Athletics « Baylor Proud

Points of Pride — Athletics

Dec

2012

Help bring Baylor football home to campus!

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Athletics

Construction is now underway on Baylor Stadium (see a live view here.) A series of Stadium Founders got the ball rolling; now it’s time for the rest of the Baylor family to join in helping the Bears’ new home become a reality.

In return for a tax-deductible gift to the Baylor Stadium Bricks campaign, Baylor will install a brick engraved with your personal message at the new stadium. Maybe you’d like to pay tribute to those who have been important in your life — family, friends, maybe a former professor — or just celebrate the Bears’ past successes (and those yet to come).

Four varieties of Baylor Stadium Bricks are available:

4×8-inch red brick ($175 gift);
8×8-inch red brick ($350 gift);
8×8-inch red brick with the BU logo ($500 gift);
8×8-inch premium paver that will be part of an interlocking BU design in the South Plaza ($1,250).

Stadium Bricks Gift Certificates are also available, allowing you to donate a gift in honor of (and reserve a brick as a gift for) someone while providing them the opportunity to customize the engraved message themselves.

For more details or to give to the bricks campaign, visit www.baylor.edu/stadiumbricks. After giving, you will receive a keepsake certificate recognizing your contribution.

For questions or customer service assistance, call toll-free 1-855-BEAR-FAN (1-855-232-7326) or e-mail BaylorStadiumBricks@FundraisersLTD.com. (Baylor has partnered with Fund Raisers, Ltd. to manage the production and engraving of high-quality bricks for installation at Baylor Stadium.)

Sic ’em, Baylor Nation!

Dec

2012

Join your fellow Bears at all the events around the Holiday Bowl — even in your own city

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Alumni, Athletics, Student life

As with most bowl games, the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl is actually the culmination of several days of events in San Diego. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the highlights Bear fans in San Diego have to look forward to:

Dec. 26, Baylor Alumni Network Pep Rally, 5:30 p.m., Manchester Grand Hyatt, Douglas Ballroom
Dec. 26, Baylor Alumni Network Young Grad event, 7 p.m., Yard House
Dec. 26, Baylor “B” Association Social, 7 p.m., Fox Sports Grill
Dec. 27, Port of San Diego Big Bay Balloon Parade, 10 a.m., downtown San Diego
Dec. 27, Baylor Sports Network Tailgate, 3 p.m., Power Party Pavilion outside the stadium (registration required)
Dec. 27, 2012 Holiday Bowl, 6:45 p.m. (ESPN)

For details on these and other events surrounding the game, as well as tickets, travel packages, Holiday Bowl apparel and more, visit baylor.edu/nation or the BaylorBears.com Bowl Central.

Can’t make it to San Diego for the game? Join your fellow Bears at watch parties all over the country! Click here for a list of Baylor Alumni Network-sponsored Holiday Bowl watch parties.

(Also, fans unable to attend the game should note that the Port of San Diego Big Bay Balloon Parade the morning of the game will be televised live nationally [details TBA]. Watch for Baylor students carrying the Baylor Bear balloon from the Homecoming parade!)

Alamo Bowl pep rally 2011

Sic ’em, Bears!

Dec

2012

Baylor soccer star pairs All-America honor with Academic All-American of the Year title

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Athletics, Honors

From the honors stacking up on Baylor soccer star Dana Larsen’s mantel, the senior forward epitomizes BU athletics’ goal of winning with integrity.

On the field, Larsen helped propel the Bears to the best season in program history in 2012, leading the team with 11 goals, nine assists and 31 points. Her performance earned her a spot on the All-America third team from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), just the third All-American in Baylor soccer history (and the first since 1998).

If it’s possible, she was even better in the classroom, maintaining a 4.0 GPA while majoring in biochemistry. Coupled with her work on the field, Larsen’s resume netted her the title of Academic All-American of the Year for NCAA Division I women’s soccer. The Mequon, Wis., native is only the second Baylor student-athlete ever to be so honored in his/her sport, joining baseball’s Charley Carter (1998).

Larsen was also named Big 12 Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the league’s coaches, joining Baylor quarterback Nick Florence (who won the award for football) in giving Baylor two of the three Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards handed out so far this year.

Sic ’em, Dana!

Dec

2012

Baylor QB named first-team Academic All-American

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Athletics, Honors

Given that he graduated early with a degree in economics and leads the nation in total offense, it should be no surprise that Baylor’s Nick Florence was named the first-team quarterback on the 2012 CoSIDA Academic All-America football team.

Florence is the seventh Bear in the last eight years to make the Academic All-America football team, joining Daniel Sepulveda (2005, 2006), Joe Pawelek (2008, 2009), Derek Epperson (2010) and Robert Griffin III (2011).

The Garland, Texas, native graduated high school a semester early, then earned his degree in economics from Baylor (with a 3.79 GPA) in just three and a half years. He is currently working on his MBA in Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business.

On the field, Florence leads all individuals in total offense (averaging 387.7 yards per game) and needs just 174 more yards to break RG3′s school record for passing yards in a season, set last fall. In fact, Florence’s numbers this season and Griffin’s from a year ago are remarkably similar through 12 games:

RG3 2011: 3998 pass yds (36 TD), 644 rush yds (9 TD), 4642 total yds (45 total TD)
NF1 2012: 4121 pass yds (31 TD), 531 rush yds (9 TD), 4652 total yds (40 total TD)

You’ve got one more chance to see Florence perform in a Baylor uniform: Thursday, Dec. 27, in the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl vs. UCLA. Get your tickets now; hope to see you in San Diego!

Sic ’em, Nick!

Dec

2012

Bowl bound again: Baylor invited to 2012 Holiday Bowl in San Diego

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Athletics, Honors

Holiday Bowl Many outside the Baylor family openly questioned whether BU football could sustain its success in the post-RG3 era. A hard-fought three-game winning streak to end the regular season — including wins over then-No. 1 Kansas State and longtime nemeses Texas Tech and Oklahoma State — upped the Bears’ record to 7-5 and showed the world that yes, Baylor football is here to stay.

The reward for head coach Art Briles’ squad? A third-straight bowl appearance, something no other coach in Baylor history has ever accomplished. The Bears are headed to the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl in San Diego on Dec. 27, where they will face 17th-ranked UCLA, the Pac-12 runner-up.

The game — the Bears’ first bowl outside of Texas since 1991 — will feature two of the nation’s best offenses. In the just-completed regular season, Baylor led the country in total offense (579 yards/game) while the Bruins were No. 20 (475 yards/game). While quarterback Nick Florence (No. 1 in the nation in total offense) and wide receiver Terrance Williams (No. 1 in receiving yards/game) lead the Bears, UCLA’s offense runs behind running back Johnathan Franklin (No. 9 in rushing yards/game), the Pac-12′s sixth all-time leading rusher.

Baylor’s allotment of 11,000 tickets from the Holiday Bowl offers fans the chance to sit with their fellow Bears at the best price. Tickets for these sections are priced at $65, $75 and $85. Bear Foundation members and 2012 season ticket holders can place their orders online at BaylorBears.com/tickets, by calling 254-710-1000 or in-person at the Ferrell Center box office between 8:30-5, Monday-Friday. Bear Foundation members and season ticket holders must place their orders by noon on Dec. 5.

If any tickets remain from the allotment, they will be made available to all fans beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 6. Baylor students may purchase tickets for $65 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the Bill Daniel Student Center Ticket Office from Dec. 5-7 or until supplies are exhausted. Additional tickets are available to all fans through the Holiday Bowl website.

Baylor fans interested in travel packages to San Diego for the game may sign up for information with Anthony Travel. Travel options will be sent via email from Baylor’s travel partner as soon as they become available.

The Baylor Alumni Network will also be coordinating a pep rally, tailgating and other events in San Diego; we’ll share that and more as details get nailed down between now and the big game. Stay tuned to Baylor Proud and BaylorBears.com.

Sic ’em in San Diego, Baylor football!

Nov

2012

Terrance Williams: Best wide receiver in Baylor football history?

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Athletics, Honors

Tomorrow is your last chance to see Baylor football’s senior class in action at Floyd Casey Stadium. That means it’s the last home game for young men such as Chance Casey, Nick Florence, Mike Hicks, Cameron Kaufhold, Gary Mason Jr., Jarred Salubi, Lanear Sampson, Ivory Wade and Terrance Williams.

In the case of Williams, it’s also your last chance to see perhaps the best wide receiver in Baylor history play in Waco. It might seem blasphemous to consider giving that title to anyone besides Kendall Wright — particularly so soon after his departure for the NFL — but take a look at the recordbooks, where Williams has already begun surpassing Wright before the ink is even dry.

Early this year, he broke his predecessor’s records for single-game receptions and receiving yards. With two games still to go, Williams has already passed Wright’s single-season receiving yards record; in fact, Williams leads the nation in receiving yards and receiving yards per game, and he is on pace to become only the second 2,000-yard receiver in NCAA history.

Last weekend, he moved into first place in career all-purpose yards at Baylor, breaking another Wright record. By Monday, he will likely have surpassed Wright’s single-season all-purpose yard record. And he has a good shot at three more of Wright’s records (single-season receptions and touchdowns as well as career receiving touchdowns).

Williams is one of three finalists for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the nation’s top receiver (Wright was “only” a semifinalist), and he’s already been named to the 2012 AFCA FBS Coaches’ All-America Team, the first Bear to be so honored since Daniel Sepulveda in 2006.

Don’t miss your last chance to see him (and the rest of the senior class that has brought Baylor a program-record third straight bowl appearance) in Waco; get your tickets for Saturday’s game now.

Sic ’em, Baylor seniors!

Nov

2012

Baylor football headed to postseason for program-record third straight year

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Athletics, Honors, Photo Galleries, Videos

The Bears are going bowling again!

With RG3 on the sidelines cheering on his former teammates, Baylor football claimed a thrilling overtime victory versus Texas Tech on Saturday at Cowboys Stadium, 52-45, to clinch the program’s third straight bowl appearance — a first for Baylor.

Where to even begin on this one? After falling behind 21-7 in the first half, the Bears battled back to take their first lead of the game at 35-31 early in the fourth quarter on a 55-yard interception return — one of four turnovers forced by Baylor’s defense on the day. The Bears and Red Raiders then traded leads three more times before a BU field goal tied things up with less than three minutes to go.

[LINKS: AP recap || Video highlights from ESPN and FOX || Interviews with Art Briles and Nick Florence || Photos from Baylor Photography and the AP]

The Bears had a chance to win it in regulation, but a 48-yard field goal attempt missed just left. Instead, Baylor scored first in overtime, then batted away a fourth-down Red Raider pass to end the game and give BU its second-straight win over Texas Tech.

The Bears will go for win No. 7 next Saturday (Dec. 1) against No. 21 Oklahoma State at Floyd Casey Stadium; the game is set for 11 a.m. on FX. A victory would give Baylor three straight seasons of 7+ wins — something the program hasn’t seen since 1949-50-51. Got your tickets yet?

Sic ’em, Baylor football!

Nov

2012

Best season in Baylor soccer history ends in Sweet 16

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Athletics, Honors

Baylor soccer You know it’s a good sports weekend when having one of your teams reach the Sweet 16 isn’t even the top story.

That was the case for Baylor soccer, which was knocked from the headlines by football’s upset of No. 1-ranked Kansas State. Head coach Marci Jobson’s squad defeated Georgetown in overtime Friday night in the NCAA tournament’s second round, then fell to 20-time national champion North Carolina on penalty kicks in the Sweet 16 Sunday afternoon.

Playing on the road, the Bears held a 1-0 lead over the Tar Heels with less than nine minutes to go before UNC forced overtime. After playing through two extra periods with the score stuck at 1-1, the game moved to penalty kicks, where the hometown Tar Heels claimed a 4-2 edge to advance to the Elite Eight.

Baylor finished likely the best season in program history with a record of 19-1-5, setting school records for wins and winning percentage and bringing home the Big 12 tournament championship. The Bears led the Big 12 in every offensive category and featured the nation’s No. 2 scoring defense to boot. After making the NCAA tournament only twice in the first 15 years of the program, Jobson has now led Baylor to back-to-back postseason appearances, including the program’s first Sweet 16.

It was actually quite a weekend for Baylor athletics, featuring not just football and soccer success but also equestrian’s win over No. 1 South Carolina and Brittney Griner’s NCAA-record eighth career dunk.

Sic ’em, Baylor soccer and Baylor athletics!

Nov

2012

Baylor football upsets nation’s No. 1 team for first time in program history

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Athletics, Photo Galleries, Videos

Art Briles after Baylor win over No. 1 KSU

One year ago this weekend, Baylor football shocked the world. Saturday night, the Bears did it again.

For the first time in program history, Baylor took down the No. 1 team in the nation — and the Bears did so handily, beating top-ranked Kansas State 52-24 at Floyd Casey Stadium.

[LINKS: AP recap || Video highlights from Sic 'Em Sports and ESPN || Photos from Baylor Photography and the AP]

The Bears accomplished the feat with a balanced game in which Nick Florence threw for two touchdowns and ran for another while Lache Seastrunk and Glasco Martin combined to rush for nearly 300 yards and four TDs. Meanwhile, the Baylor defense picked off Heisman frontrunner Collin Klein, the Wildcats’ QB, three times — as many interceptions as Klein had thrown all year coming into the night.

Before last season, Baylor hadn’t defeated a top-5 team since 1985; now, BU has won two straight against such opponents. And boy was it fun to see Baylor Nation react… To see the fans rush on the field on a primetime, national ESPN broadcast. To see a Facebook post announcing the score gather 8,000+ likes less than an hour after the game ended. To watch my phone buzz continually the rest of the night from people tweeting their Baylor pride.

And of course, it’s fun to see major websites like ESPN and SI.com splashing “BAYLOR” across their front pages. Perhaps my favorite tweet of the night came from Sports Illustrated: “Waco, Texas: where ranked teams go to lose.”

The Bears still need one more win to clinch a third-straight bowl game, and good crowds in the next two games — next Saturday against Texas Tech at Cowboys Stadium, and Dec. 1 in Waco against Oklahoma State — could help make the difference. Art Briles called Saturday night’s crowd the most energetic he’d seen in Waco; let’s give the Bears that energy every game the rest of the year. Get your tickets now!

Sic ’em, Baylor football!

Nov

2012

Men’s basketball opens 2012-13 as the consensus No. 2 team in the Big 12

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Athletics

Pierre Jackson The 2012-13 Baylor basketball season kicks off today with a doubleheader in the Ferrell Center: the No. 1-ranked defending national champion Lady Bears open against Lamar today at noon, followed by the 18th-ranked men versus Lehigh at 4 p.m. (Both games will be televised on FSSW.)

We previewed the Lady Bears last week; now let’s take a look at the men.

Head coach Scott Drew’s Bears begin the season generally regarded as the second-best team in the Big 12, behind last year’s national runner-up Kansas. Baylor is ranked 18th in the preseason coaches poll and 19th in the AP Top 25, the third straight year that BU has been ranked in both preseason polls. The Bears were also picked to finish second in the Big 12 by the league’s coaches, the program’s best-ever preseason projection.

The team will be led by senior guard Pierre Jackson, a projected All-American who was named Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year by league coaches as well as Athlon, Blue Ribbon, Sporting News and Yahoo!. The starting lineup is expected to feature Jackson along with another preseason All-Big 12 pick, sharpshooter Brady Heslip, and three other veterans in seniors A.J. Walton and J’Mison Morgan and junior Cory Jefferson.

Coming off the bench will be freshman center Isaiah Austin, named the Big 12′s top NBA prospect by Athlon and Yahoo! before his first collegiate game. A preseason All-American and All-Big 12 pick, Austin was a consensus top-5 national recruit in the Bears’ 2012 signing class which also included highly regarded freshmen Rico Gathers and L.J. Rose.

Today’s games are the first of several this season to be televised on Fox Sports Southwest as part of “Baylor Vision on FOX Sports,” the Bears’ third-tier TV network. Hope to see you at the Ferrell Center this afternoon!

Sic ’em, Baylor basketball!

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