Director of Athletics Ian McCaw

On Baylor making its sixth-straight bowl game:
"Good afternoon. It's an honor for Baylor University to have accepted an invitation this afternoon to participate in the 2015 Russell Athletic Bowl. We'll play the University of North Carolina, a really quality opponent in Orlando. Of course, that's a great destination city, and it will provide wonderful hospitality to our coaches, our student-athletes, our staff and our fans. We're looking forward to Baylor Nation traveling a good number to support the team in Orlando, and again it's a great place to travel to and a wonderful place to spend the holidays. So, we're looking forward to our fans being there. So many of our fans have been clamoring for quality competition outside the Big 12 and in non-conference games, so this is a great opportunity playing a top 10 opponent in North Carolina in a bowl game. We're very excited about that. I want to congratulate Coach Briles and the team on a great season. They've certainly done a great job taking us to our sixth-straight bowl game. That's a school record. Also, just a tremendous way they finished the season despite dealing with a lot of adversity relative to the injury situation. So, I'm proud of where we are and looking forward to getting ready for a bowl game at the end of the month."

Head coach Art Briles

Opening statement:
"Thank you Ian a bunch. We're extremely excited and honored to represent Baylor in a bowl game. Like Ian mentioned, Orlando is a great city, great state. Since we've been here, I haven't played out that way that I can think of, so it's kind of our first time to get our brand out in that part of the nation. As a team we're excited just to go on and play another game. We feel like we have a lot of unfinished business to take care of. This would give us another opportunity to go play a game against a quality, quality opponent. I've known Coach Fedora for a long time. Great coach, great man. He actually has some Baylor ties from back in the 1990s. He's done a tremendous job there and at Southern Miss prior to going there. So we know the quality of the opponent and the people in charge. They're a very, very good football team as witnessed last night when they played Clemson in the deciding game of the ACC Championship. We're anxious to get back and get on the field and finish this thing up right."

On the team's recent history with bowl games:
"The truth doesn't lie. That's the thing about it. When you get into bowl season, you're always playing quality opponents. We understand that, and we felt like we played extremely well last year. We just didn't finish the job against a really good Michigan State team. That one was kind of a motivating factor for us particularly early in the season. We've got to go out and really play well. Bowl games are always a little bit different, because you have basically a month to prepare, so you've really got to make sure you understand everything that your opponents are looking at and their preparation for you. It's always a motivation going in every time we play, but we certainly would like to feel good for six months."

On shifting expectations throughout the season:
"When you start the season, of course you have high hopes and aspirations that you want to turn into beliefs. It's a chance you take. That's the great thing about any sport. There are no knowns. There's a bunch of unknowns, and what you try to do is to create realities, and that's why people go to the games. That's why people get passionately involved with teams, so there's just a lot of hope involved. You try to do your best to fulfill that, and so from that standpoint I'm very proud of our football team for sustaining and having a lot of survivor-like instincts and qualities. That to me is very important because I think that carries over into life."

On whether the bowl game will impact recruiting in Florida:
"They're going to notice because we're in their state. Thanks to this senior class and a few others before them, our national brand is out there now. When you see Baylor, they're going to be noticing us. We don't really recruit Florida that heavily, but we are on some guys there. We pay attention to a lot of players there. We have over the last two or three years. We actually had four or five of their guys on campus this summer on unofficial visits, so there's some interest both ways. So, hopefully we can do some increasing of theirs on ours."

On whether or not Jarrett Stidham will play in the bowl game:
"I think there's a chance. Next Monday, we'll know a lot more. He's going to have another bone scan. If it shows where it's healed, then I think he can start his rehab. It's about the time we start out bowl prep. So, we'll just have to wait and see. It's just hard walking around on crutches for three and a half weeks and all of the sudden be ready to go. There's a time period involved where you have to get your body back right to move and to where you can protect yourself. We'll see how it goes. He's doing everything he can to get ready on his end, but your body's got to heal."

On North Carolina:
"Last night was the only time I really extensively watched them from that standpoint, looking at them from that point of view. I do know that they've been a really dynamic team throughout the year. They've scored a bunch of points, a high-tempo offense. They have really talented guys on defense. Throughout the years, North Carolina has always had really quality football players. I've mentioned the east coast over the last five or six years. I was familiar with it when I was at Houston, so I was familiar with those people like North Carolina. They're physical specimens, really good-looking guys. So, North Carolina has always had that. We know they're going to be extremely talented football team. Larry [Fedora] has done a really great job. He's a really, really good football coach. His brother is the head football coach at Navasota, who we know also. It's in his blood. We know it's going to be an exciting game. I think the matchup is going to be good. If I was a fan, I would think it's going to be an attractive matchup."

On whether or not the team's motivation has changed:
"You're asking the wrong guy. I always expect everyone to be positive and anxious and motivated who are given the opportunity to do their thing, which for us is play football for our university and ourselves. We could go to a bunch of bowl games this year, and we'd have a hard time finding a more quality opponent than the University of North Carolina. That's the reality of it. They deserve where they're at. I don't think motivation is an issue at all."

On getting a bowl win:
"I think it will just show substance as much as anything. Maybe staying power - something around those lines. It's not easy, but sometimes you can lose your focus. You can lose your motivation. You can lose your intent, and lose your intensity. That's things as you progress from Aug. 5 to Dec. 29, that's a long time to keep those things intact with a high level of consistency and effort and positive enthusiasm and everything it takes to be a good player and a good teammate with a good team. So, I think that if that happens, I would feel a sense of accomplishment for our football team. Not just being a fly-by-the-night casual point of conversation, but being talked about over and over and over."

On the importance of bowl practices:
"I really think that's why you see repetitive bowl teams. I really do. You see that extra time to do things with these young guys in a non-stressful situation academically. That makes a huge difference. During the academic sessions, we respect that for them. But when we get them in fall camp, when summer school is not going on and Christmas break, then it's like being in the NFL. It's football, and so that's all you're focusing on. That's all you're thinking about. It's time for us to get to know them. We spend extra time with the young players. You can't take time during the season with what I mentioned earlier, but you can take time during these practices. It's really a great chance to evaluate and get to know these guys as people first and players second."

Junior DT Andrew Billings:

On playing in Baylor's sixth-straight bowl game:
"We're playing North Carolina. They barely lost to Clemson, maybe if it wasn't for onside kick problems. That's pretty good motivation just to come in and beat them. We could be at home doing nothing, so I am happy to be in that bowl game and still get a ring if we win and have a good time in Florida."

On playing in Florida for the first time:
"It's going to be very different. It was different in Arizona. It'll be different from Dallas to see a new crowd around us in a bowl environment. We'll have fun and stay focused. I want to win a bowl game. I've been here every year and we haven't won a bowl game, and the only way we can get a ring this year is to win this bowl game."

Senior WR Jay Lee:

On the importance of the bowl game:
"We get to go to a bowl game and finalize our season. So, we feel good about it and we're ready to go play and practice. Obviously, it's a big deal. Our last two bowl games haven't gone the way we wanted, so we want to win this as seniors. We have to make sure the foundation and structure is there. We will get those guys minds right and get this win going into the next season."

On playing North Carolina:
"I watched them last night. They're a good football team. Their quarterback is good. They have good receivers. Their defense is good. We'll be ready for what they throw at us."