Nov. 8, 2005

Head Coach Guy Morriss

On the Texas loss:

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to Missouri. I've put Texas out of our system. I think both coordinators have set the same measures. We've got to get this one out of our systems and get ready for the guys this Saturday. I'm over it, I guess."

"It sticks with you but I think it's easier to get over one like Saturday than a really close, double over time, down to the wire game. It just doesn't seem to be quite as draining as the others can be."

"I haven't seen the guys too much and won't know until this afternoon when we get back together. We talked on Sunday and they're sitting there saying they understand but you don't know exactly where they are until today. We'll talk about it this afternoon in the first meeting and then I think the most important thing is to get back on the field and physically get it out of your system. We'll start focusing on Missouri and what we have to do to win this one coming up."

On recapturing the confidence experienced earlier in the season:

"The thing that will get them back to that level more than anything is to keep in mind where we are exactly at this point in the season and what we can still obtain as a football team; we can still reach our goals. Part of the formula has got to be getting this loss out of our systems and getting ready to play. If we can convince them of that, we're going to be in good shape. I think they'll bounce back; they are very resilient. They haven't lost sight of the bowl goal and I think that's going to motivate them more than anything."

"I don't think the kids have a confidence problem at all; it's more an execution problem than anything. Everybody's got to focus. We've had some distractions and we need to get through this week and next week without any trouble, off or on the field, little things like that that can distract our football team. What we need to do it is just go play our style ball."

On Baylor's on-going penalty problems:

"It goes back to focus and concentration. Like illegal procedure, you can say what you want to about officiating on some things, but stuff like that is on us and only we can get it fixed. It's on the individual players and that entails focus and concentration."

On Terrance Parks:

"I guess I would have to agree with Brent [Pease]. We sit down and watch the tapes together most of the time early in the morning before anybody gets here. There are some things that Terrance [Parks] has got to improve on and there are some things that he did pretty well. He got himself out of some sack situations with his feet and strength and still got the ball off. He's just a big, strong kid who's tougher to bring down."

On scoring early:

"It always helps to get off on the right foot with a quick start, getting points on the board to get the momentum going. I don't think that if we don't it will be a killer; but, it will be a plus if we manage to do that."

On Missouri:

"I think they're a good football team. They didn't get to five wins by accident. They're thinking they need one of two to get bowl eligible. They're playing at home; they've lost two in a row so they're trying to put the skids on a losing streak as well. They're going to be ready to play. We need to travel well and not get distracted by that. We need to play at a high level of intensity and execute the plan that our coaches have put together."

"We just have to relax and play our style of ball. We play better when we're loose and relaxed. It's the same situation we go into every week; no one expects us to win anyway so let's go play like we have nothing to lose, let it all hang out. And that's when I think we play at our best. If we can do that, we'll see."

On Missouri's home field advantage:

"Everybody seems to play better at home. They are motivated by the fact that they only need one more to get bowl eligible. It's a little bit more a challenge maybe and I think our kids are up to it. We're also trying to realize our goal as well. You say that everybody plays better at home but I don't know that we don't play better on the road. Maybe it's too our advantage to play up there this year."

"I think it's out of our system. I don't think anybody's awed by crowds and stadiums anymore."

On last week's M.T. Robinson and Michael Gary suspensions:

"It was a distraction for the whole club, for the whole staff. It's not just that it happened, but you have to do the fact finding, talking to people. You're wasting time taking care of all that instead of studying tapes. It's probably unnerving to the players wondering what went on and how come it happened. They think about that instead of preparing for the ball game. You expect your older guys to set examples for the younger guys. I think both guys understand that they were both wrong and it probably would never happen again."

Offensive Coordinator Brent Pease

On Texas:

"When you look back after playing a team like Texas, there is no margin for error because of their athleticism, speed and size. We almost have to be perfect in everything we do. We found it tough to sustain things on a long drive basis and to continue to get down the field. They are going to win some of those battles sometimes. We hit some plays at times and had a couple drives but they're going to win some of those too. We found ourselves in compromising situations and it was really tough for us. It was a match-up situation sometimes that really wasn't in our favor. So we were hit and miss on things."

On Missouri:

"Terrance is going to start the game and we'll see where the game book goes from there. We look at our match ups this week against Missouri, and we'll probably find ourselves in some more equal situations; we feel good about our match ups and we may even be ahead of them. Now he has to go out and play with the speed of the game and be productive with his reads. I think if he relates it back to what he did against Oklahoma State last year where he moved the ball down the field, we'll be good."

"Missouri will play a lot of zone. They will mix some pressure in there. Last year they pressured us a lot more. Once they think they've got the beat on it, they continue to do it. This year they haven't done it as much because I think they find they're putting some of their DB's in spots where they don't want them. [Dedrick] Harrington is kind of the guy in the middle who has been their steady force. Then [Jason] Simpson in the back, the safety, No. 6, he's kind of the defensive quarterback who directs the show, gets them set, and makes sure they are all on the same page. Brian Smith, the kid up front, is the sack leader and he's good off the edge. Stryker Sulak is a speed rush guy. They aren't as big with our match ups but they have good feet. If we get our bodies on them, it makes better match ups for us."

On Terrance Parks:

"I gauge it like this: when they come off the field, if they have some answer or questions, it's better than not communicating. And I mean, he saw things and he's stating where he's trying to go with the ball and what he's seeing from them defensively. As long as he maintains that, we can keep making progress on things. Then I know he's seeing what he needs to do and he's going to get things executed. When he threw the second interception, he changed the route and he didn't really have the freedom to do that. That's something he has to learn from. They do have a few limitations and he can't freelance out there. He did it at that time and it cost him. He tried to throw to Dominique [Zeigler]. He threw the ball well but he's got the keep it in the scheme of everything."

"The biggest advantage he gives us is the possibility of running the ball."

Defensive Coordinator Bill Bradley

On Texas:

"It wasn't pretty and Texas really is an outstanding team offensively. They did a great job calling plays. I didn't call a very good game defensively and we missed a lot of tackles as you could tell by the score. We didn't get any turnovers. I was trying to get something going and go after them, but we didn't do it. It was ugly but that was last week. We played a darn good football team, probably in my mind the top team in the nation. We have a lot of work to get done."

On Missouri:

"Number 16, Brad Smith, he's a force that we're going to have to deal with. He's the guy that makes their offense really tick, with his legs and with his arm. One good thing is that he's down the list in passing so maybe we can get him in some passing downs and take advantage of him. But he is an outstanding football player. He's got good a good cast of characters working with him. They run a wide open offense with a spread type look, different from last year."

"They've got big, tall wide receivers, kind of like Iowa State except a little bigger. They have two prominent running backs that they use. Marcus Woods and Tony Temple are good quick little running backs a lot like [Brandon] Whitaker. We have to get our guys prepared and back on track to win this first of the two games we have left."

"They're a good football team; we've got our work cut out for us. But we have to get the guys rebounding today. Let's see if we can't get a better game plan in for these guys."