MOBILE, Ala. – A trio of student-athletes from Baylor’s most successful football team in 31 years will represent the Bears in the 63rd annual Senior Bowl on Jan. 28 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. Philip Blake, Terrance Ganaway and Kendall Wright will play in the nation’s top collegiate all-star game.
The Senior Bowl will be televised live nationally on the NFL Network at 3 p.m. CST. Baylor’s trio will be joined by more than 100 of the nation’s top senior collegiate players in Mobile for the country’s top pre-draft all-star game.
“We’ve had a recent run of tremendously talented players from Baylor University here at the Senior Bowl, including two first round selections a year ago in Danny Watkins and Phil Taylor,” Senior Bowl President and CEO Steve Hale said. “With the addition of these three outstanding players, there’s no doubt that run will continue.”
Each team will be coached by the entire coaching staff of a National Football League team. Practices in the week leading up to the game will be attended by more than 800 general managers, head coaches, assistant coaches, scouts and other front office personnel from all 32 NFL teams, and each of the practices will be televised on NFL Network.
A native of Toronto, Ontario, Blake was a first-team All-Big 12 selection by the league’s coaches in 2011. He paved the way for a Baylor offense that ranked second nationally with 587 yards per game during the regular season, and he helped guide the Bears to school records with 777 total yards and 482 rushing yards in the Alamo Bowl win. Blake led the team with an 86% average coach’s grade and 86 knockdowns during the regular season.
Ganaway, an All-Big 12 selection and the Offensive MVP of the 2011 Valero Alamo Bowl, rushed for a school-record 1,547 yards and 21 touchdowns. The DeKalb, Texas native recorded three 200-yard rushing games, matching the number of 200-yard performances in 109 previous seasons of Baylor football. Ganaway also broke the school record for carries in a game when he rushed 42 times for 246 yards in a win over Texas Tech.
Wright, an All-American and Pittsburg, Texas native, holds a share of 10 Baylor receiving records. He established school records this season with 108 receptions, 1,663 receiving yards, 14 receiving touchdowns and nine 100-yard games. In four years with the Bears, Wright recorded 4,004 career receiving yards – more than 1,300 more than any other player in program history.
Blake, Ganaway and Wright will become the 46th, 47th and 48th student-athletes to represent Baylor in the Senior Bowl. Former Bears Danny Watkins and Phil Taylor, who were both selected in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft, played in last year’s Senior Bowl. The last time three or more Baylor players participated in the game was when Ray Crockett, Bobby Sign, Daryl Gardener, Adrian Robinson and Derrick Fletcher all played in 1989.
Baylor (10-3, 6-3 Big 12) recorded its first bowl victory since 1992 by winning the 2011 Valero Alamo Bowl, 67-56, against Washington. The Bears posted the second 10-win season in program history and had the first Heisman Trophy winner in school history.
Files from Baylor Athletics
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