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Baylor Head Coach Art Briles

Opening statement...
"I thought our crowd was tremendous, even with all of the rain. I never did get outside, but somebody said it was a lot of rain, a lot of wind, and some lightning. They stayed out there and they were in the stands. It made a big difference, huge difference. We have had some rain delays before here, and you walk out there and lose people in the stands This was a big deal. Our people stayed and that is critical. I think it is all due to the fact that we have a beautiful place, in the best location in America, and are extremely proud of it. It makes a huge difference for our fans. They really got to feel a real college game day. A Saturday they can watch the games. They can mess around all day, and then they can come watch us play in the evening. That was a big deal, and I appreciate them helping us win the game."

On using a majority of the depth chart...
"Not to disagree with your assessment of our people, but we really don't like to view our guys as backups. They are just all players. We have a bunch of players, but we can only play so many at a certain time. They all bring different things to the table. It just so worked out that these guys got opportunities tonight that might not have been given under normal circumstances, but we certainly feel like the people on the field are very capable and keeping us at the level that we need to be on to win another Big 12 Championship. I am surprised by what Seth [Russell] did. I am surprised by what some of our receivers did, KD [Cannon] in particular. The main thing we wanted to do was run the football, and protect Seth. I thought our O-line did a great job. I don't think Seth got hit tonight. We protected him, and we ran the ball adequately. We were just able to throw the ball so effectively, and didn't really force anything."

On Bryce Petty injury status after sitting out the game...
"I don't know. We will look at him tomorrow. He felt a little better today. We have a quick turnaround. In four days we will be on a plane heading to Buffalo. We will see what is happening. Tomorrow we will go through a Sunday-Monday mix with our guys, and Monday is a workout day for us, which is a Tuesday in a regular week. We will just see how he progresses. He is eager to get back out there, and that is the way he is. He is a winner, a fighter, and a dang good football player. He is one of three quarterbacks that led their team to a conference championship that is returning. Once again we will make sure that he is healthy. That little flame I think turned into a really big fire, and it is hard to watch. If there is anyway he can get on the field at Buffalo he will be on the field at Buffalo."

On playing three games in less than two weeks...
"The thing we are looking at -- and we talked about it back in June and early August -- three in 13. Three games in 13 days. We knew what was coming up. We have accomplished two of three. Now we have a big one. We have to flip in six days and go on the road on national TV. It is not in Oklahoma or in Louisiana, it is pretty good little journey. That is something that is going to help us mature as we go into those games, but the first thing we have to do is to take care of business this Friday up in Buffalo, New York. That is really as far as we have looked. We talked about three in 13, and we will take a day or two because we have 15 before the next game at Iowa State. We will take a day or two to regroup, assess where we are at, and then we will get ready for another run. The critical thing is to be three games to none after 13 days."

Baylor QB Seth Russell

On the first half...
"Offensive line did an amazing job. They picked up everything, and the defensive played phenomenal. Altogether, it was an awesome, fantastic team effort."

On connection with KD Cannon...
"KD just knows how to get open. I just threw it up there and he got it. I guess you can say there was a connection there. He did a fantastic job at being KD. He is the fastest kid in the state, the fastest kid in the nation. He does an amazing job just running straight ahead at everything he is doing."

Baylor CB Xavien Howard

On his interception...
"I think it really did scare them.They came back at me two other times, and in the second half stayed away from me. "

On the defense...
"It is our defensive line really helping our secondary. They are not really passing the ball on us because our defensive line is in their face. I feel like we have the best defensive line in the nation."

Baylor DT Andrew Billings

On feeling a different demeanor among his teammates...
"It's just practice, knowing we can do it and knowing we can go out there and no one can stop us."

Baylor WR KD Cannon

On cutting off early on the route for big catch in middle of field...
"In practice Coach [Briles] always says to play fast and get open, and I was in the middle wide open, so I just cut a little bit and it was right there."

Baylor LB Bryce Hager

On more pressure on defense without so many offensive starters...
"We want to take that approach that it's on the defense every time. We don't worry about the offense. Whenever we want to get things done we want to get it done on defense. We take pride in stopping the offense and getting the ball back to our offense because we know they'll get points on the board."

Baylor RB Johnny Jefferson

On getting so many carries tonight...
"I feel satisfied. That means the coaches are starting to trust me a little bit more and I'm starting to get a rhythm a little more so as the games keep going and I keep going, I like to see myself progressing every week. I see myself doing a lot from last week to this week so I'm only going up from here."

On his first career touchdown in college...
"It means a lot because there's for sure a lot more to come, so now I'm head hunting for that end zone on every play."

NSU Head Coach Jay Thomas

On preparing for Baylor QB Seth Russell...
"We knew that the offense wasn't going to change. [Bryce Petty not playing] didn't change what we were going to do. He did a good job. He's a great player. Even when [Chris] Johnson came in, they did not miss a beat."

On KD Cannon's performance tonight...
"He's a good looking guy. He's really fast and super elusive. He's a great athlete, and that's what I saw across the board. They've come so far as a program. If they want to push you around, they can. If they want to throw the ball against you, they can. "

On trying to get their game plan going early on...
"We got close to it. We just couldn't quite break through to get it going. Early on, we couldn't get the field flipped quick enough. It got away from us."

On getting players experience...
"We got really deep into our threes. We played a lot of guys defensively. We've got to look down into the future, too. Midway through the third quarter we wanted to give our starters a break."

On what they can take away from tonight's loss...
"There's a lot that we can take away from tonight. We did some good things. It wasn't all negative. We just have to continue to get better. When you get the chance to play against a team like Baylor and what they are right now, it'll make you better. I just want to stay healthy."