Big 12 Coaches' Teleconference Quotes

Baylor Coach Guy Morriss
“We played hard against Texas, but we can't win as we much as shot ourselves in the foot against Texas. We realize that, and we hope to get that out of our system. A good crowd and national TV audience Saturday night will be good motivation for us, too. (9 p.m. kickoff) It makes for a long day, but you can't turn down that kind of opportunity. Missouri has a great football team and looked good on tape against Colorado. We will look at the Missouri-Troy game and try to adapt some of those things into our scheme. Defensively, we both play the 4-2-5 alignment, and (QB) Brad Smith is the straw that stirs the drink for the Missouri offense.”

Colorado Coach Gary Barnett
“We had a game against Missouri where two teams went after each other. We just didn't make some plays, especially in the second half on offense. Defensively, we need to stop opponents from getting first downs and get our offense back on the field. Oklahoma State is undefeated, confident, undefeated, and a great running team. Our special teams need to stop the conference's No. 1 punt return gamepossibly the best in the country. We hope to have a big, loud crowd Saturday against Oklahoma State and to get the offense back on track. Balance between the run and pass is a key for our offense.”

Iowa State Coach Dan McCarney
“We lost to an outstanding Oklahoma State team, and it was a case of players, coaches and environment. We face Texas A&M for our Homecoming game and are excited to get back home. A&M has a lot of redshirt freshmen, but in recent years it's a trend for more and more young people to be playing right away. A&M has improved in every area, and Dennis Franchione is a great football coach. There was no doubt he was going to turn around the program. They are big, strong, physical, and fast. We have been having pass protection problems, and I know A&M will come after us hard in that area, too. We have to be better in everything we're doing.”

Kansas Coach Mark Mangino
“The Nebraska game was a hard-fought, good old-fashioned, knockdown dragout. Our defense continues to get a lot of three-and-outs. We have continued to progress on offense, but one of the issues we need to care of is third down conversions. We're focusing on doing better on 1stand- 10 and putting ourselves in long yardage situations on third down. Charles Gordon (two interceptions against Nebraska) is a priority for us on defense. We have to prove Saturday that the KU-Kansas State rivalry is still a good matchup. We haven't held up our end of the deal in recent years, but we will be prepared this week.”

Kansas State Coach Bill Snyder
“It was a disappointing loss to a fine Texas A&M football game last week. We have made some headway in several areasmostly, intrinsic things. We have been playing with a great deal more of spirit and emotion, and the effort is better. We just need to cut down on the mistakes. Kansas is a vastly improved football team, and young guys who run well and tackle well. The Kansas offense is varied and stretches your defense. (RB) Darren Sproles has indicated to us that he wants to be on the field as much as possible, and he's receptive to what we have asked of him. He just had a bad day Saturday.”

Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel
“We played great defense against Colorado to win last week. Things go in cycles, and it's hard to project what might happen in the Big 12 North Division. We're trying to get to be a good football team and working hard on that every day. (Punter) Brock Harvey has a broken clavicle, and we're getting Matt Hoenes ready to step in for him. We're very attuned to the needs of the team and possibly redshirting people, but we realize we have to have everything available to get better. We have some things we can do better on offense, and this is the Big 12. Baylor will be a tough opponent.”

Nebraska Coach Bill Callahan
“We monitor every position, and (coach) Jay Norvell visits with (QB) Joe Dailey and out coaching staff every day about his progress. The quarterback position is scrutinized in every program. The winning streak by Nebraska against Kansas and Texas Tech never having defeated Nebraska are things our staff can't control. We have to go down there and find a way to stop Texas Tech, a team which has a lot of good athletes and the ability to come back from big deficits. That will be a challenge to both our defense and offense. We have an optimum of possibly 60 percent completion percentage that we shoot for, and we have been fortunate to win in spite of turnovers. Our defense has been stellar.”

Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops
“It was a good, solid win, and it doesn't happen very much that you hold them (Texas Tech) to 13 points. We have been running the football well and controlling the game. (RB) Adrian Peterson is ahead of the game for a freshman. He's a confident guy and has a lot of ability. Texas' success running is due a lot to the offensive line and the talent of Cedric Benson. QB Vince Young compliments the running game well. I think the fact that here's a team that has been to the Big 12 championship three of the last four years and how we have competed for the national title has helped us recruit well nationally. There's no number' that we might have on Texas in the series. It's a year-to-year thing.”

Oklahoma State Coach Les Miles
“We played a pretty good game against Iowa State. Special teams' play and the fact that we just made one turnover were big for us in this one. We have a tough road test at Colorado and know how tough it will be to win our second game on the road this year. By HIPA laws, I can't comment on the extent of (CB) Darrent Williams' arm injury. We're going to have to turn to the next guys on the depth chart and have people at the other positions step up their level of play. We are glad to be undefeated, and we need to take the same aggressive approach and desire to win against Colorado that we had at UCLA.”

Texas Coach Mack Brown | More Quotes...
“You look at history. We have only been 4-0 once since the 1982 and '83 seasons, and some of that probably has to do with Oklahoma. I'm asked if OU is a big game for us, and every game is a must game' for us. It is unusual for us to be an underdog, but we know how good the Oklahoma program has continued to thrive under Bob Stoops. We are running the ball better and playing more physical football, and that has been a big help this year. This team has been consistently good football and expects to win. We're younger in some places, and this Oklahoma team is just as good as the ones of the past three or four years.”

Texas A&M Coach Dennis Franchione
“We're very happy to be 1-0 in the conference and being to beat the defending champion (Kansas State) of the Big 12. Our defense seems to be coming back pretty well after practice Sunday, and we'll look at them after running 43 plays to Kansas State's 90 plays last week. It always helps to take a good team when you go on the road. This is a tough league, and it is tough to win on the road. This team has dedicated itself to winning and is getting better. (QB) Reggie McNeal has matured and grown into the quarterback position. He has some games under his belt now, and he's confident.”

Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach
“(QB) Sonny Cumbie played pretty well against Oklahoma. He just needs to make some more hot checks' (audibles) at the line of scrimmage. We have had some freakish turnovers. We have even tipped three of our own passes and had them intercepted. Our game plan for Nebraska and every game, for that matter, is a combination of trying to run our offense and look at the other team's defense. Nebraska looks pretty solid in the secondary. We just try to get better every day. The high-scoring games this year and some other trends seem to be a product of college football, not more passing, etc.”

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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