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Bears Fall To UAB In Season Opener

Special to the N.E.T. Sports Gazette

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Darrell Hackney threw three touchdown passes and ran for one score to lead UAB to a 56-14 victory over Baylor in both teams' season-opener on Saturday night.

UAB reached its highest point total since becoming a Division 1-A team in 1996.

Hackney played less than three quarters and completed 8 of 16 passes for 168 yards. He also ran for 35 yards, including two scrambles under pressure to keep early UAB scoring drives alive.

Quarterback Dane King completed 16 of 27 passes and threw one touchdown pass for Baylor. But he threw three interceptions, and the Bears lost two fumbles.

UAB's defense contributed to the scoring, returning one interceptions and one fumble recovery for touchdowns.

Lineman Kyle Bissinger recovered a fumble and returned it 3 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter, and linebacker Marcus Mark returned an interception 31 yards for a score early in the fourth quarter.

UAB rolled to a 35-7 halftime lead, with Hackney throwing scoring passes of 21 yards to Bradley Chavez and 29 yards to Roddy White.

In the third quarter, Hackney added a 1-yard touchdown and a 19-yard scoring pass to Reggie Lindsey.

Baylor's only points in the first half came on a 39-yard pass from King to Trent Shelton. In the fourth quarter, the Bears' Paul Mosley scored on a 4-yard run.

The UAB offense showed its big-play capability early. On the Blazers' fourth play from scrimmage, tailback Dan Burks found a hole off right tackle and raced 69 yards for a touchdown.

On Baylor's first possession, King was hit by UAB's Larry McSwain and Jermaine McElveen recovered for the Blazers at the Baylor 34.

Three plays later, Hackney hit Chavez with a 21-yard scoring pass to give UAB a 14-0 lead.

Burks left the game with a leg injury in the first quarter after rushing for 92 yards and three carries. But his injury did not slow down the UAB offense. Third-string tailback Corey White scored on a 7-yard run to give the Blazers a 21-0 lead with 1:04 left in the first quarter.

On UAB's first possession of the second quarter, Hackney drove the Blazers 80 yards in 10 plays to score on a 29-yard pass to Roddy White.

Bears Complete Third Week Of Practice

Special to the N.E.T. Sports Gazette

WACO, Texas - The Baylor football team wrapped up its third week of practice with an 80-minute workout in half-pads on the Floyd Casey Stadium turf Saturday morning. Sunday, the team will begin its game-week practice schedule it will follow for the remainder of the season.

Saturday's practice was somewhat of a rehearsal for next Saturday's opener at UAB, as some members of the coaching staff worked from the press box and were in communication with the sideline.

"Overall it was good, other than the three situations where we had to go find someone on the sideline," said Baylor coach Guy Morriss. "We were able to get our lines of communication (press box to sideline going) going and that kind of stuff.

"We also did a couple of sudden change plays in there so the kids could react from sideline and we could get the right personnel out there, and those went pretty good."

Saturday's workout included five "live" plays at the end of practice, where the Bears' offense was able to score four times.

"That was good to see us get the ball in the end zone," Morriss said. "On the other hand, I was a little disappointed that the defense didn't stop them a little better. That's a tough situation to put them in.

The Bears will return to work on Sunday afternoon with a walk-through practice before taking Monday off.

Practice Notes: Tight end Mike Miller returned to practice Saturday after missing Friday's workout with an eye infection ... Those missing Saturday's workout included Julian Hill (shoulder), M.T. Robinson (knee), Paul Howard (hamstring), Tyler Lindstrom (broken hand), Josh Bell (knee), Shaun Rochon (sore back), Glen Oskin (knee), Brandon Whitaker (knee), Will Blaylock (knee), Desmond Jenkins (shoulder), Michael Sambrooks (hamstring), and Aaron Bobo (ankle) ... Thirteen players have joined the program as walk-ons, including senior long snapper Bradley Aho (Keller, Texas), freshman running back Joel Henson (Deer Park, Texas), sophomore offensive lineman Hunter Herring (Amarillo, Texas), freshman tight end Wallace High (Mexia, Texas), freshman quarterback Jason Lovvorn (Dallas, Texas), freshman wide receiver Latif Nurudeen (Friendswood, Texas), freshman cornerback Curtis Okpara (Fort Bend, Texas), freshman defensive back Justin Osindo (Arlington, Texas), freshman safety Jon Piorkowski (Wentzville, Mo.), junior defensive lineman Shaun Ratcliff (Dayton, Texas), sophomore cornerback Brandon Stiggers (Hastings, Texas), sophomore wide receiver Joshua Thompson (Dallas, Texas) and freshman wide receiver Thomas White (Plano, Texas) ... Herring and Ratcliff transferred into the program from Navarro (Texas) College, while Thompson is a Prairie View A&M transfer and Stiggers played at Compton College ... When classes began at Baylor last Monday, the Bears also welcomed sophomore defensive back Alton Widemon to the team, a Tulane transfer who hails from Lindale, Texas ... Prior to Sunday's workout, Baylor will elect team captains for the 2004 season.

Sunday Sept. 5, 2004

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