Oct. 26, 2005

Journal Week 8,

Any more games like this and I don't know how much longer I will make it. These close games are beginning to be bad for my heart. We played another quality team and big-time program to the wire last weekend, but were unable to pull out a win in double overtime over the defending Big 12 champions.

Once again we handled traveling well, and were able to tune out a sold out Homecoming crowd of 83,000 Oklahoma Sooner fans. Many people have congratulated me on how we played, and although I realize that we lost to Oklahoma by 35 points only 11 months ago, we are no longer satisfied with playing anyone close. We need wins, not moral victories. Unfortunately playing close doesn't qualify you for a bowl game, and that is our goal. For those of you who saw the game, I am sure that you can see the heart that this team plays with. No matter the score or the situation we continue to battle, and no one on our sideline ever gave up. Plays like Shaun Rochon's 98 yard kickoff return for a touchdown and C.J. Wilson's interception kept us in the game in the first half despite how poorly we were playing. After some intense soul searching at the half we came out in the second half and got back to playing our style of football, especially defensively. The defense held Oklahoma to three points in regulation and recovered two huge fumbles. Offensively, Dominique Zeigler made the game his coming out party. He torched the Sooner secondary for 141 yards, and his touchdown catch with 1:17 left was the biggest play of the year for us.

We are progressing, but there is so much more that we can do. If we had played in the first half the way that we did in the second we would never have needed to go to overtime. As a team we understand that we cannot afford to give good teams an early lead the way we did, and this week against Texas Tech we will have to make sure not wait a half to play our game.

This is Homecoming weekend, and will be my last as a Baylor football player. I have never won a Homecoming game, and I plan to change that this weekend. Please come out and support your Bears. The game will be played at 11:30 AM in Floyd Casey, and will be aired on Fox Sports Southwest. I hope to see you there, Sic `Em Bears.