Meet The Press: Texas Bowl Announcement
12/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 5, 2010
Baylor Head Coach Art Briles
Opening statement...
"This is very exciting for a variety of reasons. First of all, a lot of thanks to the people at Reliant (Stadium), the Texas Bowl, ESPN, for having a lot of faith and confidence in our product here at Baylor. We really appreciate them doing that. It's a great opportunity for our football team and our fan base and our families to go to a great stadium like Reliant Stadium and a great city like Houston, Texas. I'm trying to find something that's not right and it's not out there. Everything is right about this bowl. It's right for everybody involved and it's the right time to be at Baylor. It's a deal where there are a lot of people responsible for this happening from the ground floor and now we've got a great opportunity as a football team and as a university, and one you need to take advantage of because it's eerily similar to what we went through this summer. It's one of these things where I have no control over (it) and so you just sit and you wait. But while you're sitting and you're waiting, everybody has been evaluating what's been going on with where you're at. The perception of Baylor has certainly improved, the image of Baylor has improved. There are people still standing on the playground and we got chosen. That's a good thing. It's a step in the right direction and we need to continue to grow as a university in our direction as a football program and our perception across the nation because it's going to be critically important not only for this bowl season but for many more to come as the conferences change throughout the next decade. Nobody knows what the future holds on that. It's important, it's vital, and like I said, we're very pumped to be associated with the bowl season this year."
On the program receiving its first bowl bid in 16 years...
"The thing you have to be careful with as a coach, as a university and as a player, is that really the responsibility is now, the 2010 season. If you get caught into looking back at trying to catch up, then a lot of times that's all you'll be doing. I was really proud of our players and our university and our administration of being focused on the present. The present was doing whatever we needed to do to make ourselves bowl eligible this season and our players did it. It's a huge accomplishment for 2010."
On waiting for the bowl invitation...
"There has been a lot of speculation, the wheels have constantly (been turning). Now we have closure. We know where we're at, we know where we're going and we know who we're playing. We've got a great opponent in Illinois. They've done some fabulous things this year on the football field. I think in 2008 they were in the Rose Bowl, so a lot of those players that we'll play on December 29th will have been recruited from that season...it's just a great opponent and a great atmosphere and we're in a great city. It really gives us a great opportunity to show the nation what Baylor football is all about and Baylor Nation."
On the Illinois rushing attack...
"Both of those guys are really good. The QB (Nathan Scheelhaase) is a good runner...they are 13th in the nation in rushing the football and they're third in the nation in time of possession. Those are all factors that we'll really look into. As far as studying them and understand what they're doing and why they're trying to do it, we haven't got there yet because we weren't really sure about the opponent until today. We'll get into that starting tomorrow morning."
On regaining momentum from the long layoff...
"I think we've done well with all of our guys up to this point as far as first letting them unwind and starting working them back up through lifting and running. Then we practiced Saturday morning and we'll go four times this week. I think as we go along and get closer to the game day, we'll structure it where it's a little bit closer to a game week. The great thing about bodies in general, mentally and physically, is that they refresh, they recharge, they reenergize, they refocus. That's what we have right now. We have a refocused, refreshed football team. Now our focus will be on December 29th at 5 p.m. at the Texas Bowl."
On the seniors going out with a bowl game...
"It's a great thrill for all of us. It's a great opportunity for all of us. That's the thing you have to be careful with, is that getting to the bowl wasn't the goal. You have to get there first and now you have to do a great job in preparation and doing whatever we've got to do to win the football game. That's the way I want this senior class to go out, as winning the first bowl game around Baylor (since 1992). That's a great opportunity for them and a great opportunity for us to help them get there."
On the opportunity of playing close to home...
"It's definitely a benefit for Baylor and mostly for our players and families and for our fans. If you've got two pieces of pie and you like pecan pie better than apple pie, you're probably going to eat pecan pie. If you have an opportunity to stay in Texas and play a bowl game, we have an advantage and we need to make sure we take full advantage of what's in front of us."
On the advantages of playing in a bowl game...
"We haven't talked about recruiting and what it does for you in recruiting, especially staying in state and playing in a place like Houston, where there's going to be a lot of recruits that are going to be able to come out and watch us practice and be around us for two or three days. Those are huge advantages. We're still in the news and football season is going on, so that's big. We're going to be involved all the way up until January. Then the extra time you get with your players, both seniors and upperclassmen. It's a great opportunity to keep the relationships going with your senior football players, a chance to really hang around them and enjoy them an extra month. Then the young guys, we can get a lot more individualized work with them through these practices. We'll have about 15 practices prior to the bowl game. That's invaluable because it's an extra four weeks with them and a chance to grow and understand each other. That will benefit later on down the road."
Baylor Athletics Director Ian McCaw
Opening Statement...
"This is an exciting day for Baylor University. On behalf of the university and President (Ken) Starr, Coach (Art) Briles and our football program, we accepted a bid to the 2010 Texas Bowl. I want to thank Heather Houston, the Texas Bowl selection committee, ESPN, and the Houston Texans for providing us with this great opportunity. It's especially unique that our fans have an opportunity to travel to this bowl game so easily. We're looking forward to going to Reliant Stadium on December 29th and having Baylor Nation fill the stands for our football program."
On the selection process behind the scenes...
"As we had a chance to visit with our bowl partners over the last couple of weeks, there was great excitement about Baylor and certainly recognition about the great job that Coach (Art) Briles has done in turning around the program. There is a lot of excitement about Robert (Griffin III) and the offense and how dynamic they are. And certainly the fact that we had such a great following at the NCAA (Men's Basketball) €ˆRegional last year at Reliant Stadium certainly made a big impression on the Texas Bowl committee and staff. We certainly caught the rod last spring with Baylor Nation rising up. I told them I expect more fans this time around and we're looking forward to people rallying together and showing up to Houston on December 29th."
Sophomore QB Robert Griffin III
On his excitement following the announcement...
"Yeah, it is pretty exciting. Everybody on Facebook found out where we were going before I €ˆdid. It is cool to see Facebook light up (like that). It will be exciting not only for me, but for some of these guys for who will be playing their last game at Baylor."
On the fact that people are still talking about Baylor football...
"It is big for our fan base. It is big for our program that we are still relevant this time of the year and going to a bowl game for the first time in a long time. If those fans need an excuse to come out and support us, they have it now."
On if he understands how important a bowl selection is to the Baylor family...
"Yeah, we could understand the frustration, especially the heart-break and let down from last season. Byron (Landor) and I hung out a lot this summer, this off-season together working out the kinks with our bodies. So we understand the hard work we put in and everybody on this team has and it is all coming together to help us get to this bowl game, so that is definitely something good to see. We don't want to be in rehab every off-season to have seasons like this one, but it definitely paid off for us."
On if a bowl selection is a sigh of relief...
"I don't think it was a sigh of relief; it is one chip off the shoulder. I €ˆmean, I have a couple more I need to pluck off and I am sure these guys do, too, so we will continue to play with all those chips on our shoulders and be ready to go out there and get after somebody."
On if it will be nice to have a great number of Baylor fans at the game...
"It will be nice and just in case people were wondering, Bryon (Landor) and I are actually from around the same area. I am actually from New Orleans, so my whole family will be there, too. I will be expecting to see all those people. It will be fun to have those crazy Louisiana people out there with us. Definitely to have our fan base there. We have a lot of fans in Houston, who don't necessarily get to see us play in person a lot, so it will be fun to see them come out to see some new faces and then see the normal crazy faces we see every week at home."
On if he is excited to see how many Baylor people will be there...
"Everybody has been waiting, because it has been a really long time, everybody is going to have a reason to be there, whether it is a special trip or they call in a sick day at work, so I am sure they will be ready to go."
Senior OT Danny Watkins
On his excitement at the bowl selection...
"I didn't watch any football over the past week. Coach Briles was talking about it early; we kind of had a little shutdown there for a bit, so it was nice to kind of take a break and cool the jets so to speak. Like I €ˆsaid, I haven't watch anything on (Illinois), but when we got on the field (Saturday), it was a good atmosphere. Everyone was juiced up, ready to go. We didn't even know who we were playing, but everyone was ready to go and make a difference. It was a good atmosphere and we were only out there an hour and a half. It is going to be an interesting next couple of weeks, for sure now that we know who we are playing."
On if he likes playing in NFL €ˆvenues...
"The atmosphere is something that is always going to liven you up a little bit, so the fact that it is going to be in a professional stadium will definitely add to the environment that is for sure. I remember last year it was exciting and this year I have never been down there, but it will be good. I am excited."
On if he understands how important a bowl selection is to the Baylor family...
"It's funny you say that. When I got here that was kind of the main objective, so now there is the light at the end of the tunnel and we have (the bowl bid) and we have been working for it the last two years, it is great. I am sure it feels just the same, if not a little better for these guys. It is good to see that all the hard work is paying off."
On if he was nervous waiting for the bowl invitation...
"I think I €ˆcan speak on behalf of everyone when I €ˆsay, `the break was nice, but we were definitely anxious to find out who we were going to be playing and when and where.' There was a lot of speculation. going around and you can kind of take it all with a grain of salt, but it is kind of nice that they have carved it in stone today. It is a relief; now we can turn our focus towards preparing and getting ready for Illinois."
Senior S Byron Landor
On having family at the game...
"I am excited about it. It is a great thing. I €ˆthink we put in a lot of hard work this year trying to get this thing headed in the right direction and just to have a bowl game close to home is real nice. That is one of the reasons that I €ˆchose Baylor (because) is it is closer to home, so I mean it is all working out. It has all worked out and due to a lot of these guys up here and the whole team we made this thing a reality."
On his satisfaction since he is a senior...
"I can't really talk for all of the seniors because I haven't been here five years and four years and maybe even six years as some of them have, but all I can do is speak from what I know and I know those guys have always talked to me and told me about all the things they have been through with different coaches and different transitions they have had to make. I told those guys I would do everything in my ability to and everything that I could do to help them out and try to make them have a great senior season. We have all done it together. We have all been a team and like I €ˆsaid we made this thing happen.
On if he has seen Illinois' rushing attack...
"It is funny that you say that because actually they came on TV the other night against Fresno State and I €ˆcalled all my roommates and told all of them, 'make sure you watch the game.` It was interesting watching it. They are a running team. I think we have done a pretty good job against the run this year as a team, as a defense. I think they might try to have a few tricks up their sleeve because it is a bowl game that is what it is, so we will be prepared. They have a good running back, (and) a good quarterback, so I am ready for a challenge. We have been out for a long time and I am ready to get back on the field."
