Oct. 12, 2004
Oct. 12, 2004
Baylor head football coach Guy Morriss sat down with the media for his weekly press conference to discuss the upcoming game against Nebraska as well as last week's contest against the Tigers.
On 9pm start being an effect on the outcome against Missouri...
"I don't think it affected our kids, we're not going use that as an excuse. Our kids played hard, they flew around. But, as far as affecting the game, I don't think it had any effect on the game. I thought from an effort standpoint and from an intensity standpoint, our kids were ready to play."
On the offensive performance against Missouri...
"Where we've had our worst performances, I think the fact that they are real active up front, they were slanting a lot, twisting and stunting, bringing some people, and we just didn't handle that very well. They played some man, they got up and pressed us, we had trouble beating man coverage and couldn't get off of the press. We dropped some balls, we had some poor throws, we had some poor reads, we didn't run the ball particularly well at all, we just couldn't find a rhythm and we just couldn't seem to get anything going."
On Nebraska's frame of mind after last week's loss...
"I don't know what kind of frame of mind they're going to be in. I think they'll do the same thing we do, go look at tape and try to get better. They have they luxury of playing at home. They've got thousands of people behind them, and we're preparing to see a Nebraska team that's going to be ready. So, we've got to match their intensity."
On Baylor's secondary...
"We like for our secondary kids to be aggressive. You hear about Nebraska, and they're implementing a new West Coast (offense) and they're throwing the football; but, you put in a the tape and you start looking at stats and so forth, and they're a lot more balanced than you first think. They're running the ball pretty well. I guess they will continue to do what they've been doing, that's what we expect them to do."
On Nebraska's defense...
"They're a 4-3 team. They're not quite as big up front as some of the teams we've faced before, but they certainly are very active. They don't do a lot of slanting and twisting like Missouri. I think probably the strength of their defense is their secondary, they run well and they are primarily a zone team. They like the zone-blitz. I would expect them to play more man, test our protection, see if we can hold up...we're going to have to be smart with our protection and in our passing game especially to handle all that stuff."
On Baylor playing on the road in a tough environment...
"It's a learning experience. You just keep reminding them about focus and don't let the crowd take you out of your game. Really, you've got to get to the point where you can win a game like this so you can understand what it feels like, how it's supposed to look. It's almost like you have to experience it and learn from it. The problem is getting the win. We're going to keep reminding them of what we think it takes to go on the road and win this game. At some poin,t you turn it over to your players, and they've got to do it."
On road losses being a mental thing...
"It's a stigma and you've just got to find a way to get over, to overcome it. It's just something that we keep emphasizing, that maybe this is the week we break the spell."
Head Volleyball Coach Jim Barnes- "We had a good last week of matches and stepping forward. We went to Nebraska...They have built (their program) to an elite class...We went there and played a tough two games. Some things didn't go our way, some questionable officiating and some bad things against us there at the end of game two and we really had this team on the brink of beating them at their place but a big home court advantage really hurt us. We gained some respect from that match. Nebraska came away saying we had the best defense they had seen this year... I think we are in the top two or three defenses in the Big 12 and I think if we get our offensive side playing like we are capable of, we can beat anyone in this league...We went on the road to Iowa State and had a good victory there. We didn't play particularly well but we figured out a way to win...Another quality Big 12 win, it was our third. Our goal in the first half is to win four and we've got three... We've got Texas Tech and Kansas State left to finish this round...If we can win (against Texas Tech) we'll reach our goal of four wins in the first round. That's how many this team had in both rounds combined last year...We're stepping forward in our game plan and getting better every game...We've gained some experience from Iowa State. We were down 29-22 or something like that ridiculous number and our girls pulled it together and won a 32-34 game so hopefully we can draw on that as we get to some closer, well fought matches and we can have that never die attitude and pull out some big games."
Head Soccer Coach George Van Linder-
"This past weekend was kind of a tale of two teams for us. We were real disappointed with our results against Oklahoma...We walked away from our game just real disappointed with ourselves and our performance and kind ed. Saturday, we had a spirited practice to say the least. We changed some things and had quite a talk with the players. We like how they responded on Sunday. Sunday we are real proud of our effort. We kind of feel like this might have been our momentum change, something that was way overdo and much needed...Our kids responded really well (against Oklahoma State) and came back and tied the game...We were the team that put most of the pressure on in the second half...We are exciting about the way we are playing...We are on the road at Colorado on Friday and at Nebraska on Sunday and everyone who's made that trip knows that's a difficult road trip and two difficult teams. Nebraska is one of only three teams who has continually made the Big 12 conference tournament. Colorado was the number one seed last year going into the conference tournament, cleaned up all the awards so it's a tough weekend ahead of us. However, the way the Big 12 is and how we continue to all beat up on each other, it is a little bit of a log jam down from the middle to bottom, so, we have a difficult tour ahead of us but we have some things going our way and hopefully we can be successful this weekend and get ourselves higher up in the league standings."
