Oct. 28, 2008
Art Briles
Opening Statement €¦
"To finish up last Saturday at Nebraska, we had a good opportunity to get a win against a well respected opponent and that is really the toughest part. I thought our guys really played with a lot of effort, passion and attitude and we just weren't able to cross the bridge. I take a lot of that personally on me because I've been to the road before a few times and made it across. I need to make sure all of our guys and coaches understand what we have to do to get there and evidently didn't do a good enough job. I was certainly proud of our players and their effort and attitude and how they approached the game."
On Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel €¦
"I've known Chase since he was a junior in high school. Honestly, I may have been the first person that offered him a scholarship. I thought he was a real tough kid who competed extremely hard and had a great passion to win and that has all held true. He has had a great career and done an outstanding job at Missouri. There is no doubt in my mind that he has elevated their program. In the Big 12 everyone has a great player at the quarterback position and he is definitely one of the top two or three in the conference."
Comparing Chase Daniel and Robert Griffin's leadership €¦
"I'm not around Chase on a daily basis so it would be hard for me to evaluate his leadership style from watching him on TV and on tape. He is a competitor, which Robert is. He is a believer, which Robert is, and you have to be if you're going to be a good athlete. And he is an achiever, so I think all of those attributes are the same for both.
On struggling in the kicking game €¦
"Our kicking game is huge. If you want to point things out that have gone wrong, we can certainly do it. Even getting that extra point blocked the other day; instead of ahead by four you're ahead by three. Then when it comes down to the third quarter, we're up by seven instead of six. Those are big turning points in the football game; not only from the score standpoint but from the momentum standpoint. If you talk to any coach in America, they are going to tell you they practice those different situations every day in practice and we are no different. Sometimes it is hard to stimulate those situations in practice. That is like if you have a guy in the NFL who has played for eight years and a rookie comes along, you obviously go with the guy that has more experience.
On the Homecoming atmosphere this Saturday €¦
"It's going to be very exciting. We are excited to be back home after being on the road for a couple of weeks. We are glad to be back on our home turf and get out on the field and play for the home fans. We have a great opponent coming in here and every time we play someone in the Big 12 we're going to have a good opponent. If you're going to run in this pack you've got to be a mad dog because if you're not, you're going to get left behind. That is our goal as a program. We can't stand around and watch everyone else get good while we're not. We have to maintain where we are and continue to grow. These other teams are not slowing down and we don't want to get left behind.
On Missouri's football program...
"It is a team that Missouri has been waiting on for a couple of years. They beat 12 good opponents last year and they had a whole lot of people back this year. They have been good every year. They may have had a year where they weren't as good as they wanted to be but they have been good. They have done a great job recruiting and rising with their program the last few years."
On Missouri's Jeremy Maclin €¦
"He is like Reggie Bush. When you are drafting, he is a running back, but he is also a return person so he is touching the ball a lot. You are getting two for your money, every time he touches the ball he is very productive with it.
On his understanding of the hype involved with Baylor Homecoming €¦
"My sense is making sure that we are ready to get after Missouri right now and that is what makes homecoming special. We have to play well and give our athletes a chance to win the game. I'll have to absorb it through the week as the activities go on. But we are proud to represent a university as fine as Baylor."
On second guessing coaching decisions €¦
"That is our duty, our job. That is what you do and every situation you get in is one you can learn from. You can change it 100 diff times but what you have to do is go with your gut instinct at that moment. It is human nature to second guess and that is what we do as coaches."
On Missouri's shutout of Colorado €¦
"A shutout is unbelievable. It is hard to do and you certainly don't want one pitched on you. It is an amazing feeling, especially in this conference. That gets overlooked because right now they are known for being an offensive football team. They have a lot of key guys on defense."
Junior Joe Pawelek
On bouncing back from last week:
"We need to come out this week and really focus on what we're putting on the game field. It's not been teams coming out and being more athletic or stronger than us. It's just been Baylor making small mistakes that are causing us to not win football games. We really need to come out this week knowing Missouri is a great program with great athletes. But we need to focus on what we can do to beat them."
On Homecoming:
"It has a pretty exciting buzz to it around campus and the stadium will be packed; it has an exciting feel."
On Chase Daniel:
"Signing up to play college football, you get excited for these kinds of opportunities playing against top opponents and great players."
Senior Vincent Rhodes
On last week's loss:
"Last week we had a let down at the end of the game, but there are some things that we can take from last week to bring against Missouri. If we can cut down those mistakes and get on all cylinders, we can conquer the impossible."
On Playing in
"Anytime you can go into a place like that and quiet the crowd a little bit and keep them on their toes, you can always use that and put it to good use."
Junior Jason Lamb
On Saturday's loss:
"Something that coach Briles always tells us is 'Clear it.' Looking back there were just a few mistakes and we could have won, we needed to win. But the game is over and we can't do anything about, it so the only thing we can do now is move forward with our four games left."
On this week's game:
"Every game is important but you kind of put a little more pressure on yourself to perform because you know you have that goal you want to accomplish."
Freshman Robert Griffin
On bouncing back:
"You always have to put a loss behind you after the fact. Obviously we played a great first half but couldn't finish the game. I don't know what the reasons were for that but each guy has to take responsibility for what happens on the field and reevaluate, then move on."
On Chase Daniel:
"He's a good quarterback but I can't say I look forward to it because I don't play defense. I'll be playing against Shaun Witherspoon, their linebacker, and their corners."
On another ranked team for Homecoming:
"It's going to be really special. I hope the stands are filled and they have to open the other end zone because we haven't had that since I've been here. Last homecoming I came to was when we beat Kansas and everyone rushed the field."
