Baylor Coaches Quotes

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THE MODERATOR: Coach, your thoughts about this evening's game. Congratulations, by the way. COACH ART BRILES: Well, I'm not sure if it was a game or war, quite honestly.

1 THE MODERATOR: Coach, your thoughts about this evening's game. Congratulations, by the way. COACH ART BRILES: Well, I'm not sure if it was a game or war, quite honestly. It was, you know, filled with a lot of emotions. You know, I'm just really proud of our players. It's extremely difficult to repeat as champions. And, you know, we've known everybody is going to give us their best shot all year. We knew today would be no exception. You know, a desperate man is a dangerous man. And we were dealing with a desperate man tonight, and we knew that. But, you know, reality is reality. We're sitting where we're sitting; they're sitting where they're sitting. And, you know, so they did a great job. I commend them, but I also commend our players for fighting and hanging on, you know, quite honestly, because it was a tough game. Tough win. Hard to win. We got a big win on a big stage. And we set ourselves up to have a chance next weekend to do something pretty special. Q. Art, how's Bryce doing? And would you expect that he'd have a chance to play next week? COACH BRILES: You know, I don't have any clue about next week. You know, anytime you get a concussion, it's a three- or four-day period before, you know, you're either cleared or not cleared. So we'll just go through the process and see what happens. You know, Seth came in and did a good job tonight. You know, experience showed up on a couple situations. But I thought, overall, you know, I thought he came in in some pretty pressure situations and, you know, controlled the football and did a really good job for us. Q. Art, you mentioned Tech being desperate and dangerous. At the very start of the game, they came out with a trick play. They had a fake punt, on-side kick. I mean, at that point, are you telling your guys, hey, we got to be ready for anything? COACH BRILES: We were telling them before the game, because that didn't

2 surprise us. We knew that those situations could occur. And, you know, like I said, if you're -- like I said, I'll fight a man with three children and a nice house any day over somebody that's living out of their car. Q. Art, I wonder if you can talk about Mahomes' performance tonight for Tech. COACH BRILES: I thought he was really good. He really had a good game. He's continually gotten better over the last two or three weeks, and tonight certainly was no exception. He played extremely well. Q. Coach, how much does losing a guy like Bryce change your strategy and your play-calling? COACH BRILES: You know, it changes a little bit. We had to dial back a few things. Seth is extremely talented. But, you know, do we want to set him back there and let him go through some progressions, you know, that he does in practice in a game of this magnitude where we need to make first downs? So it's a fine line to walk to how aggressive that we felt like we could be with him and still have the ability to, you know, stay and make a couple down distance situations. So it changes a little bit. I thought Bryce was playing really well when he took the shot. And, you know, I don't know. We had a little momentum then, and then they seemed to gather some from then on. I think that was pretty evident. Q. Art, just curious how you talked about this being almost like war out there. I was wondering how you saw the hit on Bryce, because clearly it was flagged on that. COACH BRILES: Yeah, honestly, Chuck, I didn't see it, and I didn't look up and see it. I don't know if they played it on the replay. But, you know, when the ball is out, I'm looking down the field to see what the coverage is and where the ball is going. So I was unaware that he'd gotten hit until I flashed back and saw him on the ground. Q. Coach, we're talking a lot about Bryce's injury. But how much did not having Chafin in there, especially in the second half, hurt you?

3 COACH BRILES: You know, Chafin and Tre'Von Armstead. Tre'Von is a critical part of our run game, and he went down early. And, of course, Devin went down -- I don't know. What was it? First quarter? It was early. He's kind of been a workhorse the last few weeks for us. So I don't know what his prognosis is. You know, it's a dislocated elbow. I would think, you know, three weeks or so on that deal. But, you know, we'll see. But it definitely, you know, affects us in the run game a little bit. Q. On the defensive side of the ball, you gave up some chunk plays. What are some things that you have to change before you get to Kansas State and even before the bowl game? COACH BRILES: We just got to be better. I mean, a lot of those plays were plays in open field where it's one-on-one matchup. You know, they made the play and we didn't. You know, pressure on the QB comes to mind. I thought he did a good job of evading pressure and then, you know, throwing the ball up and letting his guys make plays. So that's -- you know, it's really pretty simple. You've got to make plays in space. Q. Art, I know you can only control what you can control, and you're probably already thinking of Kansas State right now. At the same time, you were up 25 points when Bryce went up. It wound up being a 2-point game. How do you think people on the outside should look at this and, you know, people on the selection committee? COACH BRILES: You know, I can't control that, Chuck, and you know that. I mean, I think how I would look at it is, you know, we hadn't done it yet. But to repeat as champions? I mean, it's happened one time in the Big 12's existence. I'm not sure if Seattle is in the front-runner seat to repeat as Super Bowl champions. I don't think Auburn won the SEC this year. Not sure if Stanford won the PAC-12. And not sure Michigan State is going to win the Big 10 title game. I know Florida State and Baylor still have an opportunity to win their conferences. Q. Coach, just want to know, with the adversity in tonight's game, what do you take from tonight to prepare you for next week?

4 COACH BRILES: Just learn. We've got to regroup. It's late in the year. We've been going since August 4th. You know, everybody's mentally and physically, you know, worn a little bit, as Kansas State is. But you know, the good thing for us is that we're -- you know, we're going to be in McLane Stadium. And we're going to have a very active crowd, as we did today. I thought our crowd was tremendous. And that's going to give us energy. That's going to give us momentum, and that's going to allow us an opportunity to win the football game against a really good Kansas State football game. Q. Art, if -- with Mississippi State losing today, the fourth spot in the playoff is up for grabs. If you guys beat Kansas State next weekend, should you guys be in the playoffs? COACH BRILES: I mean, we've got to beat Kansas State, Jake. And, you know, you're a blog guy. You know, and I don't know what your opinions have been throughout the year, but, you know, we certainly know -- like I mentioned earlier, it's hard to repeat as champions. I mean, did anybody want to beat Muhammad Ali or Leon Spinks? I mean, who were they after more? I'm thinking Ali. So, I mean, that's the deal. And when you can do it -- and we haven't done it. But if you do it, that hat you're wearing needs to have a feather in it because it's hard to do. It's extremely hard to do. Bob, I appreciate you being here tonight as always. Thank you so much. Quotes by Caption Northwest, Inc

5 Player Quotes SHAWN OAKMAN JR, RE Do you feel that you dodged a bullet today? We play to a certain standard and we didn t play to that standard. We didn t dodge anything. We just didn t do what we needed to. We have high standards and we got lackadaisical. It s very frustrating. We have to keep it up, keep up our intensity. We have to bring ourselves back to that Gang Green Defense. Do you think you ll make changes for next week? No changes for the Gang Green. Once you get Gang Green it s contagious. It s just going to spread. Tell us about having a chance to play for a second straight Big 12 Championship next week against Kansas State It means a great deal. Not everybody gets a chance to do that. Many don t. We do have the opportunity to make our dreams a reality. Tell us why you characterized some effort of the team lackadaisical When you re playing a team that has nothing to lose in their last game, they are going to try and do anything and everything to make you lose. Its simple things that we could have done that we didn t do. ANDREW BILLINGS SO, NT How does it feel to win today? It s just a big sigh of relief to get out of here with a win. This game capitalizes the fact that we need to watch it. It isn t just going to come to us. Tell us if you think Baylor should be in the Final Four Yes, but it s whatever they decide. I just want this [Big 12] ring. That s the prize. Tell us your overall impression of the game It was a hard fought win. It was really, really hard. It was a test really.

6 Player Quotes LEVI NORWOOD SR, IR What does this win mean to the team? We can t focus on what s going on outside of the locker room. We just have to do whatever we need to. We took away a victory. We did what we needed to get to 10-1 and have a chance next week to play for the Big 12 championship. Tell us what you take away from this game We take away a victory. The stage that it was on was [amped] up a little bit, but by the end of the day we just need to win and get to 10-1 so we can play for a Big 12 championship next week. Tell us about sophomore quarterback Seth Russell s performance We have all the confidence in the world in Seth. Hopefully [SR. QB] Bryce [Petty] can come back, because he is our senior leader but Seth is totally capable of doing everything that Bryce has done pretty much. Tell us if you think Baylor deserves to be in the playoff conversation You can ask me that after the game next week. We have to win the game next week to even be in the hunt for it. So, ask me next week, and we ll see what happens. BRYCE PETTY SR, QB How are you feeling? I feel good. Everything went black when I tried to open my eyes; everything was kind of blurry. Do you expect to play next week? This day and age, you can never be too careful. I expect to play next week. It is just a little dinger; I have headaches here and there. I am going to play. How does your Faith play into this process? It (concussion) is all part of the plan. Things don t just happen; there is always a reason. I am dependent on God.

Player Quotes What did you say to back-up quarterback Seth Russell? I said to let the game come to him. He is a really good quarterback; he can make any throw on the field.

7 Player Quotes What did you say to back-up quarterback Seth Russell? I said to let the game come to him. He is a really good quarterback; he can make any throw on the field. I told him to be confident in what you get and see what you re seeing. With the Mississippi State loss, should Baylor be in the playoff if you win next week? There is no doubt. We just have to control what we can control.

Baylor Arrival Quotes

Baylor Arrival Quotes THE MODERATOR: Welcome to our casual opening arrival news conference. We want to welcome you and the Baylor Bears to the 79th Goodyear Cotton Bowl. I was telling Coach just outside the door that he is