bears to records of 3-9, 3-8, 5-6, 4-8 and 3-9, is gone.
His successor, Briles, was in his fifth season at Houston, where he won 34 and lost 28 and had an offense potent enough to rank fourth in the nation last season with an average of 501.9 yards of total offense.
Grobe's greatest solace is that the Deacons are as experienced as they have ever been on defense, with nine starters returning and a starting lineup of nine seniors and two juniors.
"I hope it helps us having veterans on the defensive side of the football," Grobe said. "Coach Briles has a great reputation as an offensive football coach. Houston drove people crazy. They were one of the top offenses in the country.
"If you can go play somebody without a lot of knowledge of what they're going to do in terms of personnel and scheme, I think it helps if you've got more veteran players, no question.
"They'll give us a lot of sets, a lot of motion and a lot of things to look at."
Senior linebacker Aaron Curry, who has started 36 college games, said that the Deacons' defense will have to figure out Baylor as the game progresses.
"We have to just do a really good job of reacting," Curry said. "When you see something, we've got to hit it. We know that no matter what they're running, as long as we're playing fast and we can match their intensity, once the third and fourth quarters hit it will all be about who is mentally sharp.
"Going into our fifth year, we have seen pretty much any offense."
The drama of Baylor's preseason has centered on a quarterback race among three players with impressive credentials.
Junior Blake Szymanski started 10 games last season and performed well enough to set school single-season records with 22 touchdown passes, 264 completions, 461 attempts, 2,844 passing yards, three games of at least 400 yards passing, 2,942 total yards and 23 total touchdowns.
Senior Kirby Freeman transferred after starting seven games the past two years at Miami (Florida). Because he graduated from Miami last December, he was able under NCAA rules to be immediately eligible when he enrolled in Baylor's master's program for sports pedagogy.
Freshman Robert Griffin, who enrolled in January and participated in spring practices, is the future of Baylor football, a remarkable athlete fast enough to win the Big 12 400-hurdles and finish third nationally and strong-armed enough to pass for 1.356 yards and 16 touchdowns as a senior at Copperas Cove (Texas) High School. Rivals.com, a Web site specializing in college recruiting, ranked Griffin as the nation's third-best dual-threat quarterback.
"We don't know what they're going to do, but we're going by what we hear," Grobe said. "If the freshman is on the field, apparently he has a really strong arm. He had a great high-school career. And he's obviously really, really fast. So you have to at least, on defense, think that this guy might run with the football a little bit.
"The quarterback they had last year threw the ball a lot. Of course, the kid who transferred in from Miami throws the ball a lot. My guess would be that they've probably got some packages in mind for those quarterbacks, and if they play all three, some are probably doing some things better than others."
Grobe said that four freshmen, guard Joe Looney, center Chance Raines, tight end Andrew Parker and cornerback Kenny Okoro, are expected to travel to Waco. Looney and Raines both enrolled in January and participated in spring practices. Grobe said he hopes he doesn't have to use Okoro, but is resigned to playing Parker.
Redshirt freshman Cameron Ford, who emerged from spring practices as second-team behind junior Ben Wooster, has been hobbled throughout preseason by a sprained ankle.
"We're counting on Andrew playing," Grobe said. "In fact he's the No. 2 tight end right now so he's going to play."
Grobe considered taking freshman wide receiver Terence Davis, but decided against it when sophomore Jordan Williams recovered from a pulled groin in time to join seniors D.J. Boldin and Chip Brinkman, sophomore Marshall Williams and redshirt freshman Devon Brown in the receiver rotation.
"I think he's fine," Grobe said of Jordan Williams. "He looked really good in practice. He's back to running again.
"I think he's going to be OK. Whether he's full speed or not, we'll find out Thursday."
■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com.
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