Nov. 20, 2005
The Baylor football team ended the 2005 season with a 44-34 victory over Oklahoma State and in the process recorded its highest win total ever in Big 12 Conference play and its most overall victories since 1995. The Bears have posted 11 wins in Coach Guy Morriss' first three seasons at the helm, equaling their entire total in the five previous seasons prior to Morriss' arrival in Waco. Here are Morriss' thoughts on yesterday's 44-34 win over the Cowboys:
On the first-half scoring drives:
"We got 17 on the punt return (and then drove it in for a touchdown), then there was a fumble and we went 38 for a touchdown and then the third score was at the -37 and we drove it for the touchdown and that was good. We got a fumble at the OSU 32 and had to punt, no good. An interception we ran to the 1 and we got that one in. Then there was Colin's score and then we had one that resulted in 3, a field goal. We got the ball in. The good score was the third one, 4 plays 63-yards to the touchdown..."
On the lack of a run game against Oklahoma State:
"Oklahoma State was giving up an average of 5.8 yards per carry and we were averaging a 1.1, and, yes that concerns me. There wasn't much push that I can tell. We made some changes up front and tried to find some push. It's the same line we ended with last week against Missouri. We moved the ball a little bit (with them up front) but we haven't moved the ball too well all year long. When we hit the conference, our running game went south. It was a little bit of a surprise. I need to take a hard look at it and find out why and what was going on."
On OSU's turnovers:
"A lot of it was what we were creating, we were stripping the ball. I don't think there's a game I can remember with our opponents giving us 8 turnovers. The most I can remember is about 5-6. Coach Gundy said it best that you can't beat anybody when you turn the ball over that many times."
On Saturday's mentality:
"I don't want to say we didn't have anything to play for. We had a lot to play for like all the firsts that the win gave us. I'm not entirely happy with the season but I'm a lot happier with 5-6 than 4-7. It especially grinds on me to go back and start looking over A&M and Oklahoma and some of those games that it could have been a lot more. I felt like the schedule was pretty favorable and I felt like we would play better than we did and then we hit conference and we kind of hit a skid there for a little while. I thought we were tremendously focused and ready to play Missouri but apparently they were a little too tight. Maybe the pressure got them. This week I was worried but our football team, this group particularly, seem to play better when they're loose. It was like some things had been lifted off their shoulders a little. I've changed my thinking about that and as long as we're focused, I like for them to have fun. Even the degree that we were practicing this week, the old me would have gone back and said, I can't handle this. I can't have it like this but I've realized, that's just how kids are these days and I don't mind them being loose as long as we're taking care of business on the field. I thought they practiced pretty good and they were having a good time. We're not into the short hair and no earrings and all that because that's just not the way society is today. If I had of shown up at practice with an earring, my ear probably would have been cut off but that's just a different generation."
On getting the team to play loose:
"That's kind of our challenge. There's going to be some more tough pressure ballgames where we're going to have to get over that hump but, maybe we wound them too tight for the Missouri game. I, as a coach, told them it was like a playoff game. I tried to put it in NFL terms because that's all they think about is playing in the NFL. We're sitting here as a wild card, you win or go home. Everyone else is sitting here with a bye, they've already got their 6 wins and this is our first round of the playoffs. If we beat Missouri, we have to go beat OSU and that's the second round and then we make it to our super bowl, a bowl game but, you know, we got knocked out in the first round. I thought they were pretty juiced up about it but..."
On third quarter play:
"We have to try and develop that killer instinct. To say we got them on the ropes is probably accurate but we didn't put them away. I would have liked to see us come out and get a couple of drives and score and then we could have let everybody play but we settled for a couple of field goals and that was kind of disappointing. It's tough to convince them that every time we touch the football we're trying to get in the end zone. You can't waste opportunities. You can't waste plays. I'm not sure our mentality is that just yet, like you would like to see it. Some of that is part of the learning process. Hopefully they'll learn from it and deal with it better the next time. I like to worry about being up 38-0 in the first half. That's a situation I enjoy worrying about."
On his post-game message to the 19 Baylor seniors:
"I got a little emotional. These guys have done a good job and this is the best senior leadership we've had as a group since we've been here. I've gotten to know them a little bit better in three years and developed a relationship and it was just kind of what was on my heart. I thanked them for their hard work and leadership and all these firsts that we've accomplished under this leadership and I told them they would be welcome here as long as I'm here. I think they will remembered for, this year was the turning point, this was the season that got us around the corner. I know they were disappointed we didn't get to a bowl but there's a lot they can be proud of to look back over their careers. They all contributed."
Sunday Notes: Baylor finished the season at 5-6 overall, posting its most wins since a 7-win season in 1995 ... The Bears also won two Big 12 games in the same season for the first time in the league's 10-year history ... Over its first seven years of play in the Big 12, Baylor won just four league games, but in just three seasons under coach Guy Morriss the Bears have already matched that total ... Baylor averaged 38,902 fans for its five-game home schedule, its best average since 1995 (40,456) and its best five-game average since 1979 when it averaged a school-record 40,510 fans per game ... Baylor's running backs--Paul Mosley (192), Brandon Whitaker (131), Jacoby Jones (12), Mario Price (6) and Damon Dotson (2) did not commit a fumble on their 343 touches (rushes, receptions and returns) for the season ... Baylor forced 8 Oklahoma State turnovers (4 fumbles and 4 interceptions) in yesterday's 44-34 victory, most since forcing eight in a 50-7 victory over Texas in 1989 ... Junior P Daniel Sepulveda leads the Big 12 and ranks No. 2 nationally with his 46.2 yard average, a mark which stands No. 2 on Baylor's single-season list and that surpassed his 46.0 average of a year ago ... Senior WR Shaun Rochon had a career-high 174 all-purpose yards on 11 attempts (15.8 ypa) against Oklahoma State ... Rochon tallied a career-high-tying 7 receptions for a career-best 95 yards and 1 TD against the Cowboys ... Sophomore PK Ryan Havens tallied a team-high 70 points on the season, most by a BU place-kicker since 1994 and the third-best one-season total in school history ... Havens' 70-point total ranks sixth-best single-season point total among all Baylor players, regardless of position ... Havens' 16 field goals on the year rank as the second-highest one-season total in school history ... Junior QB Shawn Bell set a school single-game record for pass completions (190), and ranked among the school's single-season leaders in passing yards (No. 5, 1,964), attempts (No. 2, 320), completion percentage (No. 2, .594), touchdown passes (T-No. 5, 12) and TD/Interception ratio (No. 2, 2.00) ... Bell throw for a career-high 272 yards against Oklahoma State, which marked the eighth 200-yard day of his career and sixth of the 2005 season ... Junior WR Trent Shelton will carry a string of 33-straight games with at least 1 reception into the 2006 season, just one game shy of tying Reggie Newhouse's school record of 34 consecutive games ... Senior LB Colin Allred's 25-yard interception return for a touchdown in the 2Q against Oklahoma State marked Baylor's 13th non-offensive score in 34 games under Morriss ... Baylor will begin spring practice on March 6 with the 2006 season opener against TCU set for Sept. 2 at Floyd Casey Stadium.
