Team preview: Baylor

Blue Ribbon Illustrated previews the 2004-05 college football season, exclusively on Insider.

Originally Published: July 28, 2004
Blue Ribbon Yearbook
Editor's Note: Insider has teamed with Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook to provide a comprehensive look at all 117 Division I-A teams. To subscribe to Insider, click here. To order a copy of the 384-page book, visit www.blueribbonyearbook.com.

COACH AND PROGRAM

For a school that went through a tumultuous summer in 2003, when a basketball player allegedly murdered one of his own teammates, the arrival of Guy Morriss from Kentucky provided a brief respite once fall rolled around.

Baylor fans were optimistic that the former Wildcat boss would turn their team into a winner, and through the first five games of the season, Morriss did just that. After an 0-2 start, which included a heart-breaking 24-19 loss to UAB in the opener when the Blazers scored the game-winning touchdown on a 50-yard pass with just 40 seconds left, the Bears reeled off three consecutive wins for the first time since 1996.

The final win of the string, a 42-30 home triumph over two-time defending Big 12 North Champion Colorado, made Morriss just the third Baylor coach since 1950, and sixth in school history, to win his conference debut. It also set off unprecedented euphoria as fans tore down the goal posts at Floyd Casey Stadium. The joy of victory ended on that October afternoon in Waco though, with the Bears losing their final seven games to end the season 3-9 and post another last-place finish in the Big 12 South with a 1-7 record.


To continue reading this article you must be an Insider

SPONSORED HEADLINES

MORE COLLEGE FOOTBALL HEADLINES

MOST SENT STORIES ON ESPN.COM

ALSO SEE