September 02, 2009
If Baylor wants to keep playing in December, it must start making noise in September.
After a month of preseason drills, the Bears hope to take their first step toward a bowl game with a win over Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Bears don?t have the luxury of easing into their schedule. The Demon Deacons are coming off three straight bowl appearances, and have a senior quarterback in Riley Skinner who has directed 26 wins during that span.
?Wake Forest will be as formidable an opponent as we could have asked for,? said Baylor coach Art Briles at his Tuesday press conference. ?But you play the cards that are dealt, and we?re dealing with them, and we?ll take care of business. Our guys are intense and focused and know what they?ve got to do. We?ve got to stop saying and start playing.?
While Briles expects the Bears to come into the season opener with a lot of confidence, they also have a great deal of respect for the Demon Deacons. They romped to a 41-13 win over the Bears in last year?s season opener at Floyd Casey Stadium as Skinner hit 27 of 36 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns.
?It should help us to not be overconfident,? Briles said. ?We won?t be big-headed coming into this game. It (playing last season) will give us better knowledge of them, but they also know us better.?
Heading into last year?s game, the Bears faced a lot of uncertainty. Not only was Briles coaching his first game at Baylor, Griffin, Blake Szymanski and Kirby Freeman were in the throes of a three-way quarterback battle that went all the way to the opening kickoff.
With Freeman throwing two interceptions, the Demon Deacons jumped out to a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter, and the Bears never recovered. Though Griffin showed glimpses of things to come after entering the game in the second quarter, the Bears never threatened to win.
But Briles will bring a more experienced squad into Saturday?s game that has gone through a year in his system. With nine starters returning on each side of the ball, many of the players have gone to places like Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech, and shouldn?t be rattled at Wake Forest?s small 31,500-seat BB&T Field.
?I think we finished up as a pretty good football team last year,? Briles said. ?Our goal is to be better the first step this year than the last step last season. What we?re seeing as coaches and what the players are seeing is closer to the same. Without a doubt, we should be better in all phases of the game.?
With Skinner and the entire starting offensive line returning, the Demon Deacons have plenty of offensive experience back from last year?s 8-5 team that ended the season with a 29-19 win over Navy in the EagleBank Bowl. But they lost several key defensive players, including a pair of All-Americans ? linebacker Aaron Curry and cornerback Alphonso Smith.
Seattle took Curry with the fourth overall pick in the first round of the NFL draft, while Denver picked Smith with the fifth pick of the second round. New Orleans grabbed two Wake Forest defenders in the fourth round, including safety Chip Vaughn and linebacker Stanley Arnoux.
Though the Demon Deacons return just five defensive starters, Briles believes their defense will still be strong since several others got a lot of playing time last season.
?Everybody talks about the defensive starters they lost,? Briles said. ?But they just lost four or five guys who played every snap. A lot of their guys played a bunch, and we think we have pretty good knowledge of their personnel.?
BEAR FACTS: ...Wake Forest is in the midst of its most successful era in school history, going 28-12 overall and 15-9 in the ACC in the last three seasons under coach Jim Grobe...The Bears are 4-1 all-time against Wake Forest, including a 20-7 win in the Dixie Bowl in Birmingham, Ala. However, this will be the first meeting between the two teams in Winston-Salem.
If Baylor wants to keep playing in December, it must start making noise in September.
After a month of preseason drills, the Bears hope to take their first step toward a bowl game with a win over Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Bears don?t have the luxury of easing into their schedule. The Demon Deacons are coming off three straight bowl appearances, and have a senior quarterback in Riley Skinner who has directed 26 wins during that span.
?Wake Forest will be as formidable an opponent as we could have asked for,? said Baylor coach Art Briles at his Tuesday press conference. ?But you play the cards that are dealt, and we?re dealing with them, and we?ll take care of business. Our guys are intense and focused and know what they?ve got to do. We?ve got to stop saying and start playing.?
While Briles expects the Bears to come into the season opener with a lot of confidence, they also have a great deal of respect for the Demon Deacons. They romped to a 41-13 win over the Bears in last year?s season opener at Floyd Casey Stadium as Skinner hit 27 of 36 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns.
?It should help us to not be overconfident,? Briles said. ?We won?t be big-headed coming into this game. It (playing last season) will give us better knowledge of them, but they also know us better.?
Heading into last year?s game, the Bears faced a lot of uncertainty. Not only was Briles coaching his first game at Baylor, Griffin, Blake Szymanski and Kirby Freeman were in the throes of a three-way quarterback battle that went all the way to the opening kickoff.
With Freeman throwing two interceptions, the Demon Deacons jumped out to a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter, and the Bears never recovered. Though Griffin showed glimpses of things to come after entering the game in the second quarter, the Bears never threatened to win.
But Briles will bring a more experienced squad into Saturday?s game that has gone through a year in his system. With nine starters returning on each side of the ball, many of the players have gone to places like Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech, and shouldn?t be rattled at Wake Forest?s small 31,500-seat BB&T Field.
?I think we finished up as a pretty good football team last year,? Briles said. ?Our goal is to be better the first step this year than the last step last season. What we?re seeing as coaches and what the players are seeing is closer to the same. Without a doubt, we should be better in all phases of the game.?
With Skinner and the entire starting offensive line returning, the Demon Deacons have plenty of offensive experience back from last year?s 8-5 team that ended the season with a 29-19 win over Navy in the EagleBank Bowl. But they lost several key defensive players, including a pair of All-Americans ? linebacker Aaron Curry and cornerback Alphonso Smith.
Seattle took Curry with the fourth overall pick in the first round of the NFL draft, while Denver picked Smith with the fifth pick of the second round. New Orleans grabbed two Wake Forest defenders in the fourth round, including safety Chip Vaughn and linebacker Stanley Arnoux.
Though the Demon Deacons return just five defensive starters, Briles believes their defense will still be strong since several others got a lot of playing time last season.
?Everybody talks about the defensive starters they lost,? Briles said. ?But they just lost four or five guys who played every snap. A lot of their guys played a bunch, and we think we have pretty good knowledge of their personnel.?
BEAR FACTS: ...Wake Forest is in the midst of its most successful era in school history, going 28-12 overall and 15-9 in the ACC in the last three seasons under coach Jim Grobe...The Bears are 4-1 all-time against Wake Forest, including a 20-7 win in the Dixie Bowl in Birmingham, Ala. However, this will be the first meeting between the two teams in Winston-Salem.
