By Jerry Hill

Tribune-Herald assistant sports editor

Rather than pointing fingers at strength and conditioning coach John Williams or trainer Mike Sims, Guy Morriss said Baylor’s cramping problem in Sunday’s opener could be on the players.

“You really can’t explain it, because everybody’s drinking the same drink,” Morriss said Monday after reviewing the Bears’ 17-7 loss to No. 22 TCU. “I don’t think it’s what we’re drinking. They may just not be drinking enough.”

No less than nine players, including receivers Dominique Zeigler, Mikail Baker, Trent Shelton and Carl Sims, were forced to the sidelines with severe muscle cramps despite relatively cool conditions.

But Morriss didn’t blame it on the team’s conditioning in general or Williams’ summer program specifically, especially since the linemen appeared to have no problems all night.

“With the big guys up front, I don’t think either side of the ball had any problems,” Morriss said. “It’s the guys with no body fat, the skinny guys, that seemed to cramp more than the others. We’re looking into it and seeing if we can’t figure out why.”

Sims said it was the second consecutive year that players have required intravaneous fluids in the season opener.

“We didn’t have much of a problem in camp this year like we’ve had in past camps,” Sims said. “We’re going to look at the sports drink and see if it’s helping or hurting them. But we’re doing the same stuff that other people are doing and stuff we’ve always done.”

The cramping problem also affected the defense. By the fourth quarter, free safety Dwain Crawford, rover Brandon Stiggers and linebacker Antonio Jones were all out of the game.

“It has nothing to do with Big John’s workouts. We were in good shape,” Shelton said after the game. “There was a lot of excitement in the air and a lot of nerves, and we just seemed to tighten up a lot. And it was pretty humid out there, too. So I’m not surprised by the cramps.”

Morriss said the most frustrating thing about the season-opening loss was the offense’s missed opportunities.

A promising first-quarter drive fizzled out when guard Will Blaylock and tackle Jason Smith were hit with back-to-back false start penalties, pushing the Bears back to the 30-yard line.

“We’ve just got to focus on the quarterback’s voice and move on the snap count,” Morriss said.

“We put some good drives together when everybody is executing. And when we don’t, somebody’s screwing it up. You’ve got to understand that for this system to work, you’ve got to have all 11 guys doing their job, or it breaks down. And that’s what happened to us.”

The Bears also had two red-zone turnovers in the second half — a Shawn Bell interception that was tipped at the line and a fumble by Paul Mosley that ended a string of 248 carries without a fumble.

“He’s such a conscientious kid,” Morriss said of Mosley, who was held to 34 yards on 10 carries and one catch for two yards. “And to be honest with you, he was one of our better performers. But yeah, he always takes that kind of thing hard.”

Despite having to replace seven starters, the defense played well “with the exception of about three or four plays,” Morriss said.

TCU had just nine first downs and 146 yards total offense until Aaron Brown scored on an 84-yard touchdown pass from Marcus Jackson on a third-and-15 play late in the third quarter.

“They told me it was just a blown coverage. They just didn’t communicate,” Morriss said. “Half of us did one thing and half of us did another. And that’s what happens when you do that.”

The Bears also had some special teams breakdowns, giving up a 36-yard punt return by Marcus Brock in the first quarter and a 69-yard kickoff return by Hillsboro’s Donald Massey to open the second half.

“On the kickoff return, we had 11 guys inside the right hash,” Morriss said. “He broke through the first wave and hit the sideline on us. (On the punt return), we got big-time clipped. Nick Moore got hit in the back. They missed that one.

“We’re disappointed (in the special teams), but I don’t think it’s anything we can’t get fixed.”

The key is bouncing back in time for Saturday’s 6 p.m. game against Northwestern (La.) State, a I-AA team that’s coming off a 49-18 loss to Kansas.

“As coaches, we’ve got to set the example for them,” Morriss said. “I know our coaches are down a little bit right now, but we’ve got to get back up, get our energy level up and don’t let this thing snowball on us.”

BEAR FACTS: Redshirt freshman defensive end LeQuantum McDonald fractured the fibula in his left leg in the first quarter and could miss the rest of the season. “He may have a chance to get back for the last few games,” Sims said, “but it’s going to be a test.”