Nov. 7, 2006

Head Coach, Guy Morriss

On Oklahoma State:

"For the most part, we concentrate on the only [game] this week. We need to win it. Play it one play at a time. Don't worry about the big picture right now. We've got a one-game season to play this week, and then, we'll worry about the next one when we get there.

"We've got to get our focus back, and we've got to recapture some energy, I think. Nobody quit. We were playing pretty hard but we didn't have that extra little bit of energy. If we've been known for anything, at least we play hard, really hard. And I don't know that we've played up to the level we've had in the past. That's what I think we have to do this week."

On Baylor's lack of intensity as of recent:

"We're getting beat up, for one. I've got three lineman - one of them has a hurt ankle and foot; one of them has a hurt knee; the other one is a walking wreck. We're just kind nicked, bumped, and bruised all over the place.

"I think there was some disappointment with the [Texas] A&M loss, and we kind of let it linger. We didn't get charged up to play last Saturday like we should have.

"I heard Bill [Bradley] talking about how the kids were a little bit embarrassed. I think that's a good sign really because they care; and it's important to them that they don't let it happen again to them this week. You could take them out, run them, beat the heck out of them, belittle them, scream and yell at them, but that's not our style. I think you just stay really positive with them. We're going to cut a little time out of practice and probably take the full pads off. I know we are kind of tired and nicked, so I think that will kind of help us get juiced up a bit. Try to keep it light and crispy and have a good work outs. Be up beat, good tempo. Get our work done and get off the field. I think they respond to that a lot better."

On Baylor's emphasis on playing with emotion:

"All I can kind of judge that on is my experience as a player. I don't think you can be too high. I like to see emotion, and I think that's one of the things that this team has to play with, a lot of emotion and so forth. I don't think [too much emotion] is our problem right now, no."

On how to improve the offensive line:

"What do they have to do? They have to block the guy in front of you or whoever ends up in front of you. It's one of the two. We just have to do a better job of getting hats on people and do a better job of communicating and a better job of working our technique. It seems like every time we get off of our technique, we get in trouble. We have to be more disciplined to do it the way you're asked to do it. Do it with a lot of passion and energy. When we do that, it works.

"It's the consistency deal. You wonder sometimes why can't you [be consistent] because it's pretty simple. You're talking to the tacklers and you tell them to sit straight back. What the heck does straight back mean? It means straight back, but yet we're jumping outside and getting in trouble. You kind of scratch your head about that.

"But I think it's growing pains, or call it what you want, learning experience. But we just have to be more disciplined with our technique and play a little more physical."

On Blake Szymanski:

"I don't think any of us were disappointed at all. I think Blake did it just about how we thought he would do it. I thought he played well enough for this football team to win if we can get all the folks around him taking care of their jobs, then who knows. That's just the way I feel.

"It was good to see him run the football. We had designed some runs for him, and I've said all week, `The guy's got courage.' And boy, that's one thing I like in my quarterback. I think when he scrambled; I think that's going to help up down the road, because that's something, I think, defenses' have to respect, when a quarterback can scramble a bit. That will help us up front to some degree, I think. I thought most of his throws were good. I know Lee [Hays] said we're not going to add too much; we probably shouldn't really. I think that's the right way to go; just let him keep operating and get everybody else to par with him, get them on the same page with Blake."

Comparing Baylor's athletic ability to Oklahoma State's:

"It's not like you're lining up against a Texas or an Oklahoma; that's for sure. But [Oklahoma State] might have a little bit of an edge on us talent-wise. We talk about that to our guys all the time. They understand they might not be the most talented group on the field at that time but you know, there are a lot of people who are winning football games without the best personnel. It's whoever is going to execute right, commit the fewest fouls, play charts - all those kinds of things that go into the mix.

"I'll use myself as an example. I wasn't the best player on the field, at all, at any time. But I had a long, nice, good career. I made a lot of money playing football. It can be done. Again, it goes back to the execution, details, focus.

"Our kids have done a good job, usually, of playing at high levels. And when we don't see it, we get disappointed from that standpoint as well. But we'll get them charged back up again this week; we've got to. They've got to."

Offensive Coordinator, Lee Hays

On Texas Tech:

"The first thing you have to look at, I think, is if you're putting your kids in a position to be successful. To sit there and call plays over and over that aren't working, at some point you have to do something else. We'll evaluate what's going on up front and if the kids can't handle it, we have to do something else like get [Blake] out of the pocket somehow or do something. To sit there and think that this week it's going to change, that can get you run off pretty quick."

Blake Szymanski's performance against Texas Tech:

"Blake did a great job. I'm really impressed. I think he'll only get better from here on out. Blake did well. I can't even really think of a mistake that jumps out for me, as far as reads and things like that go. He might have been off on one or two passes but that's to be expected.

"I don't know how much more you put on him than last week. As a play caller, you feel a little bit more comfortable putting him in some situations where he has to do something smart as far as getting rid of the ball. I don't think we'll change much. There are passes that he throws well and we'll call those more than we did with Shawn [Bell]."

On Baylor's offensive line against Texas Tech:

"I was kind of disappointed, I wouldn't say with their effort but with their performance. That's something we definitely have to get better in really quick.

"I can't fault Blake for any of the protection issues at all. We flat out got beat up front. It would be great if I could do something about it right this second and come up with a protection but I can only put the two on one sometimes. If that doesn't work, you're in trouble."

On Texas Tech's defensive line:

"They really played vanilla up front, line games. Nothing we don't see every week. I think they blitzed three times in the second half and that was it. Really that was in the third quarter. [Blake's sacks] were just guys getting beat by guys. It wasn't a super line move or anything like that. It was just straight up guys getting beat. We'll probably have to do something to take the pressure off of them play-calling-wise and change some things up. I wish it wouldn't have been some kind of sneaking deal that we couldn't scheme out; but, that was just straight man-on-man right there."

On Oklahoma State:

"They're pretty athletic. [Vance Beford] does a really good job of mixing up his coverages. He's not just going to stay and cover three or cover two. He's pretty balanced. Athletically, I think they are as good as anybody we've seen up front, with the exception of Texas. I think the back end kids are solid. I just don't see a glaring weakness with this defense. They play hard and they sprint to the ball. They have had a few bad breaks when you look at some of the things as far as scoring goes, a few missed tackles here and there that could have easily held somebody below 10 points."

Defensive Coordinator, Bill Bradley

On Texas Tech:

"I'm a little bit embarrassed to be standing up in front of you right now, for a couple of reasons. One, I don't think I called a very good game to be honest with you. Also, two, within that, I think their quarterback [Graham Harrell] did a good job using their checks, and some of the big plays they got against us were almost just perfect plays for what we had against what we had coming out. That's how a lot of those big plays broke out, just trying to make something happen and he checked some good plays.

"For the most part throughout the afternoon our guys got out of their areas and chased a little bit, which we thought that they could not do for us to be able to stay in the game with those guys. That happened quite a bit, too.

"They've got a tremendous offense, no question about it. Texas Tech runs a precision offense and I think that quarterback of theirs has really come around in the last two to three ballgames. I knew it was going to be, probably, one of those days that if we didn't play a perfect game, if we chased out of our areas, things like that would happen and they did happen."

On C.J. Wilson's move to free safety:

"I don't think that affected us as much as just everybody chasing out of their zones on scheme or not staying with their guy on man or finishing the play. C.J. has actually had two pretty good weeks. The first week he played really well at free. It's a different game in there for a corner who moves into the free safety spot. For example, two years ago Mo {Maurice} Lane, I think, was one of the leading tacklers in the Big 12 at the defensive safety position. And so it's a different game for C.J. in there. I thought he did well the first week and last week was average to good, but the whole team was average."

On Oklahoma State:

"I don't think we're flying around here like we were up until a couple of weeks ago. We have to get back to that. I have to coach it better, and I have to get it doing and be excited about it. And that's what I plan to do starting today. I think [our guys] have to come back; I know their feelings are hurt but that game has got to get behind us because we're fixing to play a vastly improved offense in this one we are gong to face.

"The thing about this team, it's the same guy who played us here last year, [Bobby] Reid. He's really gotten a lot better, a lot more comfortable. He's an edge player; they are going to try to get him out on the edge whether it's dashing or bootlegging. Or they're going to run the ball. They run the ball inside and outside. They are going to feature him in some options and some zone reads, and he's doing quite well at it. He's got pretty good arm. He's not really killing people on passing, but the way they run the ball, they set up the play action really well. They emphasize a very, very balanced offense."