By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Each week, Big 12 coaches have their weekly meetings with the media at their press conferences during the college football season. Baylor head coach Dave Aranda’s comments have already been posted. Rankings are from the AP Poll. Here are some highlights elsewhere in the league. Quotes and notes are taken from those pressers if not specified elsewhere. All games are Saturday unless otherwise noted.
Steve Sarkisian, Texas (7-4, 5-3) – The Longhorns play host to Baylor Friday: Texas still has a chance to play in the Big 12 Championship game. It needs to beat the Bears and then have Kansas win at Kansas State Saturday. The Longhorns have the tiebreaker because they won at Kansas State. "It probably goes both ways," Sarkisian said. "I'm really proud of our guys, to stack road wins together and to play the style of football that we've been playing, I think is a physical brand of football. I think you can feel our effort in which we play the game, I think we're playing smart.
"Again, you can always look back and play the what-if game. What if this play and what if that play in a couple of other ball games, but in the end the resiliency our guys have shown, I'm very proud of that."
Lance Leipold, Kansas (6-5, 3-5) – The Jayhawks play at Kansas State: While KU didn’t do much in its home finale against Texas in a 55-14 loss, the program enjoyed three sellouts and attendance was up 17,000 from last year. “The game day environment here is night and day different than it was a year ago, and we appreciate that,” Leipold said. “We hope that is reflective and hopefully their belief in this program and our players moving forward. Hopefully, we'll see the uptick in season tickets and all the other things that we would like this place to be full and the booth to be full every game day possible.”
Brent Venables, Oklahoma (6-5, 3-5) – The Sooners play at Texas Tech: Venables knows this could have been the last time Oklahoma State played at OU. The Sooners won, 28-13. "A lot was at stake. Winning the state championship, incredibly important to us — one of our team goals for the season,’’ he said. “Having a chance to hand out a trophy, a lot is on the line. You're playing for, again, a trophy. Who knows how many more times, if at all, we'll play. I haven't seen any of the schedules for next year yet with new teams coming in. So having that trophy right now means a lot to these players. The seniors going out as winners the last time in the Palace, it means a lot to those guys. They've invested a ton in their careers. I told them earlier in the week, this will be a day that you'll never forget.
Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State (7-4, 4-4) – The Cowboys play host to West Virginia: Gundy talked about TCU’s chances of playing in the College Football Playoff: “At the point they’re at now, we should want them to be able to try to get in there. It elevates them, and it elevates everybody in postseason and all along, so on and so forth. For what they’ve been able to do, like they’ve been behind in the fourth quarter in six games, right? Or five? And to come back and do that and then what we were just talking about, so they put themselves in that position to kind of, you know, finish it off or whatever you want to call it. But yes, yes, we want each other to do good when we’re not playing against each other.”
Neal Brown, West Virginia (4-7, 2-6) – The Mountaineers play at Oklahoma State: Brown is possibly coaching his last game at WVU. And in a sign that scene control in the locker room isn’t right, defensive back Charles Wood tweeted he’s leaving the program. Brown was not amused. “I heard he put something out on social media. I try to protect these guys, but he shut it down,” Brown said with a shot directed right at Woods.
Chris Klieman, Kansas State (8-3, 6-2) – The Wildcats play host to Kansas: The Wildcats clinch their berth to the Big 12 title game with a win in the Sunflower Showdown. Offensive coordinator and former KSU QB Collin Klein is getting the hang of running this offense. KSU has broken 30 points seven times this season. “CK is doing a great job and excited for him in his first full year of doing this,’’ Klieman said. “ He's very calm. He's very relaxed. The kids feed off of him because of just the passion he has for our offense, for Kansas State and I know this; those kids in there would run through a wall for CK and it's fun to watch those guys.”
Matt Campbell, Iowa State (4-7, 1-7) – The Cylones play at TCU: Part of the reason why the Cyclones aren’t going to a bowl is because of their running game, especially short-yardage plays. Several times they failed to convert in those situations in the 14-10 loss to Texas Tech. “Yeah, obviously it’s frustrating. The inconsistency, as I’ve talked about multiple times. It’s very inconsistent, and they’re an offense that drives up and down the field. Then you get into some of those moments, and you picked up a lot of those throughout the game. The inability to do it there, in that moment, man, it’s critical, and it could cost you the football game, or at least be a huge piece of it.”
Joey McGuire, Texas Tech (6-5, 4-4) – The Red Raiders play host to Oklahoma: While the Red Raiders are going to a bowl in his first year, McGuire is not satisfied. Buying in, the buy-in historically Texas Tech has been so great on offense, almost an afterthought, the bus driver that Bus 1 was defense and not offense. We want to be a complete team and have a demeanor of having a good defense. Some of those guys had a chip on their shoulder that Tyree wasn’t going to play, about stepping up and playing at a higher level…meanwhile DE Tyree Wilson is having surgery on his broken foot. His college football career is over.
Sonny Dykes, TCU (11-0, 8-0) – The Horned Frogs play host to Iowa State: TCU trying to complete a perfect regular season before it makes its appearance in the Big 12 Title Game Dec. 3 at AT&T Stadium. Dykes word-for-word comment on the game-winning field goal at the horn. "Our guys just never quit. They just believe in each other," Dykes said. "We were well prepared, we practice that play every Thursday, and Griffin just came in, knocked it down. What a win.
"Looks more frantic than it is."
Publisher
Each week, Big 12 coaches have their weekly meetings with the media at their press conferences during the college football season. Baylor head coach Dave Aranda’s comments have already been posted. Rankings are from the AP Poll. Here are some highlights elsewhere in the league. Quotes and notes are taken from those pressers if not specified elsewhere. All games are Saturday unless otherwise noted.
Steve Sarkisian, Texas (7-4, 5-3) – The Longhorns play host to Baylor Friday: Texas still has a chance to play in the Big 12 Championship game. It needs to beat the Bears and then have Kansas win at Kansas State Saturday. The Longhorns have the tiebreaker because they won at Kansas State. "It probably goes both ways," Sarkisian said. "I'm really proud of our guys, to stack road wins together and to play the style of football that we've been playing, I think is a physical brand of football. I think you can feel our effort in which we play the game, I think we're playing smart.
"Again, you can always look back and play the what-if game. What if this play and what if that play in a couple of other ball games, but in the end the resiliency our guys have shown, I'm very proud of that."
Lance Leipold, Kansas (6-5, 3-5) – The Jayhawks play at Kansas State: While KU didn’t do much in its home finale against Texas in a 55-14 loss, the program enjoyed three sellouts and attendance was up 17,000 from last year. “The game day environment here is night and day different than it was a year ago, and we appreciate that,” Leipold said. “We hope that is reflective and hopefully their belief in this program and our players moving forward. Hopefully, we'll see the uptick in season tickets and all the other things that we would like this place to be full and the booth to be full every game day possible.”
Brent Venables, Oklahoma (6-5, 3-5) – The Sooners play at Texas Tech: Venables knows this could have been the last time Oklahoma State played at OU. The Sooners won, 28-13. "A lot was at stake. Winning the state championship, incredibly important to us — one of our team goals for the season,’’ he said. “Having a chance to hand out a trophy, a lot is on the line. You're playing for, again, a trophy. Who knows how many more times, if at all, we'll play. I haven't seen any of the schedules for next year yet with new teams coming in. So having that trophy right now means a lot to these players. The seniors going out as winners the last time in the Palace, it means a lot to those guys. They've invested a ton in their careers. I told them earlier in the week, this will be a day that you'll never forget.
Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State (7-4, 4-4) – The Cowboys play host to West Virginia: Gundy talked about TCU’s chances of playing in the College Football Playoff: “At the point they’re at now, we should want them to be able to try to get in there. It elevates them, and it elevates everybody in postseason and all along, so on and so forth. For what they’ve been able to do, like they’ve been behind in the fourth quarter in six games, right? Or five? And to come back and do that and then what we were just talking about, so they put themselves in that position to kind of, you know, finish it off or whatever you want to call it. But yes, yes, we want each other to do good when we’re not playing against each other.”
Neal Brown, West Virginia (4-7, 2-6) – The Mountaineers play at Oklahoma State: Brown is possibly coaching his last game at WVU. And in a sign that scene control in the locker room isn’t right, defensive back Charles Wood tweeted he’s leaving the program. Brown was not amused. “I heard he put something out on social media. I try to protect these guys, but he shut it down,” Brown said with a shot directed right at Woods.
Chris Klieman, Kansas State (8-3, 6-2) – The Wildcats play host to Kansas: The Wildcats clinch their berth to the Big 12 title game with a win in the Sunflower Showdown. Offensive coordinator and former KSU QB Collin Klein is getting the hang of running this offense. KSU has broken 30 points seven times this season. “CK is doing a great job and excited for him in his first full year of doing this,’’ Klieman said. “ He's very calm. He's very relaxed. The kids feed off of him because of just the passion he has for our offense, for Kansas State and I know this; those kids in there would run through a wall for CK and it's fun to watch those guys.”
Matt Campbell, Iowa State (4-7, 1-7) – The Cylones play at TCU: Part of the reason why the Cyclones aren’t going to a bowl is because of their running game, especially short-yardage plays. Several times they failed to convert in those situations in the 14-10 loss to Texas Tech. “Yeah, obviously it’s frustrating. The inconsistency, as I’ve talked about multiple times. It’s very inconsistent, and they’re an offense that drives up and down the field. Then you get into some of those moments, and you picked up a lot of those throughout the game. The inability to do it there, in that moment, man, it’s critical, and it could cost you the football game, or at least be a huge piece of it.”
Joey McGuire, Texas Tech (6-5, 4-4) – The Red Raiders play host to Oklahoma: While the Red Raiders are going to a bowl in his first year, McGuire is not satisfied. Buying in, the buy-in historically Texas Tech has been so great on offense, almost an afterthought, the bus driver that Bus 1 was defense and not offense. We want to be a complete team and have a demeanor of having a good defense. Some of those guys had a chip on their shoulder that Tyree wasn’t going to play, about stepping up and playing at a higher level…meanwhile DE Tyree Wilson is having surgery on his broken foot. His college football career is over.
Sonny Dykes, TCU (11-0, 8-0) – The Horned Frogs play host to Iowa State: TCU trying to complete a perfect regular season before it makes its appearance in the Big 12 Title Game Dec. 3 at AT&T Stadium. Dykes word-for-word comment on the game-winning field goal at the horn. "Our guys just never quit. They just believe in each other," Dykes said. "We were well prepared, we practice that play every Thursday, and Griffin just came in, knocked it down. What a win.
"Looks more frantic than it is."
