Sept. 13, 2015 Recap | Box Score | Notes | USATSI Gallery
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4/4 BAYLOR (2-0, 0-0) €ˆ 66, NR/NR LAMAR €ˆ(1-1, 0-0) 31
McCLANE STADIUM • WACO, TEXAS
SEPT. 12, 2015 • ATTENDANCE: 44,491 Baylor Head Coach Art Briles
Opening statement €¦
"Unbelievable crowd tonight. I don't think we've had a better walkthrough since I've been here. The crowd was very endearing and it made me feel good from the inside out. I know it made the players feel that way, too. The fans were so eager and supportive and happy. The game itself, I thought we played okay. I think it's the first time we've had three turnovers in one quarter. That's why it was a 28-21 game at halftime. Everybody's got players, so you have to make sure you work to get your wins, and we did. I'm proud of the way our guys came back and executed and played, on both ends. They had a chance to come in and make a little noise. We're happy to win, but we've got a few things to work on the next few weeks."
On how Baylor played tonight €¦
"You'd love to just be dynamically polished every snap, but that's not reality. Through phases of the game, we 've been that way. We've showed what we are capable of doing, but we need to do that over the long haul. I think that will take care of itself as the season progresses. We're still young and we've got a lot of things to do on both sides of the ball. There is a lot of room for improvement."
On how Lamar played tonight €¦
"They came in here thinking they were going to win, prepared to win. They had a great plan on both sides of the ball, protecting the QB and throwing high-percentage passes, switching up the defense."
On Corey Coleman's performance €¦
"We've had some great receivers here, and in Houston, also. They're all different and there are a lot of ways to be great. What makes Corey great is he's very dynamic with the football. He's very sudden, very strong, very powerful, and very confident. That's what separates him. He's passionate and he plays with a lot of emotion. With emotions in check, he's about as good as there is."
On the absence of offensive coordinator Kendal Briles €¦
"It was a little bit different. I think it took us a little while to make sure everybody was seeing the right things at the right time. We had to adjust as we went along. When you're missing two full-time guys on one side of the ball, it does make a difference in the game. "
On Johnny Jefferson's performance €¦
"Johnny is very talented. He's a smart player and a guy that can make good plays. He's very athletic. We're very excited and we are excited to see him be a dynamic, dominant guy."
Baylor QB Seth Russell
On throwing three interceptions €¦
"It didn't feel like a good win. The defense fought their butts off; give all the credit to them. They kept us in the game. For some reason, the second quarter seems to be our Achilles heel the last couple games. As for the interceptions, all three of them are on me. I can't make those dumb decisions, especially in bigger games."
On if the offense is a work in progress €¦
"We're always trying to improve. We'll go back and watch the film and definitely look at the things we did wrong and improve on other things we did right. We can learn from those. We'll point out all the bad things we did - I did - and we'll have to improve and be better against Rice."
On Corey Coleman's performance €¦
"Corey's a freak athlete. He didn't get the ball the first few series, and he let me know. But he's a great teammate and every time he gets the ball in his hands he's going to make a play. Any of the guys, if we get the ball in their hands, they're going to make a play. He was that guy tonight. Last week it was Jay Lee, next week it might be KD â '¬" you never know - and that's what we really like about our offense. We can mix it up and you never know who's going to strike and it's pretty exciting for me as a quarterback. If one guy can go off and then they try to double team him, I can go to another guy."
On how different it was without offensive coordinator Kendal Briles €¦
"It was a little different, but that's something we've been taught - to handle adversity. Coach KB [Kendal Briles] has his own way of calling; I mean everyone has their own special way of calling it, and I thought Coach [Jeff] Lebby did a great job stepping into a last-minute deal. He put us in situations to win and I felt like he did an amazing job. The offensive line, give them a lot of credit, they gave me a lot of time to throw the ball. It was a tough one but we pulled off the W."
On if the win was disappointing €¦
"I wouldn't say disappointing, but we need to get better â '¬" I need to get better. Interceptions, we can't have those. A lot of those were just stupid throws, first and 10s where I tried to force something and I don't need to force something. It's all about field position. The fumble, too. They got field position inside their 50 three times on those turnovers and the defense did an amazing job, give them credit, they fought their butts off. They did what they do and Coach [Phil] Bennett does an amazing job with them."
Baylor WR Corey Coleman
On his record performance tonight €¦
"It feels amazing to get the record, but the most important thing is we got the win, and we're ready to move on to the next game."
On the team's overall performance tonight €¦
"We have to wake up earlier. I guess some of the guys thought that we could go out there, and since we're Baylor, they'd just roll over. But we need to know every team is going to give us their best shot. We need to be aware of that and do what our game plan is."
On competition between the Baylor receivers €¦
"I wouldn't say competition, but we all want to be our best, and there's nothing wrong with that. I was excited for Jay Lee, like I said the other night, when he scored three touchdowns, I feel like I scored three touchdowns. When I score four touchdowns, he feels the same way. That's the bond we have as receivers."
Baylor LB Grant Campbell
On trouble with the zone read early in the first half €¦
"We made an adjustment halfway through the first quarter. We didn't have our end going down towards the quarterback initially, so Coach Bennett made a great adjustment on the sideline, and that's what we decided to do."
On replacing Bryce Hager €¦
"I've been in this role all year long since spring ball. I've been preparing every single day for this moment. The returning guys have made it easy for me and embraced me. They've made it easy on me where I just have to go out there and play."
On defending a short field after turnovers €¦
"It doesn't help starting on our side of the field, but we take pride in that. We don't want them to score no matter what, no matter where the ball is at. We're always going to come out on fire no matter where the ball is spotted."
Baylor DB Xavien Howard
On Baylor's defensive performance €¦
"We just have to dominate up front and take care of stuff in the back. We have to start and finish strong. We have to play four quarters, not just one half."
On halftime adjustments €¦
"I just worked on my technique because I was really playing off a lot. I need to get my technique down so I can be a lockdown safety."
On his fourth quarter interception €¦
"That's what our coaches tell us to do - turn around, make a play. It really changed the momentum. I thought they were going to throw my way. They did two times, and I made them pay for it."
Baylor RB Shock Linwood
On Baylor's performance tonight €¦
"In the first half, we started off slow, but after that we picked it up and the run game started going. At first, we just weren't reading our keys right and getting up to the backers. They were just free every time. When we started running power, we just started gassing them. Johnny [Jefferson] had a big run, and when (Terence Williams) had his chance he had a couple of good plays. We just weren't ourselves first half, like last week with SMU. We have to start out faster than that. We have to calm down and not be too anxious."
On the running core as a whole in 2015 €¦
"Our run game is good this year. It's better than last year. We have guys up front that have experience on the line, so we have a good running pattern."
Lamar Head Coach Ray Woodard Opening statement €¦
"Great atmosphere for a game, first time I've ever been here and what a great venue for a football game. Very proud of my team's effort tonight. I think in years past, I wasn't comfortable with our team's approach going into the Texas A&M game last year. I think we had a great mindset going into the game this time around. We were very confident and we didn't back down. We hope this will carry over because we've got a couple very tough games on the road. I thought we fought, I thought we competed, I was very proud. We definitely improved as a football team from last week to this week, and if we continue to do that, we've got an opportunity to have a lot of fun and win a lot of football games this year."
On Lamar's pregame locker room demeanor €¦
"I turned them loose. I let them listen to their music, let them talk it up. I thought we needed a distraction before the game this year, especially because I did not like our mindset in the locker room going into the A&M game last year. We looked like we took the field with some confidence and we definitely played hard, so this team definitely responded to what I wanted them to do tonight. Very proud of my football team's effort tonight."
On the game getting chippy €¦
"When you're the underdog and you come in here, you've got to do a lot of things, you can't back down to people. I didn't like the flags but at the same time I kind of understood why we were getting into those positions. I liked the way we fought, even though we had way too many penalties. But yeah, I think that had a lot to do with it."
On the belief of his team when competing €¦
"We did see the belief start to grow on the sidelines.I got to watch the entire SMU game at home last week and you can pick up a lot more on the TV copy than on the film trade. I was fearful that they would come out the second half kind of like they did against SMU, and they did. We got tired, you could tell we got worn down a little bit, but that's part of it when you play a team with more scholarship players. But I thought we fought through it, and we kept fighting, and that's what I was proudest of."
Lamar RB Kade Harrington
On being able to move the ball against Baylor's defense €¦
"It was exciting. This is my third year here now, and the previous two FBS opponents that we played we really couldn't move it as well as we would've liked. I think with us being able to move the ball so well, and fire on all cylinders, it's really showing the growth of the program. We're finally getting some good recruits, and the program is growing, and I think tonight really showed that."
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