April 11, 2011

BEAUMONT - Lamar University and Baylor have completed negotiations and signed a contract to play a 2015 football game in Waco's Floyd Casey Stadium.

The game, which is set for Sept. 12, 2015, will give coach Ray Woodard's their fourth taste of Football Bowl Subdivision competition as Lamar already has games set against FBS members Hawaii in 2012, Oklahoma State in 2013 and Texas A&M in 2014. The Cardinals, who returned to football in 2010 after a 21-year absence, are members of the Football Championship Subdivision and the Southland Conference.

"We are elated to get another game against a Big 12 school (Oklahoma State and Texas A&M are also Big 12 members)," said Woodard, whose Cardinals opened with an encouraging 5-6 record last season. "Baylor will be a quality opponent, and we are looking forward to going to Waco for the game. It will give our fans an opportunity to see us play on a larger stage."

Lamar and Baylor previously played a three-game football series in 1979, 1980 and 1981. Coach Grant Teaff's Bears won the series opener 20-7 in Waco in 1979, and they came back with a 42-7 victory in Beaumont the next year. Mike Marlow kicked a 42-yard field goal in the waning seconds the next September, however, to give the Cardinals an 18-17 upset of the reigning Southwest Conference champion Bears in their stadium.

LAMAR