Nov. 1, 2008

Recap | Final Stats | Notes

14 MISSOURI (7-2, 3-2) 31, BAYLOR (3-6, 1-4) 28
FLOYD CASEY STADIUM • WACO, TEXAS
NOV. 1, 2008 • ATTENDANCE: 35,142

Baylor Head Coach Art Briles
Opening Statement...
"[It was a] very emotional, very devastating non-win, I do not like to use the other word. [I am] extremely proud of our players for their energy, for their belief, for their effort. Like I said; we knew we were going to win the game on Tuesday and that is why we had a great oppurtunity to win it on Saturday."

On sensing a victory in the fourth...
"Yeah, we have sensed victory a bunch of times this year, we just haven't siezed it... It's not over until it's over. You can't get excited, you can't get thinking its a done deal. We had our chances, we just kind of had to fight from behind from the start and our guys did great."

On the crowd...
"Our crowd did a great job of being a home crowd today. This was the best home crowd that we have had in all of our home games, and I am just proud of them. They came to win also."

What changed at halftime...
"We just felt like we were going to move the ball, we were going to score and we were going to hold them. We felt like our energy and tempo was good. When our energy and our tempo is good and we are playing at fast tilt, we are a good football team. We can play with anybody in the country, does not matter what number is in front of your name, we can play with you and we have a chance to beat you. That's the way we are going to be. When we line up on the football field, we expect to win the football game."

On going for it on fourth downs...
"We are in a situation were we do not need to play close, we need to try to win the football game. When you have a team as powerful as Missouri is on offense, when you got fourth and ones you better go for it. They are good. They have a good football team and they played a good football team today. We did not buckle it up and say lets hope it does not get out of hand, we buckled it up and said we are going to go and win the football game."

Baylor Quarterback Robert Griffin
On turning it around after being down 14-0...
"You just have to keep believing, you can't play for the scoreboard. They got on us early, and then (Joe) Pawelek got the pick. That gave us another chance, and we made the most of it. We got ourselves back in the game."

On this game being an opportunity for the program...
"Every game is important, whether it is a ranked team or not. For us to come out and beat Missouri, a team that was like us a couple years ago, that would have showed people that we are turning things around. Even in the loss, and I don't believe in moral victories, but even in the loss we showed people that we are coming to play everyday."

Baylor Offensive Tackle Jason Smith
On being able to move the ball like they did...
"First of all, we are confident on offense with a confident play-caller in Coach Briles. We are very talented at every position across the board. That's what good football teams do. They don't let a situation stop you from your goal."

On what this game revealed about the team's character...
"Today's game revealed that we can go out there and play 60 minutes from the beginning of the game to the end as a team. The guys on the sideline, guys giving out water, the people on the field, the coaches all showed that we are confident in what we're doing, and regardless of the situation, we want to determine our own future and our own destiny."

Baylor Running Back Jay Finley
On being confident moving the ball...
"We have a good offense, and when we're clicking and we aren't stopping ourselves nobody can stop us. We had a couple of bad calls and a couple of things that went south in the first half, but we got it together and started moving the ball, and you saw how we can beat them."

On the opportunity for the program to not be the same old Baylor...
"In the Big 12 we pretty much recruit the same people. You come out here and beat up on a good team, and they watch us because we've got to recruit too. No matter how you look at it, the coach is not the only one recruiting the players. How we play also helps people to come here. By us playing well we are showing that Baylor is not the same Baylor. We are out here to win, and we aren't taking it from anybody."

Missouri Head Coach Gary Pinkel
Opening Statement...
"I always tell my players that as long as you keep an underdog in [the game], the stronger they get. I think you give [Baylor] an awful lot of credit, especially their defense, their offense and [Robert] Griffin-- what a great player. [Also give credit] to their fans-- at the end of the game it sounded like their was 100,000 people in that place. With that being said, I am proud of our team."

On the importance of scoring on the last drive...
"I give [Baylor] a lot of credit. Obviously, you can't turn the ball over like that in games, and if you do, you come away with no points and generally give them good field position and it lends itself to great success for them. The last drive I thought said a lot. [Baylor] was forced to use all three of their timeouts which was huge. That last drive that we had at the end was huge for us."

On Baylor rebounding in the second half...
"There was no excuse for not playing our best. I think you give them credit. They had great momentum and that was the best that I had seen them play all year. They played a tremendous game."

Missouri Linebacker Brock Christopher
On intercepting Robert Griffin's pass at the end of the game...
"I thought about that right after it happened. It was kind of our goal to get an interception against Griffin.... [On that last drive] he dropped back and I kind of dropped underneath the receiver and I don't think he saw me because their was nobody in the middle of the field."

On the importance of winning on the road...
"We try to stay as calm as possible and we did not play as well as we wanted to today with the three turnovers. They got a lot of yards off of screens and we just have to do a better job of stopping that. It was a win against a Big 12 team on the road, and whether you win by 100 or 3, a win is a win."

Missouri Quarterback Chase Daniel
On Baylor...
"I wouldn't say that was a great team effort that we gave out there today, but we got it done on the road against a great team. You have to give them all of the credit in the world. Coach Briles had them ready to play and that quarterback is something else. They were able to make big plays at big times, but so were we. We were able to make a couple more, and that helped us win."

On the Missouri performance...
"We didn't play too well in the second half at all. We played well in the first half. The only time that they stopped us was on the two turnovers. That can't happen, especially in the red zone, but we were able to pull it off today."

Wide receiver Jeremy Maclin
On the importance of scoring to answer to Baylor...
"Every time they answered, we had to come back and answer. We got the job done. Personally, it should not have come down to that. I think we are a better team than what we showed, but you have to give [Baylor] credit. They forced a few turnovers, but we pulled it out in the fourth quarter."

On Baylor controlling the ball in the second half...
"They did a good job on ball control. That is what a lot of teams try to do to us, and they did an excellent job of doing that. We are 7-2 now, so that is one thing that we can hang our heads high on now and be proud of."