Former Baylor head coach Guy Morriss dies at 71
Former Baylor football coach Guy Morriss died Monday at the age of 71. Morriss, who was the head coach at Baylor, Kentucky and Texas A&M-Commerce and played 15 seasons in the NFL as an offensive lineman for the Eagles and Patriots, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2017.
After leading Kentucky to a winning record in his second season, Morriss, who grew up in Arlington and played at TCU, bolted for Baylor, which had endured seven straight losing seasons, including just eight wins in three years under Kevin Steele before Morriss got to Waco in 2003.
Morriss was unable to lead the Bears to a winning record — the highwater mark was a 5-6 season in 2005 — but he was there for one of Baylor's most memorable wins. In Morriss' second season, Baylor was a heavy underdog against No. 16 Texas A&M, but Baylor took the Aggies to overtime, then Morriss made the decision to go for two in the first extra period, helping Baylor beat A&M for the first time since 1985.
Morriss was fired after a 2007 season in which Baylor went winless in Big 12 play, and he went on to coach four seasons at Texas A&M-Commerce before retiring. Art Briles took the reins at Baylor after Morriss was fired.
As a player, Morriss was a second-round draft pick out of TCU in 1973 and played 11 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, including starting at center for the 1980 team that lost to the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XV. Morriss retired from playing in 1987 after four seasons with the Patriots, including another trip to the Super Bowl when the 1985 Patriots lost to the Chicago Bears.
Matt Young
Georgia moves up in latest AP poll
Georgia rose to No. 2 in the first Associated Press college football poll of the regular season, passing Ohio State, after the defending national champions dominated their opener.
Alabama remained No. 1 in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank released Tuesday, receiving 44 of 63 first-place votes from the media panel and 1,552 points.
The Bulldogs narrowed the gap on the Crimson Tide after beating Oregon 49-3 on Saturday. Georgia received 17 first-place votes.
Ohio State slipped to No. 3 and received two first-place votes. Michigan moved up four spots to No. 4.
Clemson dropped a spot to No. 5.
Florida debuted at No. 12 after its thrilling victory at home against Utah on Saturday night.
The Utes slipped six spots to No. 13 after the loss.
The rest of the top 10 was Texas A&M at No. 6, followed by Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Baylor and Southern California.
USC is in the top 10 for the first time since the final regular-season poll of 2017.
The eighth-ranked Fighting Irish dropped three spots out of the top five after losing 21-10 at Ohio State.
Georgia has been ranked No. 1 or 2 in 15 of the last 17 polls, with the other two weeks at No. 3.
Florida’s jump from unranked to No. 12 is the biggest for an unranked team since the first regular-season poll of 2016, when Texas landed at No. 11 and Wisconsin at No. 10
after Week 1 victories.
Wake Forest QB is cleared to play
Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman has been medically cleared to play in the 23rd-ranked Demon Deacons’ trip to Vanderbilt this weekend after receiving treatment for a blood clot.
The school announced Hartman’s return Tuesday, roughly a month since announcing he would be out indefinitely due to what it described at the time only as a nonfootball medical issue.
Sanders rewarded for monster game
Bentlee Sanders intercepted two passes, returned one for a touchdown and forced a fumble in Nevada’s 38-14 win over Texas State to earn Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors and take the NCAA lead in interceptions.
The senior defensive back from Tampa, Fla. has three interceptions through two games. Nevada’s nine defensive takeaways — six interceptions and three fumble recoveries — rank second only to Western Kentucky’s 10 nationally.