Oct. 27, 2008
Head Coach Gary Pinkel
Opening statement:
"Good afternoon, injury-wise (senior DL) Tommy Chavis did not play in the game. It was a game day decision. He gave it a great effort, but just couldn't come around. We expect him to be back this week. He'll be practicing tomorrow, that will be good. (Freshman DL) Jacquies Smith and (junior DL) Brian Coulter filled in and did a great job. I thought it was a great effort and that was certainly encouraging when you lose a two-year starter and have someone come in and play that well. We appreciate your patience with (senior QB) Chase (Daniel, who did not appear at media day due to an exam). Chase does everything we ask him to do media-wise, and he's done it first class. He looks like a pro up here, but he also is a 3.5 student. He takes his school very seriously. He'll probably be an Academic-All American, and so I'm very appreciative of you being understanding. Baylor is a really good football team. (Baylor freshman QB) Robert Griffin, you look at him as a quarterback and as an athlete, a guy like that goes on the field and can do a lot of things. He's a young player. He has a lot of poise. I'm very impressed how he manages himself as a young player in the arena Big 12 football. He has great athleticism, he runs well ... They do a lot of different things with personnel and a lot of different misdirection and counter-type plays. I'm very impressed. Defensively, they do a great job also ... All we're doing is focusing on Saturday. I don't want anything on the backside or frontside of this game on Saturday at 2 p.m. So we're just putting everything we got into that game with that type of focus. And hopefully we can play well. We're going to work really hard to do that."
On Baylor freshman QB Robert Griffin:
"That's amazing. I think it's 58 percent completion. That's outstanding for a young player. No interceptions against nine touchdowns. He gets better each and every week. That's certainly a challenge for us. I'm not saying he's Brad Smith, or better. But who knows what he's going to turn into. He's certainly a guy like J Mac who can touch the ball and change the game. He's certainly a challenge for any type of defense."
On Griffin's similarities to former Missouri QB Brad Smith:
"A lot of these guys (on defense) were really, really young when Brad was here. Some were scout team, some were getting plays ... You're not going to duplicate him, we won't even attempt to do that. Certainly, our defense has some awareness of his quickness ... I think (defensive coordinator) Matt Eberflus will (look at past film of Brad Smith) a little bit. We'll go back and look at games where Brad struggled and see what people did. Again, we just didn't walk into this. We anticipated that this could possibly happen. We're also not going to change the defense. You gotta' be who you are."
On the defense against Colorado:
"I think we played better. I thought it was a great, focused effort by our defense. This day and age, I don't care who you play, you get a shutout that's pretty impressive. That being said, it's all about consistency. For the most part, I think our defense did a lot of good things."
On WR Jeremy Maclin's sophomore year:
"Disappointing? Are you kidding me? I think he's playing a lot better than he was a year ago. He's stronger, faster, quicker. He knows the game better. He's having a phenomenal year. I think what happens, when you play a guy like J-Mac, a lot of people aren't going to kick the ball to him ... Punt returns, I think in the Big 12, those are the stats we really look at, I think we're third. We're doing some good things there, he had a good return the other day. But they're not kicking to him ... We'll just try to put him in the best position to get it in his hands ... I think that's the beauty of our offense that you can be very creative in ways to get him the football ... I think he does everything better (than last year). I think he's a stronger player. He's very explosive. He's catching everything. He makes it look effortless, most everything he does ... I'm elated with how he's playing. He plays that well all the time. That's what you ask. That's what (senior TE Chase Coffman does. He plays football regardless of all the circumstances. He plays football ... (What contributed to his success now was) just coming back and all he did after surgery, and his work ethic to get back to where he is. He participated in the offseason-conditioning program ... That's what we do. We don't care if you're an All-American or a freshman, if you don't do the drill right you're going to do it again. That was a great visual for our program ... It was neat to see a guy like that go through struggles and mature through that. That helps him become a better player."
On the bond between senior TE Chase Coffman and senior QB Chase Daniel:
"First of all, during the recruitment process, they talked to each other all the time. They call each other all the time. I think Chase (Daniel) was probably trying to recruit him (Coffman) on the phone ... I think, I'm not saying Chase (Daniel) talked him into coming here, but I'm sure he had an impact, he has that kind of effect. They're both every high levels at their position. We've got one of the best tight ends in the nation, we've got one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. They're both humble guys, they're both game-players. They play well almost all the time. They play at that high level almost all the time. The combination of that and being friends, we're very fortunate to have that bond ... As we all know, quarterbacks ,and wide receivers, running backs and tight ends, they're throwing the ball all the time. You know how many times (Coffman's) caught a ball in the past 4 years? I can't even imagine all the times they've thrown the football to each other. Thousands and thousands and thousands of times. Chase (Daniel) even knows how far he can put it so he (Coffman) can catch it with one hand. (Coffman's 1st quarter TD against Colorado) was one of the greatest catches I've ever seen. That was phenomenal. We're so fortunate to have a guy like that on the football team ... All I know is, the guy keeps doing it and that means he's very special."
On senior DL Stryker Sulak's performance against Colorado:
"I think it's a great statement for him ... At this level when you don't play well, everybody takes the hits. And the defense was taking their hits. Those guys have a lot of pride. When you go through adversity like that, you can sit down and let it beat you up. Or you can stand up, and they raised their standards of how they prepare and play. I think our whole football team did that. Now it's all about consistency, can you do it week after week after week? Generally, we've done that around here, but we're going to try and get it done this Saturday."
On the sole focus on the next opponent:
"('5:30 Saturday') wasn't a gimmick. It was probably my frustration. We didn't play very well and we played a great team (Texas). You're not giving your best effort, we weren't a very focused team. My concern was that they would lose focus. We had to put an abrupt stop to that. So we took it very, very seriously. We don't ever talk about a future opponent around here ever ... All that's out there now with watching themselves on ESPN, and walking around campus, my big thing was working with the seniors and the staff that we need every ounce of your focus on that moment. We're going to try and do the same thing this week. I didn't ask the players to win. I asked them to play hard, with a great effort. It wasn't a gimmick in any way, it was to get everyone on my staff and the team focused on one moment in time and put all our attention on that. "
Tommy Chavis
On Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin:
We just have to keep him contained in the pocket. The front four has to do a great job at getting pressure on him and then keeping great pressure on him the whole game.
On the defense's strong performance against Colorado:
Everybody just cranked it up a notch. We just all prepared. We had to get focused, and we basically just got ready for the game-film study, practicing as hard as we can-and it all showed on Saturday. Last year, every week we came out with that type of intensity. We just needed to refocus, like I've said, and just go back to the fundamentals of how things work. It showed on the field.
On recovering from the loss at Texas:
We came out and talked about our mistakes like we always do, even after a win. Then we watched film and went to practice, and stayed positive. That's what you have to do-you stay positive.
Stryker Sulak
On playing without Tommy Chavis:
I was a little more beat up [after the game] than usual. But I knew I had to do that, since Tommy [Chavis] went down and didn't get to play.
On Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin:
We haven't gotten to look too much yet at him, but we know this is a different type of quarterback. We haven't seen a dual-threat quarterback yet, but this guy [Robert Griffin] was a track athlete, so he definitely can run. That's something we're going to have to watch for-we've got to be able to contain him, because it's going to be really hard to match his speed on defense.
On how the shutout can improve defensive confidence:
I think it goes up a lot. We still have to make improvements... we had a couple of plays that we really need to correct, plays that if we do against Baylor we think they're really going to capitalize on. I think it boosts a lot of confidence for a lot of guys on defense. That's something that maybe we needed, especially coming off of two losses... I think that was something that we really needed as a defense.
Ziggy Hood
On how the defense will try to contain mobile quarterback Robert Griffin:
We won't know this week until we practice tomorrow morning and they give out the game plan, but we want to do anything to create as much havoc and put pressure on the quarterback as much as we can.
On Stryker Sulak's big game against Colorado:
He watched a lot of film, and he was prepared for the game. Confidence plus preparation equals a victory in the game for him. He just goes out there and plays, he doesn't worry about trying to make people make mistakes or anything, but he just goes out there and plays.
On how the defense has improved their focus:
I felt that there was a little slacking on preparation and focus, but once Coach Pinkel got it addressed in front of everybody, everyone took it upon themselves to refocus up. We have bigger tasks at hand, and if you refocus then Sundays feel a lot better waking up and knowing you did your job right. We have TVs in the locker room that have no station on, but all you see is the time and date of the next game on the screen.
Jacquis Smith
On whether he will earn more playing time after his big game against Colorado:
I think so. The coaches were pleased with my performance, they all have told me great a job I did stepping in for Tommy. It was just like if Tommy wasn't missing, though, because I know that Tommy would have also given his best effort.
On how he has matured as a player this year:
I think the mental part of the game. When I first got here, I wasn't a big film watcher, and I would kind of joke and play around before the games. Some of the older guys helped me and kind of brought me along the way. They told me that since I was going to have a bigger role on this team, I needed to get the mental part of the game. That's helped me out a lot.
On Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin:
Robert Griffin has a lot of speed. Our team actually got a chance to race him while I was in high school in the 4x4 when I ran track. He has a lot of speed, so I give much respect to him. Hopefully I will be able to use my speed to catch him a little bit.
