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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY,OCTOBER 15,2007
GUEST COMMENTARY
Morriss'days near end at Baylor
BY WILL PARCHMAN
Baylor Lariat
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Baylor coach Guy Morrisr looks on as his team is beaten 58-10 by Kansas on Saturday. Morriss is in his fifth year at Baylor but the team hasn't shown much improvement in that time.
So it was just his luck that he had to take his traveling circus, the fast-plummeting Baylor Bears, on the road to face a Top 25 squad in Kansas following arguably the most embarrassing home loss of his short Baylor career.
For the first time in his five-year tenure at Baylor, the voices calling for Guy Morris' resignation have risen to an overwhelming crescendo. And it doesn't seem like they're going away this time.
It seems odd to call a 20-point loss to Colorado a bigger embarrassment than, say, a 62-0 shellacking to Texas two years ago. Or the season-ending 35-0 beating Oklahoma gave the Bears last year.
But look at it from a Baylor fan's perspective. Morrisr has had five years to recruit, build and mold. His recruiting classes are still mired in the nation's bottom half. His average recruiting class since his arrival is 79th out of 119 FBS schools. Call it the Baylor factor, but any school should expect better than that, let alone a BCS school.
backs has been the scariest part. No Morrisr-recruited quarterback has ever won a Big 12 game. Following Baylor's loss under the lightning Saturday to Kansas, Blake Szymanski is 0-6 as a start in Big 12 games, and last Saturday's 20-point blowout to Colorado was the closest he's ever come to winning one.
That's why it appears this Morriss-
That's why it built program has reached a disappointing plateau. This team is five years in the making. Where is the progress?
the team for the rest of the year. When the Bears completed one of the most incredible fourth quarter comebacks in their history last season and pulled together a 19-point quarter to defeat the Jayhawks 36-35 on homecoming, the fans streamed out at halftime. About 20,000 people were left at Floyd Casey Stadium to witness the comeback.
"Judging by Baylor's hiring history since the Big 12 formed, something big is going to happen this offseason,and the trend doesn't favor Morriss."
Ever since Morrisr' arrival at Baylor in 2003, the ups and downs that typically accompany one
His inability to recruit quarter
WILL PARCHMAN Sports Editor, Baylor Lariot
of the hottest seats in the conference over the last decade have been wildly evident. After a shameful 27- 20 overtime loss at home to Army last year, Morriss looked defeated. He sounded defeated.
The fans gave him attitudes to match, failing to properly support
The Baylor Regents have not been blind, deaf and dumb throughout all of this. Judging by Baylor's hiring history since the Big 12 formed, something big is going to happen this off-season, and the trend doesn't favor Morriss.
The calls for Mike Singletary, Baylor's legendary linebacker of the 1980s, are deafening. Now an assistant with the San Francisco 49ers, Singletary was a prime candidate for Baylor's head job back in 2003. Fresh off a 7-5 season at Kentucky, just his second as a head coach, Morriss took the
The calls for
job instead.
The only conceivable way Morriss can save himself now is a bowl bid, something Baylor hasn't had since 1994. A couple conference wins not satiate the Baylor crowd anymore, nor should they. The frenzy is too great, the gap between winning seasons too long. Judging by the result in Lawrence Saturday, six victories seem as distant and unreachable as the highest steppes of Mount Everest.
Above all, Baylor fans are tired. They are tired of losing, tired of being a conference doormat and perhaps most of all, tired of bowing down to Texas A&M and Texas each year. Morris isn't a bad guy; he's just not the one to accomplish those tasks. He's already proven as much.
So say goodbye to Morriss. The Colorado game dug his coaching grave. This loss to Kansas nailed his coffin shut.
Just like the backup quarterback in any town, the most popular guy in Waco after the season will be the one who replaces Guy Morriss.
CROSS COUNTRY Men, women compete in NCAA Pre-Nationals
Parchman is a senior journalism major from Austin, Texas. He is Baylor Lariat Sports Editor.
As the University of Kansas men and women Cross Country teams took to their toughest tests of the year Saturday, they responded with one of their best performances. The men competed in a difficult 40-team race, while the women competed in a tough open 123runner race. The day was marked by personal best's and a reason to believe that the end of the season may be a special one.
According to a Kansas Athletics press release, on the men's side,
Wissel
Senior All-American Colby Wissel posted his best time of the year
(23:48) and that time was also a personal best for his career, surpassing his 24:34 last year at the Big 12 Championship. Keeping with this year's traditional fashion, senior
Paul Heferon finished second for the Jayhawks on the heels of Wissel only 19 seconds behind. There was another gap in finishing times this week, but sophomore Bret Imgrand finished third for the Jayhawks
and 160th overall with a time of 25:03. Another personal best came from freshman Nick Capriario, who finished fourth for the team and beat his previous personal best by 1:05.
The women's team competed in the open race and had more improved times. Leading the way for the women again was sophomore Lauren Bonds, who posted her personal best 21:47 while finishing ninth overall. Behind Bonds, were two seniors who posted their personal best times. Alicia McGregor and Hayley Harbert finished with times of 22:02 and 22:11 respectively, while no points were actually kept for the teams.
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than last year's 12nd place finish. The Jayhawks look to improve from last week's poor last-place performance at the Windon Memorial Classic. Kansas' golf team currently ranks 11th in the Big 12 Conference, only ahead of the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
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MEN'S GOLF Team travels to compete at Prestige at PGA West
The Men's Golf team will tee off today in beautiful Palm Desert, Calif., at the Prestige at PGA West. The Jayhawks will compete in a 16-team field, playing 36 holes today and finish the tournament Tuesday afternoon.
The two teams will get to take time in preparation for their biggest meet of the year win they travel to the Big 12 Championships Oct.26 in Lubbock, Texas.The men will run at 10 a.m.followed by the women at 11 a.m.
Sophomore Bobby Knowles, the only returning golfer to play at the Prestige, will try to finish better
WOMEN'S GOLF Team hopes to maintain momentum at tournament
than last year's 70th place finish.
For the first time this fall, the Kansas women's golf team can look forward to a weather forecast that predicts only sunshine.
Temperatures are expected to be in the low 80s as competition
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The Jayhawks will have to turn in a good performance to avoid a repeat of last year's disappointing 14th place finish. Coach Erin O'Neil said her team would have to use intelligent course management to minimize costly mistakes.
"It's a good course for us and there are lots of birdie opportunities out there,"O'Neil said."We have some good momentum going from our win at K-State, and hopefully, that confidence will keep their heads where they need to be."
Kansas could return to Lawrence with a second straight tournament title. Even with the possibility for more team honors, O'Neil said she would be satisfied with more modest results.
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Senior Annie Giangrosso and sophomores Meghan Gockel and Emily Powers will play in the event for the second year, while freshmen Meghna Bal and Grace Thiry will be making their first appearances.
Kansas will be part of a 16-taem field along with other Big 12 rivals. New Mexico State won last year's event by six strokes over runner-up Baylor.
begins today at the Price's "Give 'Em Five" Invitational hosted by New Mexico State in Las Cruces, N.M. The 54-hole tournament will be played at New Mexico State University Golf Course over three days with players completing 18 holes each day.
"I would be happy with a top-finish," O'Neil said. "To me, there is no reason why we couldn't win it if we do what we are capable of."
O'Nell said she believed her team's potential should continue to show dividends. This week will be its first chance to do so without battling the weather.
— Andrew Wiebe
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