Oct. 14, 2015

Recap | Box Score | Notes | USATSI Photo Gallery

Baylor head coach Art Briles
On today's game:
"Winning in this conference is hard to do. We started good on our opening drive and then Kansas came back and answered. We have to keep grinding and keep fighting. Our defense got a few turnovers late in the first half and we got out of there with a win and that is the most important thing. I feel like we have one of the freshest teams in America at this stage in the season. I think that is a positive for our program."

On starters not playing much:
"They're going to like playing full games in a few weeks. That is my job as a coach, to think about the longevity of our program and have the best interest for our football team. That is a good problem to have to deal with. There has been some opportunity for rest."

On this being a complete win:
"I really feel like last week was better for us as far as a having a complete win. Our special teams gave up a big kick-off return, fumbled a punt, and they missed a field goal. We were kind of sloppy, quite honestly, not sharp. I was pretty pleased with the offense and defense."

On Ryan Willis:
"I was really impressed. I thought he was really good. He made some really good, nice throws and he held his composure. If I was a Kansas Jayhawk, I'd be excited, because he looked real good today. The thing with quarterbacks is that the more starts and reps they get ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢' ¬" its kind of like a guy getting ready to go into the NFL draft, they need to start with what is wrong instead of what is right. He certainly was right today. He was really, really solid."

On preparing for a game when you're the clear favorite:
"This is why they call us coaches and why we have competitive guys on the football team. We talked about it last night, if we are listening to what other people are saying, than we are not very smart. We understand that anything can happen on any given day and our job is to go out and perform at a championship level. There are trap games everywhere, there is one always sitting out there. We have to make sure we compete and execute. We have a lot of fourth and fifth year guys that have put us in a good position. When those guys are focused in, sharp, thinking right, and they understand what is at stake, they're going to compete at a high level and we have a good chance to win."

On capitalizing from turnovers:
"We did and that is what we did last week too against Texas Tech. We were able to separate today. We had two turnovers plus a defensive touchdown. We are a good football team, don't let us jump ahead too much."

Baylor junior wide receiver Corey Coleman
On two early touchdowns:
"They weren't touchdown calls, they were just normal plays. I saw what the defense was doing and took advantage of it."

On tough game because of expectations going into today:
"It's what we want to expect. They are a Big 12 team and a good team that's building their program. They can win too, so we came in with the mindset that we need to put in the same work that we did when we face any other team.

Baylor junior quarterback Seth Russell
On challenges of only playing half of the game: "You always want to play the whole game, but that was really good for our younger guys. They got a lot of experience. I was lucky enough last year to get the same opportunities also. Experience is valuable, especially at this stage of this level. Anytime you can get on the field and get in the flow of things, so if something were to happen to another player and they step in, they know what to expect. "

On the pass to LaQuan McGowan:
"It's always in the game plan. If it wasn't LaQuan then it would have been Gus (Penning), we are always trying to incorporate the tight ends a little more. They (coaches) show them that they can catch the ball and maybe something will happen when the catch it. We try to spread the ball out a little bit and get the big guys involved."

On intentionally going to Corey (Coleman) early:
"No, it wasn't my call, it was all up to the coaches and what they want to call. He's always going to be in the game plan, we try to get him the ball early to get a feel for it."

On team performances and chemistry:
"We are starting to come together. Each week we don't take any game for granted. Kansas came out and got seven points on the first drive and we knew that we were going to have to start scoring. The defense made some adjustments but as long as we do what we are supposed to do we will be fine."

Baylor senior tight end LaQuan McGowan
On misconceptions of McGowan and how he works it to his advantage:
"People think I'm slow, yeah compared to smaller guys I'm slow but, you put me next to the big guys I'm just as fast as the other guy. My thing is diet and exercise. There is no secret formula or anything. I'm just trying to be the best."

On touchdown:
"I told myself if he stays high, I'd run him over but if he went down low I would either hurdle him or side step him. I'm not very good at hurdling so I thought side stepping would be good.

On Kansas players approaching McGowan and wanting to meet him:
"They are just coming up to congratulate me. Some of the fans were also trying to come over and talk to me and they were calling my name from the stands. It's fun, people enjoy seeing someone that's not normal do stuff that normal people do. Nobody abnormal catches touchdowns."

Kansas head coach David Beaty
On Taylor Cox and what his demeanor and his leadership was before this:
"Great. Exactly what you thought. He picked up like he'd never been gone. The demeanor was great; he was a leader just like he'd always been. He never let those guys get down. He literally refused to let anybody look negative in that huddle which man I'm so proud of that, and we need that. From a senior, the guy's been around a long time, and that was good to see."

On giving up a score early and answering with a touchdown right away:
"That was good to see early on. It's something when you play a good team you've got to get off to a good start to give yourself a chance in a game where you're playing against a team that's really proven over time that they've done it pretty well. So it was good to see that in the very beginning."

On the play of the defense:
"Well, first of all, you've got to take your hat off to Baylor. Those guys are phenomenal at what they do. They're really good. So we've got to do a good job of not putting our defense in bad positions, obviously, but then we've got to do a good job of when we get them to third down, we've got to really capitalize and get off the field there. We got them into third down quite a bit early, and they extended those drives. I think they finished with 34 first downs in the game, and we've got to do better than that. There are a lot of things that we've got to do in all the other areas as well. It's not just the defense.

On similarities between his program and Baylor's when Coach Art Briles started in 2008:
"I tell you this, he's done a great job there. I've said that over and over again. He and I both were Texas high school football coaches so I've known him for a long, long time. I'm not sure it's fair for me to put us in any category like they are right now, even in the beginning. Because they got in the bowl game pretty quick. They did a pretty good job. He's a guy that, man, I don't know that I'll put myself even or us remotely close to them until we go earn that. We've got to go earn it, and we're not there yet. There may have been similar circumstances. But in terms of where he's at, man, he's done a heck of a job. Great model for people."

Kansas junior safety Fish Smithson
On how well Baylor ran the ball:
"We're not really surprised, of course we've watched highlights on ESPN, so we had only seen the big time splash, but they do a great job of running the ball. We watched them all week and we learned and were very impressed by how well they ran the ball. They do a great job of putting defenses into run-pass conflicts."

On Baylor's LaQuan McGowan scoring a touchdown:
"No, I've never seen anything like that, that was a great call and great play, but coming into this game we knew he was going to try to do something like that it."

Kansas junior tight end Kent Taylor
On how he thinks QB Ryan Willis played today?
"I thought he played well, obviously the fumble-those are things he'll need to improve on but to be a true freshman out there, playing the number 3 team in the country, that's no easy task. So, I think for the most part he did well and stayed composed which was really impressive, a lot of times, freshmen quarterbacks don't know how to hold their composure very well, so I thought he did a really nice job and I'm looking forward to how he continues to progress. Willis is a competitor-he likes to compete which is a good thing to have in a quarterback."

On the penalty on his one-handed catch:
"Scramble drill is something we work a lot, you've just got different roles and my role was to go deep and he threw it up and gave me a chance to make a play, and I made the play. As soon as he scrambled, I took off, so I didn't even know, I just kind of looked up, saw the ball in the air and made the play. I didn't know it was out at first. It was a little disheartening, but it's a part of football-plays get called back and it's just a part of the game."

Kansas senior safety Michael Glatczak
On Baylor's offense:
"I give them all of the credit in the world. There's a reason why they're the No. 3 team in the nation. We just have to go back to trusting our training and getting better every day."

On the difference between Baylor's hurry-up offense versus KU's:
"Our offense runs the same tempo, but these guys have been doing it for years with (head coach Art) Briles and they're faster."

Kansas senior running back Taylor Cox
On how it felt to finally get back on the field:
"It felt really good. My main thing is to play my heart out for my brothers' right and left of me. From that standpoint, it felt really good."

On his expectations for his heavy workload today:
"Going into it, I wasn't really having any expectations for myself but to play hard and do what the coaches asked of me."