Oct. 11, 2008
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery 
BAYLOR (3-3, 1-1) 38, IOWA STATE (2-4, 0-2) 10
FLOYD CASEY STADIUM • WACO, TEXAS
OCT. 11, 2008 • ATTENDANCE: 30,528
BAYLOR HEAD COACH Art Briles
Opening Statement...
"I would like to congratulate our crowd tonight, our student body and our band. I thought all three of those phases of support were outstanding tonight... They made a tremendous amount of difference for us. Not only on the field, but emotionally as well. Anytime you feel like there are people fighting with you, you are going to fight a little harder. As a team I thought it was the most complete game we played all year."
On Baylor's defense...
"I thought our defense did an outstanding job of making stops when they had to. We had a bunch of guys bat balls down, pressure the quarterback. They ran the ball a little bit but not enough to get us off our toes. Just a great, great defensive effort."
On Baylor's special teams play...
"Baker's kickoff return ignites the team, ignites the crowd and really separates us...It kind of let us think if we take care of business, we can finish this deal out."
On Baylor's offense...
"I thought we played with a lot of confidence and a lot of crispness. I thought we were very crisp from an offensive standpoint. Everybody acted like they knew what they were doing....It was a pretty good night...We came out being aggresive tonight. And you have to be intelligent along with being aggressive. Some things fell in our favor tonight. Guys made plays when they had to."
On the significance of the victory...
`We felt like all along we have a good football team. And maybe we are starting to show it a little bit. We feel like we have the potential to be a very, very good football team. And we are starting to climb up to that level.... We are very humbled, very honored, very proud to get the victory. A Big 12 victory is hard to come by, everybody is good, there are no bad football teams. More importantly for our players, for our administration it is a good step in the right direction. Now we got to keep it going, we can't take a step backward; we have to keep going forward. "
BAYLOR QUARTERBACK Robert Griffin
On how fun this win was...
"Oh it was really fun more me. I didn't have to do much. I just had to go out there and execute. I just spread the ball around and let the guys work it out from there. We ran the ball well and the receivers caught the ball really well. The offensive line was man-handling them up front. Then on defense, it's fun to watch them get a goaline stand. It was just a real fun win."
On everyone getting involved in the game...
"I don't think I was more excited than when Mikail (Baker) ran that kickoff back for a touchdown. I'm sitting there jumping on the sideline, and I actually ran down there. I didn't have a lot of pressure on my shoulders to do it all. These guys tell me everyday that we got you and you don't have to do it by yourself, and tonight they did."
BAYLOR SAFETY Jeremy Williams
On the difference this game regarding the defense's intensity and solid play...
"This week in practice, we went back to the basics of tackling and covering, and it showed out there tonight."
On the confidence boost of holding them to a field goal...
"It's a great boost. It's what we needed at the time. We've been in that situation before and haven't come through. It was good to see us come through."
BAYLOR CORNERBACK Dwain Crawford
On this being a big win because it was in the Big 12...
"It was huge. The Big 12 is so competitive. Each week we go out and play and get the Oklahoma loss out of the way. Coming out well tonight was big for us and getting that win will hopefully make us move throughout the Big 12 season."
On getting rid of the conference losing streak...
"What has hapened in the past is the past. I think we have a new foundation here with Coach Briles and his staff, and I think we're working towards the right things. But obviously it was good to go out there and get that win and get that losing streak out of the way. It was huge for us, and hopefully it will carry us through the Big 12 season."
IOWA STATE HEAD COACH GENE CHIZIK
On the penalties during the last Iowa State drive to end the first half...
"That drive going in right before the half was very critical. It was just very costly in a lot of ways. Offensively, I thought it was very poor execution. There is no excuse for the things that happened going into that last drive in the half. I think it hurt us."
On Mikail Baker's kickoff return...
"Again, that penalty that led to (the touchdown) was just very critical. We have been good on special teams coverage for most of the year and that one got out. (Mikail Baker) made a great cut and it hurt us."
On the game...
"I don't really have a word to describe the game honestly. It was bad football all the way around; offense, defense and obviously special teams. We were not clicking and we were not in sync, anywhere."
On Robert Griffin...
"He is a good quarterback, no doubt about it. They have a great scheme and he is really starting to fit into it well and be very comfortable with it. He played great tonight. He has been coming along every game. In every game he has been getting better and better and we even saw flashes of it against Oklahoma. Tonight he put it all together."
On Kendall Wright...
"Phenomenal athlete, great player. We knew him when he was coming out of high school last year. We knew that he was going to be a tremendous talent in this league. That run that he made in which we had him boxed up where he made two or three guys miss, then cut it all the way back for a touchdown, that was just phenomenal. He is a great athlete and has great speed. He has been making those type of plays against everybody, but tonight he hurt us."
IOWA STATE WIDE RECEIVER MARQUIS HAMILTON
On the game...
"We did not play our best game of football and it showed tonight. We were not even in the game for the most part."
On the penalties late in the first half...
"It was just penalty after penalty and we just lost focus for whatever reason. It was just a lack of focus."
IOWA STATE CORNERBACK DEVIN MCDOWELL
On Robert Griffin...
"He is a really good player. He was fast and he played very confident. I have the utmost respect for Griffin and I wish (Baylor) the best for the rest of the season."
On the game...
"We just did not come focused. We were not focused on the task at hand and we just went out there and just gave up."
