Art Briles Day-After Quotes
10/31/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 31, 2010
After capturing its first win in Austin since 1991 with a 30-22 victory over Texas, Baylor completes its two-game road trip by traveling north to face Oklahoma State on Saturday. The Bears will battle the Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium with kickoff set for 11:30 a.m. The contest will be televised nationally on FSN.
Here are Art Briles' Sunday thoughts on the Bears' win over Texas as well as Saturday's upcoming game against Oklahoma State.
On the team playing with a lot confidence...
"I just think we are getting better. That is kind of what we have been feeling here the last three or four weeks. I just felt like our team is gelling. We have got our guys that need to be playing well are really playing well. They are leading, playing tough and being real intelligent. I think that just bleeds into confidence. Production equals confidence and we have been pretty productive the last few weeks."
On the leadership of the team...
"Everybody is contributing and that is what gives you a chance to win as a team. Our guys are really fighting hard for each other as a team out there. We just have to keep doing what we are doing and do it a little bit better each week."
On the what it is like for him as a coach to see the program's resurgence...
"Honestly, I don't ever look at it from that standpoint. I look at it like we have a job to do. Our job is to prepare our football team each week and give them the best opportunity to win that game. That is just the way I have always approached everything."
On the play of the defense versus Texas...
"They certainly left us in the game early by forcing field goals and that is huge. We knew of course that Texas had an outstanding defense. We knew we would just have to keep grinding, grinding and eventually hope we would get a shot or two and we had some guys that made some plays down the stretch for us."
On how he kept his team motivated when they were down in the third quarter...
"What we said was, you look at the scoreboard and it is a nine point game. It might feel like it is more than that, but it is only nine points. And nine points with four minutes left in the game is nothing, so all we had to do was get one good thing to happen and then we are back to a one possession game. That is the way you've got to look at it and the way you've got to approach it. Fortunately, Jay (Finley) popped the run and the next thing you know is it is 19-17."
On the play of the offense in the first half...
"The word sloppy doesn't ever come into my vocabulary. It is just guys trying to make plays. That is what we do. Like I said we are going to be fearless and when we start worrying about what is going to happen or what had happened then we are not playing the way I want to play. I want to be fast, fearless and physical. That has been our motto for the last couple of years."
On the play of senior linebacker Antonio Johnson...
"He is just very instinctive. He is a playmaker that is what he is. He has got a great instinct on the field. He has a unique ability to avoid blockers and make plays and a lot of his plays just come out of tremendous effort. He is a tremendous effort guy and that is how he is able to be so active around the football, because he never stops on a football play."
On having some success in the running game...
"We had to. It is critical that you are able to rush the ball and we did not rush it as well in the first half as of course we would've liked. We got ball-controlled a little bit. Then, we had a couple negative yardage plays, which reflects bad on your rushing. If you keep swinging at the nail, you are going to hit it. We just kept swinging. We have got a lot of faith and confidence in our guys up front. Those guys are good football players and eventually we knew we would create a crease and Jay or Robert were going to be able to pop something through there."
On the play of the punt team...
"The flip on the field position by our punt team was phenomenal. Honestly, they could have potentially been the difference in the ball game and might have been in the end. They really set them back on the eight, after the penalty. He (Derek Epperson) is standing on our eight-yard line and the guy attempts to field it on their 21. That is flipping the field when we had to have it, so that goes to the snapper the protectors and then our cover guys. Josh Gordon is in the guy's face as soon as he touches the football, which causes the fumble, which we almost get. That is critical what those guys are doing. You have got to do it. You have got to have all facets of the game and we were close on most of them last night. That is how we are able to pull out a win."
