10A SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
THURSDAY AUGUST 24,2006
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Brody Schmidt/ ASSOCIATED PRESS
Baylor coach Guy Morriss watches his team turn over on downs during the fourth quarter of a football game against Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Nov. 13, 2004. Morriss has been trying to change tactics since he got to Baylor: Personnel, attitudes, perceptions and the outcome of the games.
Bears' goal: The Fiesta Bowl Big 12 South cellar-dweller makes changes to improve
BY SHAWN SHROYER
It's not easy coaching football at Baylor.
Morriss said he would be disappointed with anything less than a bowl appearance. Senior cornerback
"Kind of PO'ed, to be honest with you," Morriss said at the Big 12 Media Days, in front of the very men and women who made the prediction. "Everybody is entitled to their opinion. I don't think we'll end up in the cellar."
So coming off a season where Baylor had its most victories since 1995, it's understandable that coach Guy Morriss didn't appreciate the media picking his Bears to return to the bottom of the South.
The program hasn't had a winning season, won more than two conference games or finished better than fifth while a member of the skate Big 12 South.
C. J. Wilson took it a step further.
"Tell coach he's wrong," Wilson said. "The National Championship is the thing. You don't come to college to get a fourth of an education. You
want a degree,
right? That's what we want.
Let me get the big game. If I can't get the big game, what's the point in me coming to your school?"
This abandonment of the losing mentality that has surrounded Baylor for the last decade could be what the program needs to get back to post-season play. Of course, Baylor will also need play-
tions of two cornerbacks and a free safety are the "outside safety" and "rover" spots, which should help Baylor cover more ground in the secondary but may hurt its run
ers to thrive in its unconventional schemes.
Baylor will run an offense similar to that of Texas Tech. The term "tight end" has been done away with and relabeled "inside receiver." At times, Baylor will have one running back and four receivers, but other times, senior quarterback Shawn Bell will have five receivers spread across the field.
"It's ridiculously simple. I think that's why everybody that's used it has had pretty quick success with it," Morriss said. "Once we implemented it at Kentucky, I just became a cheerleader. You just rep the same plays over and over and over and over and over and show them different looks."
The offense may seem complicated, but Morris said it looked harder than it actually was and worked because it confused defenses.
With seven returning starters in a simple offense, Baylor could run up and down the field much the same way Texas Tech does.
Seniors Trent Shelton and Dominique Zeigler highlight the list of receivers. The two combined for more than 1,000 yards and six touchdowns in 2005.
On defense, the Bears run a fourlinemen, two-linebacker front, but have a unique secondary alignment. In addition to the traditional posi-
defense.
The defense only returns four starters, but two are in the secondary and should join forces with newcomer Brandon Stiggers to challenge opposing quarterbacks.
cessful season at a junior college in California.
Wilson and fellow senior linebacker Anthony Arline combined for 69 tackles and eight interceptions in 20 combined starts last year. Stiggers, junior rover, joins the Baylor secondary after a suc-
The Bears will also try to get a leg up on the competition with special teams. All-American senior punter Daniel Sepulveda averaged 46.18 yards per punt last season, the second best in school history. Although he suffered a torn ACL last spring, Sepulveda said he planned to play in Baylor's first game this season.
"I didn't think he could do it," Morriss said. "But he is the kind of guy that will make a believer out of you in a hurry."
Sepulveda's ability to give opponents a longer field should help the young defense. Sepulveda's return from such a serious injury may serve as a sign of good things to come for a program that has endured much hardship. And if the Bears do reach postseason play, maybe then they will convince the media Baylor deserves respect.
"You can't control what people say," Wilson said. "You're not responsible for people's habits, but you can dang sure break 'em."
Kansan sportswriter Shawn Shroyer can be contacted at sshroyer@ kansan.com.
—Edited by Travis Robinett
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
BY TROY SCHULTE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MU captain returns Receiver back at practice after surgery
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Missouri wide receiver Brad Ekwerewku is back on the practice field, six weeks after an emergency appendectomy.
"I'm too anxious to stand around anymore," Ekwerekwu said Tuesday. "I'm trying to get out there and get more involved. It got boring."
Last month, the senior from Arlington, Texas, felt a sharp pain in his right side after returning home from church. He tried to sleep that night, but when the pain was there in the morning, he went to the hospital.
Ekwerekwu said his appendix didn't burst, but "we were racing against that."
When the Tigers opened preseason camp on Aug. 5, Ekwerekwu wore a solid red jersey, meaning he was not to participate in any drills.
He wasn't sure when hed be ready to return.
"They told me regular recovery time for average Joe Citizen is six to eight weeks, and this is the sixth
week," he said. His first practice was Sunday.
Ekwerekwu, who caught 32 passes for 282 yards last season, said the wide is still a little sore. Still, he's happy to be back.
Junior Will Franklin and Ekwerekwu are the only two wide receivers on the roster to have caught more than 45 career passes.
"He just needs more work," Pinkel said of Ekwerekwu. "From a cardio standpoint he's behind."
Coach Gary Pinkel is happy he's back, too, considering how inexperienced the rest of the receivers are.
Receivers coach Andy Hill said although Ekwerekwu wasn't practicing he played a vital role the first two weeks of practice by helping the younger receivers learn routes and other aspects of the position — something Ekwerekwu said was part of his duties as a team captain.
"That's the advantage of Ek having experience. He can go out there and actually be a coach on the field," Hill said. "Thomson Omboga has done it, Sean Coffey has done it, now it's Ek's turn."