Sunday With Guy
11/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 5, 2006
After dropping a 55-21 decision at Texas Tech on Saturday, the Baylor football team now turns its attention to Saturday's regionally televised Big 12 South showdown at Oklahoma State. The Bears and Cowboys will kick off at 11:30 a.m. in a game that will be televised by Fox Sports Net from Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla. Here are Baylor head coach Guy Morriss' thoughts on his team heading into week 11 of the 2006 season:
How do you think the offense played?
"I felt good about the way Blake [Szymanski] played. I thought he was the one bright spot offensively. We were doing pretty good. Our whole team was doing good until Will [Blaylock] snapped it over his head and from there on out we kind of lost our composure and our focus. I think that was a third and one."
Why would one play like that turn the tide?
"It's hard to say. I really don't know. We just couldn't recapture our energy or our focus or something."
How did Blake Szymanski do in reading defenses and checking into the right plays?
"He did a good job in checking us into the right plays. We didn't have him check a lot...I thought he did a pretty good job. He ran the ball well. He scrambled out of there one time for a nice big gain. I have to believe people are going to have to respect that."
Why was there so little pass protection during the game?
"Well, we just got out-worked. They came out with a lot of energy and emotion, and we just didn't match it. We didn't play a technically very good game at all. And on top of that when you don't play with a lot of emotion, it makes for a long day."
How do you recover from this loss?
"I think they are pretty good about bouncing back. I think what we have to do is show them the film. We have to try and correct as many mistakes as we can because we have to play a technically better football game. We have to be positive with them. We'll cut practice back a little bit. I don't really feel like we're tired. We may be more mentally tired than anything. I think one of the things we have got to do is appeal to the seniors that this is their last two chances. How do you want to go out? We have got to appeal to them to help get everybody up, and then appeal to the young guys...We've got to get their confidence back up."
Are you still focused on going to a bowl?
"I don't think we talk about a bowl this week. I think we talk about trying to win the game, and everything else will take care of itself. I'm not going to talk about it. Not that I don't think it is healthy, but let's forget the big picture right now. We've got one game. Let's play it one play at a time, and play the next play as hard as you can play. And then don't worry about anything else."
Baylor Sunday Notes: Baylor senior punter Daniel Sepulveda, a 2006 Ray Guy Award semifinalist, ranks No. 2 both nationally and in the Big 12 with his 46.79-yard punting average, just behind Oklahoma State sophomore Matt Fodge's 47.36-yard average ... Sepulveda, whose 45.26-yard career average ranks as the best among active I-A punters, has totaled an NCAA career-record 91 punts of 50-plus yards, including 22 in 2006 ... Sepulveda's 2006 season average currently ranks ahead of Ty Atteberry's 1996 single-season school-record average of 46.35 ... As a team, Baylor ranks No. 2 in the Big 12 and No. 6 nationally in net punting (38.97 yards) ... Baylor, which has averaged 26.7 points in Big 12 play, has scored 21 or more points in five consecutive conference games for the first time since a seven-game string in 1986 ... Baylor has established new school single-season team records for pass completions (261), passing yards (2,850), touchdown passes (22), and is on pace to establish a new completion percentage standard (currently at 61.6 percent in 2006 compared to the record of 59.5 percent in 2004) ... 17 different Bears have caught at least one pass in 2006, while 10 different players have registered at least one TD catch ... Senior WR Trent Shelton's 49 receptions on the season rank in a T-No. 10 on Baylor's single-season list, while his 772 yards also rank No. 10 on the BU one-season list and his eight TD catches stand in a five-way tie for No. 2 ... Redshirt freshman LB Joe Pawelek continues to top all freshmen nationally in tackles with 7.9 per game, which also ranks No. 7 in the Big 12 regardless class.
