Sunday Conversation With Guy Morriss
10/24/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 24, 2004
Q: What similarities did you see on the fumbles in the Iowa State game? Were they technique errors or were they careless?
Morriss: "I think they were careless; we have just gotten sloppy on the way that we carry the football. I think the one exception might be on Shawn's (Bell) fumble when he got hit right in the back. But still you have to have the presence back there to have two hands on the football until your ready to deliver it. The offensive line shares responsibility on that one (Bell's fumble)."
Q: Have you ever been in a situation like you are now, where the turnovers just don't come to you?
Morriss: "Not as long as drought as this has been. In 18 quarters, the ball has been put on the ground; we just can't get on them. We need to do a better job of trying to create turnovers. We bounced back well after the fumble return for a touchdown, we just didn't make the plays when we needed them. The turnovers have killed us all year. We have to make a conscious effort not to turn the ball over. We drilled them to death on turnovers, but we just haven't gotten through to them yet. "
Q: Defensively, were they giving you different stuff that you were able to pick apart?
Morriss: "Yes they were giving us certain stuff, that was part of our game plan, we thought we exploit some of that. For the most part, protection was pretty good; I think Dane King had his best game of the year. We caught the ball well everything was working together, all units."
Q: Was that the best game your running backs have had this year against a quality opponent?
Morriss: "If you want to measure it by number of yards and number receptions, there is no doubt it was our best game. The number of fumbles takes that away real quick."
Q: What did you think of Dane King's performance in yesterday's game?
Morriss: "I think it was his best game of the year so far. He made a couple throws that he shouldn't have made that could have been picks. But other than that he made good decisions, his throws were on the money. He is getting some decent protection, guys are catching the ball, it all goes together."
Q: Did he want to go back in after the injury?
Morriss: "Yes. He pinched a nerve or something in his non-throwing hand. We had to have him take a couple plays off just to make sure he was right. I did not think it was that big of a deal. We were just trying to make sure he was okay, give him a second to collect his thoughts. If Dane had been in the game that would not have been his blindside on the fumble (Bell's 4th quarter fumble), he probably would have stepped up and stepped under it."
Q: Paul Mosley had a big day, are you still going to split time between (Anthony) Krieg and Mosley or are you going to look more toward Mosley?
Morriss: "I think it is working out pretty good right now the way it is. Paul had a good day; again there are some things he has to fix. The two of them are complementing each other and you can see them competing on the field. They motivate each other during the week."
Q: What happened on the drive sequence on which the field goal was blocked?
Morriss: "Well we ran our best running play on third down and got stuffed. So I wanted to make sure we came out of there with some points, and the kick was well within Kenny's range."
Q: On the last drive (Iowa State's winning drive) was there anything that you thought that you should have done better?
Morriss: "We didn't play coverage like we should have. What was questionable in my mind is whether that was pass interference or not, but that is water under the bridge now. The last play they scored on the option, we just got out-flanked. We didn't get down the line fast enough."
Q: Is this the most frustrating loss you have had at Baylor?
Morriss: "I guess it is hard to say, we had our chances. The way we got beat makes it hard to swallow. It is all the little stuff that is costing us the game that is bugging me. "
Q: How would you measure Dane's progress this season, compared to what your expectations were for this season?
Morriss: "Here is a kid that came in at mid-term. He started camp late, but over those next couple weeks he will keep learning and getting better and better. I don't know that I set any expectations for him because of his situation of how he came in here late. He was catching up on the first day of spring training."
Baylor Sunday Notebook: Kickoff for Saturday's game against Texas A&M is set for 6:05 p.m. in Waco, as the Bears hope to snap a 17-game winless streak in the 100-game series since a 20-15 victory over the Aggies at home in 1985 (the teams did play to a 20-20 tie at College Station in 1990) ... Junior QB Dane King's 29 pass completions against Iowa State were a career-high and tied the Baylor single-game record (Terry Southall also had 29 completions on 50 attempts on Nov. 19, 1966 at SMU) ... On the afternoon, King was 29-of-37 for 289 yards and 1 TD with no interceptions for the first time this season ... His 289 passing yards were also career-high and ranked as the 17th-best one-game total in Baylor history ... King's completion percentage of .784 against the Cyclones ranks as the second-best one-game mark in school history and the best among players who have attempted 20 or more passes in a game ... King recorded back-to-back 200-yard passing games for the second time this season (he had 281 at Nebraska) and the fourth time in seven starts ... Baylor's 450 total-offense yards against Iowa State were the most in Guy Morriss era, highest total since a 479-yard output in a 35-32 win over Kansas at Waco in 2002 ... Baylor's 31 pass completions against Iowa State were a school single-game record (previous high was 29 on three occasions) ... Baylor has thrown at least one touchdown pass in eight consecutive games (its 2003 season-finale vs. Oklahoma State and every game in 2004) for the first time since a 10-game string that encompassed the final three games of the 1986 season and the first seven in 1987... Sophomore WR Trent Shelton has caught at least one pass in 18 consecutive games and at least two in 11 straight outings, the longest streak for a Baylor performer since Reggie Newhouse closed his career with a 34-game streak in 2002 ... Shelton had a career-high 10 receptions for 76 yards against the Cyclones ... Senior WR Marques Roberts recorded career-highs in receptions (eight) and receiving yards (107) against Iowa State, and in the process, cracked Baylor's all-time lists in both receptions (No. 14 with 80 receptions) and receiving yards (No. 16 with 1,056 yards) ... Baylor had a 100-yard rusher (sophomore RB Paul Mosley with a career-high 100 yards) and a 100-yard receiver (Roberts with a career-best 107 yards) for the first time since its 2003 win over Colorado ... Baylor's 21 turnovers this season have led to 72 points for the opponent. Meanwhile, the Bears have scored just seven points off five opponent turnovers, all of which came on senior LB Justin Crooks' 9-yard fumble return for a touchdown against Texas State ... The Baylor defense has gone 18 consecutive quarters without forcing a turnover since an interception of a North Texas pass on the final play of the first half ... The Baylor defense allowed 257 total yards to Iowa State, its best effort ever against a Big 12 opponent and its fewest against any conference opponent since holding SMU to 208 total yards in 1995 ... Crooks had a team-high eight tackles (three solo) vs. Iowa State to record his 18th consecutive game of at least four tackles and his 16th in his last 17 outings with five or more stops ... Redshirt freshman CB Braelon Davis' defensive two-point conversion marked the first defensive conversion in Baylor history ... With 96 total kick returns against Iowa State, junior OS Willie Andrews became Baylor's all-time leader in total kick return yards (1,699), breaking Kalief Muhammad's mark of 1,633 yards.
