Oct. 23, 2001
Four of Baylor's head coaches spoke to the media at Tuesday's press luncheon. Below are excerpts from their comments.
Head Volleyball Coach Brian Hosfeld:
On the past week's results:
"We're coming off a good win at Kansas on Saturday. That's the first time we've won up there in a couple of years... The team stayed together, battled and really came out in the fifth game."
"Last night [against SWT], it was more of the same... We had an opportunity to play at a better clip... We'll look for that as we go into this weekend."
On the team's upcoming games:
"Iowa State is going to be tough... They're thinking about coming in here and trying to beat us."
"Texas is a big match for us... Now that we are back at full strength, we want to get [our earlier loss vs. UT] back."
On the upcoming signing day announcement:
"We have four verbal commitments right now... We're pretty comfortable with the group we have."
Head Cross Country Coach Todd Harbour:
On the upcoming Big 12 Cross Country Championships:
"Hopefully we'll come back a lot happier than we did last year... I'm very optimistic about both teams being much improved this year."
"The ladies have ranked as high as 24th this season... They have a chance to realistically be anywhere from second to fifth, I'd be disappointed if they were any lower than that."
"I'd be very disappointed if the men finished lower than sixth, and if they have a good day, they could be as high as third... We have two freshmen and two sophomores in the top five on our team, so we're a little bit young."
Head Soccer Coach Nick Cowell:
On last week's home wins:
"Two victories at home put as at a crucial junction in the season. We're back to .500 in conference and have a winning overall record, both of which are very important for us."
"[The four-game win streak] was partly a function of being at home, partly a function of the opposition, but mostly it was that the confidence has come back for our young players. They're playing like they did at the beginning of the season."
On the upcoming weekend's slate:
"Right now, if we lost both games, we could finish eighth in the conference, and if we win both, we could finish fourth. This is a very important weekend."
"I'm excited about our potential. If we win both of these games, it puts us in good shape for the Big 12 Tournament and if we do well there, for a shot at the NCAA Tournament."
Head Football Coach Kevin Steele:
"For a long time, I've been trying to understand the BCS... I saw it this morning, and I've got it figured out. BCS stands for Baylor's Conference Schedule."
On last week's game vs. Oklahoma:
"Obviously Oklahoma is a very good football team... Some things came out of the game that give us the opportunity to build on as a team. Our first four conference opponents are 26-2 overall this season... We have the opportunity to turn that into a positive with the improvements we've made."
"You look at the sacks on defense [nine vs. OU Saturday]... We've produced 20 sacks this season. Last year at this point, we had one... Twelve different guys have those 20 sacks... That's a positive. Ryan Gillenwater and Kevin Stevenson for four straight games have played high, high quality football... Aaron Lard and A.C. Collier with four and three [sacks, respectively] have produced some pass rush... Bobby Hart has played well in the secondary, so well that he gets very little work. They just don't go at him much."
"We took one drive, late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter, where we went 80 yards. We overcame adversity, with 2nd and 21, 1st and 15, and we scored in the red zone. That's huge in two regards, one, because we need to get better in the red zone, and two, I think that's the first redzone touchdown Oklahoma has allowed this year."
"Offensively, Greg Jerman has put a string of games together that have been very good... Anthony Krieg and Reggie Newhouse both played well... We've got some things to build on."
On the team this season:
"Offensively, we've got to be more efficient in our passing game... We've got to improve immensely on our touchdown-to-interception ratio."
On Saturday's opponent, Texas Tech:
"Texas Tech is a very good football team. Highly explosive. They throw the ball all over the field, all the time. Kliff Kingsbury is a very good quarterback.... He has improved from last year, and I thought he was pretty good then... Ricky Williams is a guy who can hit a home run as a running back at any point, as well as catch for a home run at any time."
"Their receivers run very good routes. The team executes their offense really well. Kingsbury has tremendous accuracy, he has the ability to just place the ball, where no one can catch it but them... He doesn't run much. He prefers to throw the ball, but he can run."
On Baylor freshman QB Davon Vinson:
"His role will have to expand... He's practiced with the varsity all season, made the travel squad, and made the road trip. We told him if it got to the point where we thought he would add a dimension to this offense, we'd use him. It got to be that time."
"We'll be looking for situations to put him in. He can run the entire offense... but to put the whole game on his shoulder, he's probably not ready for that. He adds some dimensions, puts some pressure on people. He gives us a two-back look with only a one-back set... We'll use him like you would a running back or wide receiver... keeping people off balance.
