Nov. 13, 2005
After having its bowl hopes dashed with Saturday's 31-16 loss at Missouri, the Baylor football team will host Oklahoma State in the season finale at 1 p.m. this Saturday at Floyd Casey Stadium. The Bears, who fell to 4-6 overall and 1-6 in the Big 12 with the Missouri loss, can post their highest win total since a 7-win campaign in 1995 with a victory over the 4-5 Cowboys. Here are Baylor coach Guy Morriss' thoughts on a variety of subjects heading into the 2005 season-finale:
On yesterday's game at Missouri:
"I think defensively, again, they played well enough for us to win the football game. We did give up the two big plays and that didn't help us. We missed a tackle on the quarterback draw and everybody was blocked except the one guy, Geoff Nelson. They blocked it pretty well. We had everybody blocked and had one opportunity to get him down, but we missed the tackle.
"The other play was a split zone. We don't have one of our defensive tackles in the right gap and again, we missed a couple of tackles. We had an opportunity to make the play at or near line of scrimmage and then missed one down the sideline. We just didn't make the play and didn't tackle very well."
On the offense's play:
"It wasn't all on Terrance (Parks). Everybody took the turn in it. We wanted to establish the run, but couldn't get anything going up front. I went back and looked. We had 15 yards net while 62 of our 77 came after Shawn (Bell) came in. We wanted to take some of pressure off Terrance. We didn't do a very good job running the ball. Terrance had 5 sacks--one of them was on him, but the other ones we didn't protect very well."
On Parks' first quarter interception which went for a touchdown:
"We were running a hitch route and Trent (Shelton) misread the coverage. We were trying to work downfield, thinking it was cover 2. Terrance had someone in his face and just anticipated the hitch being there and throws the ball. He should have pulled it down and taken the snap. No matter where he's trying to throw it, it's going to be incredible pressure in his face. Terrance has to learn how to throw it down better and not force it."
On the play of Shawn Bell:
"We put Shawn (Bell) in and he seemed to spark us. In the beginning, I thought it was kind of a question mark, early in the first four of five plays. We had one play with Whitaker (Brandon) that picked up 8 yards, then came back and got two yards and the first down. The first pass he threw was a naked and he overthrows that. Then we throw the screen to Mikail Baker who made a nice catch and run.
"Obviously, something Shawn did got them going. With that catch and run by Baker and Whitaker reeling off 44 yards. That got us cranked up and we started playing."
On Brandon Whitaker's 44-yard run:
"Whitaker made an about face. He started to reverse field and got a good block from Queito Teasley. Shawn (Bell) makes a block. 44 yards later, everybody got cranked up about playing. We come back the next play and make a nice throw and catch. Everybody's doing what they're supposed to do."
On offense's play with Shawn Bell in the game:
"62 of 77 yards we netted on the ground came with Shawn in the game. We were pretty productive with the running game with Shawn in there and we didn't give up any sacks. It seemed like it was different Shawn Bell than the one that finished the Texas Tech game. He did a great job of sitting in the pocket, stepped through the rush and focused on drilling the ball down the field. He took some shots, but stood in there and delivered the ball. I was proud of the way he got us going. His whole demeanor seemed different out there."
On Baylor's mistakes:
"The mistakes hurt us, especially the penalties. Some of the mistakes we've been making too long and that's on the coaches and me to get corrected, not the kids. Ultimately, it comes back to me."
On Baylor's readiness to play:
"I thought we came out a little flat and very tight. It seemed like we were waiting for the next guy to make a play, which was disappointing because I thought we had a good week of practice.
More on Bell:
"One of Shawn's (Bell) strengths is he knows where to go with the football, the mental part that he brings to the game. I'm sure it was a benefit to him to watch it for almost three quarters. I'm really proud of him. He took advantage of the opportunity when he was out there."
On halftime adjustments against Missouri:
"We went in at halftime and made some adjustments, got with the players and got them gassed back up. I thought we would come back and get going. The thing that troubles me is the cast around the quarterback spot. If you pluck him out and put another one in there, is it (the offense's play) going to change? In hindsight, yes it changed, but there is no guarantee it changes. It's kind of like the 2-point play against Texas A&M last year. I'm sure some thought Coach Morriss had lost his mind. It is one of those deals where you've got to do what you feel like based on the information you had at that time.
No, I don't question myself. We've struggled, I think, offensively, all year long. You can make a case for playing close, and statistical this and statistical that. I don't care about statistics. I didn't feel like we could stay status quo."
On illegal substitution penalty which nulified a fumble recovery:
"We got caught with one trying to get off the field. (Defensive coordinator Bill Bradley) said the call came down in time. We just didn't get off quick enough. He was about four or five yards from the sidelines (when the ball was snapped), but he was running right by the side judge. He's not going to miss something like that."
On this week's game vs. Oklahoma State:
"I feel confident that they'll bounce back. We talked about that after the game. We can be the first senior class in the history of Baylor being in the Big 12 to win two conference games in the same year. I heard the young players saying we've got have that happen for the seniors--now we've got to go do it."
Baylor Sunday Notes: Baylor reported only bumps and bruises from Saturday's game at Missouri ... With 168 completions on the season, junior QB Shawn Bell needs seven to break Don Trull's single-season mark of 174 which was set in 1963 ... Bell's 1,692 passing yards on the year rank as ninth-best one-year mark in school history, while his 58.9 percent completion percentage ranks as the second-best one-season mark in school history ... Junior CB C.J. Wilson has five interceptions on the season, most in the Big 12 this season and most by a Bear since the 2001 season when Derrick Cash also picked off five passes ... Junior P Daniel Sepulveda leads the Big 12 and ranks third nationally with his 45.6-yard average ... He punted a career-high tying 9 times against Missouri and boomed a 78-yard punt, a kick which ranks as a career-long and the eighth-longest in school history ... Nine different Baylor players caught passes against Missouri ... Junior WR Trent Shelton became the sixth player in school history to post 100 career receptions with his 5-catch, 48-yard effort against Missouri ... Shelton extended his streak of consecutive games with a reception to 32-straight contests, just two shy of the BU record set by Reggie Newhouse from 1999-2002 ... The OSU contest marks the final home game for 19 Baylor seniors.
