Inside the Baylor Locker Room
10/23/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 23, 2000
Editor's Note: Articles such as this one by Amy Townsend appear in each edition of the Baylor Bear Insider Report, available upon membership in the Baylor Bear Foundation. For information on joining the Bear Foundation, click here.
The walk from the field to the visitor's locker room at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb., was longer than usual. To get to the locker room, Baylor had to walk about 100 yards under the endzone stands, through a sea of Husker red.
In most stadiums, after the home team just beat you 59-0, the atmosphere is hostile and the crowd jeering. At Nebraska, the fans lined the ropes that created an aisle for the team. They applauded, high-fived the Bears, slapped them on the back and shouted words of encouragement.
The Baylor players, already stunned by the level of play they had just faced, were overwhelmed by the reception as they made their way into the locker room.
For the third straight week, the Bears were held scoreless. Offensively, Baylor was unable to move the chains all day. Defensively, the Bears didn't match up well with the size and speed of the Nebraska personnel.
Despite the loss to the nation's best team, the Bears fought to the finish.
"I think we just played the No. 1 team in the nation," said head coach Kevin Steele. "We haven't played everybody, but that is a pretty good football team. We came out and really did not execute very well in the first part of the game. Part of that is that they went and made the plays and put our backs against the wall. It just seemed like it really didn't go very well from then on. I am proud of these guys because of the fact that they did not give up. It could have easily been a lot worse than it was."
STEELE ALSO COMMENTED on the team's lack of offensive production, and the positives he saw in Saturday's game.
"We've got some things internally in the program that are going very, very well, but we've got to start learning how to make first downs and then score touchdowns.
"Defensively, we do some things well at times, but the bottom line is that, today, I take the responsibility. Don't put it on those guys in there. They've got a good look in their eye and they are trying hard.
"I take responsibility to get this thing turned around. It will get done, but we've got to play better than we did today and that's my responsibility as the leader. We know where we are now and we know where we've got to go," Steele said.
After starting freshman Kerry Dixon for the second straight week against the Huskers, Steele removed him in favor of Guy Tomcheck after four series.
"WE HAD SCHEDULED Guy to go in after four series," Steele said. "I think Guy went in on the fourth series and he just looked like he had a little bit of his old rhythm back. I kept him in there because he has played so little since his injury."
Tomcheck was more productive than Dixon, hitting 7-of-26 passes for 79 yards, including a 23-yard pass to tight end Andrew Obriotti.
In his post game comments, Steele also remarked on the classic Nebraska defense.
"Well, they ran around really well. Their scheme is their scheme and they execute it to a 'T.' They've got good speed. They tackle well. It was vintage Nebraska defense. There are no points on the board. There are very few rushing yards and very little passing yards. That is pretty typical of them and has been for a long time."
The Huskers got on the board early when they blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown on Baylor's first possession.
"We've had turnovers before, but they are a good ball club," said senior tailback Darrell Bush. "They had a mission. They came out and ran to the ball and executed plays. They played well.
"We came out with the attitude that we were going to win a ball game. Unfortunately, it didn't happen that way. Losing to a team by that kind of score can be heartbreaking to some teams, but I think we can bounce back from that. We've got to go to Texas this week and play harder."
Senior cornerback Gary Baxter was disappointed in the loss as well.
"It's frustrating," he said. "Nebraska is the No. 1 team in the nation and they are very good. They executed to perfection and it was a great challenge for us to play them."
Baxter also noted that the Huskers were tough to defend due to strength and speed along the offensive line and the excellent play of quarterback Eric Crouch.
Senior linebacker Kris Micheaux agreed.
"Crouch is like another running back and (Dan) Alexander is a load to tackle," Micheaux said. "But there were a lot of things that we didn't do. We didn't tackle the way we should and we didn't get off the offensive linemen. This is a good game to learn from our mistakes -- and the defense made a lot of them."
"They are not Superman," Baxter said. "They put their pants on the same way we do. The only difference is that they executed. Nebraska has been running that offense for decades and they're very good at it. Crouch does a great job of running their offense and their offensive line is tremendous. They can run so many plays from their formations. They caught us a couple times in the wrong personnel. At times, our personnel didn't match up with theirs.
"When it all comes down do it, better football teams execute and win. Nebraska did that today," Baxter said.
Sophomore defensive tackle Kevin Stevenson praised the speed of Crouch and the tough-to-defend option.
"I don't know if the option is tough to defend or if their technique is just that good. They have perfected their technique and they go out there and perform, " Stevenson said.
"It's very disappointing," he added. "I know everyone on our team really wanted something to happen. We came out and wanted to make a better statement than we did today."
Stevenson echoed the sentiments of his teammates when he spoke of putting the loss to Nebraska behind him.
"We have to put it behind us," he said. "If we dwell on the past, we'll never be never be good in the future."
Editor's Note: Articles such as this one by Amy Townsend appear in each edition of the Baylor Bear Insider Report, available upon membership in the Baylor Bear Foundation. For information on joining the Bear Foundation, click here.
