SMU v Rice Quotes
9/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Head Coach David Bailiff
"I'm so proud of this team because of the way we came back. We were down 13-0 and instead of hitting the panic button, we shifted gears. I think that's a sign of growing up and maturing as a football team. Some obstacles presented themselves tonight, but we did not hit the panic button. We always found a way to fight back. That's what made me proudest.
"I'm excited about the defense forcing five turnovers. I am not excited about the turnovers and decision-making in our kickoff return and punt return. We need to make better decisions. Our special teams put 14 points on their board, we can't make mistakes like that. What I've learned about this football team is when we make mistakes, we learn from them and we get better. As long as we do that and head to Memphis a better a football team that will be great.
"I am very excited about keeping this Mayor's Cup at Rice. The thing with this game is we have to learn. Those two quick touchdowns, that was just a matter of us getting use to the speed on those routes. We took some bad angles, because that was not our scout team. We adjusted to their speed.
(Game began like last year....)
"That's senior leadership. We have a corps. Of seniors that believe in this mission and we all believe in each other. The second gear we found is a matter of maturing and working together."
Jarett Dillard
"We played a full game tonight and I think that it is the first full game that I've been a part of at Rice.
"With Patrick Randolf and Corbin Smiter each getting their first collegiate touchdowns it just makes my job easier and easy for James Casey and Chase Clement as well."
Andrew Sendejo
"The defense made big plays tonight and it prevented the big plays from happening. That is something that we've been focusing on since spring and through fall camp.
"We are 10 times more confident now than we were last year. Tonight we proved that we are capable of shutting down a high powered offense."
(on interception)
"I was just breaking on the guy and I looked up and I thought it was going to be too high but the ball just came right to me and it was off to the races."
SMU Coach June Jones
On the Freshman QB, Bo Levi Mitchell
"He did some good things, but he had some unfortunate things happen too. The ball slipped out of his hand one time (and that) got to him. But he'll get better; he'll look at the tape and get better. But I like his confidence. He threw some nice passes. We just have to get better around him while he's still learning."
On momentum swing at end of first quarter
"Not really, I told the guys, just get one (touchdown) at the end of the half and keep it a one touchdown game, but we didn't execute the way we needed to do it. We just have to go back to the drawing board and we'll get the guys playing hard. We'll get them better."
On Rice Offense Running Free
"I didn't see their guys running free as much as us running free and not hitting them down the field. I think when you're in that situation that you're behind in that way, it's hard to block them every down. The system is designed to get the ball out. When you have a young quarterback that doesn't grasp it really fast in those situations sometimes it makes you snowball to worse."
On Rice's Offense
"Yes, they're good. They've been up to what they're doing for a year, that really exposed us. Speed--David (Bailiff) has done a good job of getting a lot of speed on the field. That little running back is quick; the quarterback (Chase Clement) must run a 4.5 (40-yard dash). They've got a nice scheme, he (Bailiff) does a nice job. We have to play better, do what we're supposed to do-- play better everywhere. We have to coach better, play better and go back to the drawing board."
