Dec. 30, 2010
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
ILLINOIS (7-6, 4-4) 38, BAYLOR (7-6, 4-4) 14
2010 TEXAS BOWL • RELIANT STADIUM • HOUSTON, TEXAS
DEC. 29, 2010 • ATTENDANCE: 68,211
Baylor Head Coach Art Briles
Opening statement...
"I think y'all were there like I was. We were very unstable early in the game, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. We let a good chance for momentum get away on the opening drive. I thought the defense really played hard and kept us in the game and for the most part gave us a chance to make a little rally. First and foremost, I'm proud of our guys. I'm proud of the way they fought and played and conducted themselves. I'm just disappointed that I didn't do a better job of having them ready to play early in the game. Illinois has a good football team. They played well today. They didn't turn the ball over and we did. Consequently, they won the football game."
On if he can appreciate the progress made this season despite loss...
"It's hard right now. It really is. I think the big picture will take care of itself over the next six months. Any time you don't get the result that's desired, it doesn't feel good. It's a bad feeling. It's a bad feeling to have your face turned red. I am extremely proud of our seniors and our football team and what they've done. There's been 16 classes that came before them that never got to experience what these players allowed our Baylor nation to experience and for them to experience. I'm extremely proud of that. We have taken a step in the positive direction undoubtedly. Now, what we have got to do is remember how it feels not to be able to hoist a trophy."
On if the inexperience dictated the slow start...
"That would be close to doing one of the things we won't do and that's no excuses, no complaints, no comparisons. I do think there might have been a little rust on the nail but that's not saying anything. We came out of the gates hot, had a good return and had a good drive going. Then had an unfortunate mishap, which allowed them to get a little confidence and feel good and made us have to play from behind. No, I really don't. I just think we didn't do things we need to do in order to win the football game."
On the penalties on offense in the second half...
"We overcame one. The offensive pass interference when we had first-and-25 and scored down there. The other one you're alluding to I think would be when we started first-and-15 with the kind of twitch with our left guard. I don't think we converted that one. The one that is glaring is in the 24-14 game when we start at our ten and get fourth-and-two feet and don't convert. I thought we had a little more forward momentum on the first down play than what we ended up. I thought it was going to be second-and-four and it was second-and-six-and-a-half. Honestly, if you know what specific penalty you're talking about, I'm having a hard time placing it."
On Illinois' defense...
"They played a little looser than what they had on tape in the secondary and with their linebackers. There were a lot more three-man fronts than what they've done before. They actually started a couple new guys personnel wise. When you've got the football, you've got to make first downs and you've got to execute. We had a hard time getting into a rhythm after the opening drive. We went about four or five series where we really didn't hit much of anything. It's hard to really get a feel for things when you're not really on the field very long."
Closing statement...
"I'd like to say thanks to the Baylor fans that really showed up tonight. It was a tremendous, tremendous turnout."
Baylor sophomore quarterback Robert Griffin On how high on his list will it be next year to win a bowl game... "That's paramount. No matter how many times you get to a bowl game, the goal is to always get back. So once again next year, those six wins will be the goal to start off and then the sky is the limit from there. Defensively, we are losing a lot of guys but on offense, we will only lose two, two great players but we only lose two, so we'll have a lot of chemistry coming back. So I'm going to hold those guys accountable, I'm going to hold myself accountable and we'll come out next year ready to go."
On how critical their first drive was...
"We came out playing with a lot of passion. On those plays, they crashed the defensive end so that's my read to pull it but they flooded the corner and the back end side so I had to throw it to (RB Jarred) Salubi but he said he couldn't see it and, like I said, there are no excuses. It's his fault, my fault, both of our fault, everybody's fault, but I ran the guy down. I could have given up. Anybody could have given up. Anybody in that position on this team would have made that play. So, it is what it is. We move on. We lost the game and that's that."
On how Illinois made adjustments after halftime and switching to a 4-3...
"That's the beauty of a bowl game, you have a lot of time to prepare so they felt, I guess, in the first half that a 3-4 would help them out and they came out doing a lot of different things that we had not seen before on tape, but that makes it that much more exciting. We came back in the second half ready to go and that was that and like (RB) Jay (Finley) said, we had some mishaps where there were missed assignments, missed blocks, missed throws. Everything wasn't going right for us and we'll be accountable for that."
On the offense in the first half...
"I don't think we got down as an offense. Some of those throws, like I said, there are no excuses but the receivers came back and told me they didn't see them at all because of the lights in the stadium and I knew the lights would be a problem anytime you come into a new arena. We had some miscues but we knew that 16 points was nothing to us. We can score that in a split second and we came out in the second half ready to go but we just couldn't make those big plays when we needed to.
Baylor senior safety Byron Landor On his thoughts as a senior on his career and on their winning record... "My thoughts are great. I am pretty happy about the future of Baylor. I think we have sent them in the right direction, the senior class and everyone who contributed from the top to the bottom. Just walking in the locker room today, talking to all the guys and then hugging the guys and coaches telling us how important it was to be here and make this transition. Honestly, if it wasn't for that, I'd probably be crying right now. I'd probably be sad, but right now, I'm optimistic. I'm happy about the direction we sent Baylor. I'm happy about my future and I think all the seniors should be happy about what they did. It's something that in 17, 16 years, it hasn't happened. So it's a great honor but I just feel that when you get this close to not winning, it makes it a lot harder. Just getting here wasn't good enough for me. I think we're a better team than that but it happens."
On Illinois putting up almost 300 rushing yards...
""I don't really know. They didn't really do anything different from what we had seen at practice and on film. They've been talking this whole week that they were going to run the ball. The thing with their offense is everybody has to play their responsibility and play your keys and then when one person makes a mistake, they keep on doing the same thing repetitively. So if one person makes a mistake, and one person doesn't make his assignment, then they have big plays. We didn't do a good job today of eliminating the big plays which unfortunately led to the loss today. That's how they really drove the ball. I don't think they methodically drove the ball on us too much, but they would have a big play here and a big play there and it led to a score so that was pretty much it.""
Baylor senior running back Jay Finley On the offense in the first half... "Well, in the first half, we had a lot of mishaps. We had a couple of plays we could have had a good gain on but we just had some unfortunate events happen. In the second half, we played a little better."
