QB Terry Southall was still feeling the effects of his broken leg from the ‘65 season and the staff didn’t realize that he was not in the best physical condition at the start of the 1966 season. His performance in the opening game against Syracuse, a definitive win at 35-12 where Southall threw four touchdown passes, hid the fact that his knee was not yet fully recovered, his throwing motion was altered, and he had developed a sore shoulder. Still, Southall fulfilled the great promise he had shown under Gordon Wood at Brownwood High School. Kenny Stockdale again provided the backup work at QB. Bears coach Bridgers added thick style player identification numbers to both sides of the old gold helmet as he did upon his arrival at Baylor in 1959, this time in dark green numerals to match the one-inch center stripe. As Baylor's head coach, Bridgers would earn a reputation for being as forward thinking as SMU’s Hayden Fry who made Jerry Levias the first African-American scholarship football player in the Southwest Conference. In what was viewed as a controversial decision during this time period, Bridgers allowed John Westbrook to walk-on as a freshman in 1965. When Westbrook appeared at halfback in 1966’s nationally televised opening game against Syracuse, he was the first African American to ever take the field in a varsity game among the Southwest Conference members. He was also fast and effective. The third consecutive 5-5 season was punctuated by fine play by FB Charles Wilson and the leader of the defense, DT Greg Pipes who was All Conference. Pipes received support from DB Ridley Gibson and LB Billy Burk.