College Confidential

Baylor's season opener set for ABC regional telecast

Baylor’s football season opener, Sept. 5 at Wake Forest, will be televised regionally on ABC with a simultaneous national telecast on ESPN2, school officials announced today.

It marks the first time since 1997, and only the fifth time in school history, that the Bears will open the season on network television. The contest will begin at 2:30 p.m. in Winston-Salem, N.C.

In addition, Baylor officials announced a 4 p.m. kickoff for the team’s home opener, Sept. 19 against Connecticut. Additional non-conference home games against Northwestern State (Sept. 26) and Kent State (Oct. 3) will begin at 6 p.m.

_ Jimmy Burch

Bad-news loss for Bears men

The good news is that Baylor outscored No. 5 Oklahoma 45-37 in the second half.

The bad news is that OU had a 27-point edge over the visiting Bears at the end of the first half.

The Sooners' 95-76 rout of the No. 23 Bears in Norman got rolling when OU, leading 11-9, got back-to-back 3-point baskets from freshman Willie Warren, the former North Crowley High School star.  Warren added five more points, so that in a 3-minute span he scored 11 points and the Sooners' lead was 10.

And Baylor actually led 5-0 to start the game.

OU's defense held Baylor and its Jumbo Jack-It-Up offense to 3-of-13 shooting to expand the 10-point lead to 20.

The Bears had some brutal final stats: 28-of-81 (34.6 percent), including 12-of-33 on 3-pointers.

Player of the Year candidate Blake Griffin had 20 points and 17 rebounds for OU; his brother Taylor had 18 points and Warren finished with 17. OU had 14 players get into the game.

Things could get ugly in the Big 12 standings for the Bears (15-4, 3-2). They are host to Texas on Big Monday Tuesday, go to Missouri on Saturday, then host Kansas on Feb. 2.

Goodson's grab sets up Aggies' first score

Texas A&M finally got on the scoreboard, thanks to a leaping 51-yard catch by tailback Mike Goodson down to the Baylor 1-yard line. It took the Aggies three plays to get the final yard, with Jorvorskie Lane busting over the left side for a 1-yard touchdown with 4:07 left in the second quarter. Randy Bullock's extra point pulled A&M within six at 13-7.

-- Lori Dann

Baylor's big spread vs. A&M

As of today, Baylor is an 8-point favorite over Texas A&M in Saturday's game in Waco. It marks the most the Bears have been favored in a football game against another Big 12 opponent since the 1996 season, when Baylor was a 10-point favorite at home against Missouri.

FYI, Baylor lost that 1996 game, 49-42, in triple overtime.

_ Jimmy Burch

Baylor wins

Baylor snapped a 13-game Big 12 losing streak with a dominant 38-10 win against Iowa State. Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin was excellent completing 21 of 24 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns.

--Milenko Martinovich

Baylor on the verge

Kendall Wright just scored on a 51-yard touchdown pass from Robert Griffin to give the Bears a 38-3 lead with 11 minutes remaining in the game. Wright caught the ball in the right flat, sped across the entire width of the field and dove for the touchdown at the left pylon. Griffin also threw a nice block downfield allowing Wright to score. Guess the Bears can kiss that 13-game conference losing streak goodbye.

--Milenko Martinovich

Baylor leads 21-3 at halftime

The Bears are 30 minutes away from snapping a 13-game Big 12 losing streak. Baylor's defense has been great bringing constant pressure on Iowa State quarterback Austen Arnaud, who hasn't been comfortable in the pocket. Conversely, Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin has been almost perfect completing 14 of 15 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown. Griffin also has a rushing touchdown.

--Milenko Martinovich

Baylor looking good

The Bears just finished off a beautiful 14-play, 81-yard drive that ended with Jay Finley's 12-yard touchdown run. Baylor leads 14-0 early in the second quarter.

--Milenko Martinovich

Big 12 punters on Ray Guy Award watch list

Texas A&M's Justin Brantly is one of seven Big 12 punters who have been named to the watch list for the Ray Guy Award, which is presented annually to the nation's top college punter. Brantly leads the league and ranks eighth nationally with a 45.78-yard average, and more than half of his punts have not been returned by opponents.

Other Big 12 punters on the list are Texas' John Gold, Texas Tech's Jonathan LaCour, Baylor's Derek Epperson, Oklahoma State's Matt Fodge, Nebraska's Dan Tichener, and Colorado's Matthew DiLallo. Also on the list are SMU's Thomas Morstead and Houston's Chase Turner.
-- Lori Dann

Baylor game moved to Friday night

Because of weather-related concerns about the arrival of Hurricane Ike, Baylor officials announced they have moved this week's football game against Washington State to Friday night in Waco.

The contest will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Floyd Casey Stadium, school officials announced today.

Television details are still to be determined. The game orginially was scheduled to be played at 11:30 a.m. Saturday as an FSN national telecast. Details on the amended television or video webcast plans are currently being discussed and will be announced as soon as they are finalized. Updates will be posted on BaylorBears.com.

In addition, Sunday's soccer match against Arizona State has been pushed back to a 5 p.m. start in Waco because of the storm.

_ Jimmy Burch