16-13 Overtime Loss No Turn-On for Baylor Coach [Who Goes to Ames Next]: 'It's Like Showering With Your Sister'

You’ve no doubt heard those unforgettable words associated with certain football games.

You know, the words that legendary coach Paul “Bear” Bryant [pictured on the right] supposedly first used:

“A tie is like kissing your sister.”

Well, Guy Morriss [pictured on the left] kicked that one up a notch after his Baylor team lost to Texas A&M, 16-13, in overtime Saturday night at College Station, TX.

“Playing close is like showering with your sister,” Morriss told reporters. “It’s no good. We take no satisfaction in coming down here and playing close.”

Morriss, whose 3-1 team plays Iowa State (3-1) Saturday at Ames, was asked today on the Big 12 coaches’ teleconference about his choice of words at College Station.

I mean, come on, Guy. You’ve got to admit that showering with your sister would be considerably different than kissing her!

“I was just repeating an expression I’ve heard growing up in Texas my whole life,” Morriss explained—or tried to explain. “I don’t even have a sister. I didn’t think about it. I had no disregard or meant no disrespect to anybody.”

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Then there was that handshake thing—both postgame and pregame.

After Texas A&M’s victory Saturday, Morriss and Aggies coach Dennis Franchione didn’t bother meeting at midfield for what has become a coaching tradition—the postgame handshake.

According to Morriss, the absence of a postgame handshake might have had something to do with the absence of a pregame handshake.

“Well, first of all, Fran didn’t want to shake hands before the game at midfield, I guess,” Morriss said. “I never could find him. He didn’t allow his [assistant] coaches to talk to our coaches, which is kind of unusual.

“That’s something you do in this profession—keeping your ties and networking a little bit…..especially the assistant coaches.

“After the game, I started out to midfield and looked for Fran. I waited for what I thought was a reasonable amount of time, then I just went into the locker room.”

Morriss said he’s heard of coaches not greeting one another before a game, but it’s “pretty rare.”

It should be mentioned that Morriss took a verbal jab at A&M after his Baylor team beat the then-16th-ranked Aggies, 35-34, in overtime last season—saying his team “just kicked their [butts].”

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After spending Saturday in Iowa City, wandering the sidelines and the areas surrounding Kinnick Stadium, I’ve concluded that pink T-shirts on grown men—whether they’re 21, 51 or 61 years of age—look stupid.

But I still say that when I gotta go, I gotta go. And I’ll go whether the urinal is pink or purple—and my mood is always a hell of a lot better after I go.

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The pregame drumline session outside the Recreation Building at Iowa City was a big hit Saturday morning.

Take it from an alumni Internet columnist, so were the alumni band, the alumni cheerleaders and the alumni pom-pon girls during the homecoming game a couple of hours later.

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Suddenly, Purdue looks beatable this week for Iowa.

Or am I letting the 49-28 clobbering Notre Dame hung on the Boilermakers last week influence me too much?

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Maybe the Chamber of Commerce in Ames or the city's travel bureau should put Guy Morriss on the payroll.

“I’m looking forward to making the trip to Ames for this week’s game,” the Baylor coach said. “I’ve never been there.”

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Saturday’s game will be Iowa State’s first at Jack Trice Stadium since a 23-3 victory over Iowa on Sept. 10.

“We’re looking forward to being back home,” coach Dan McCarney said. “It’ll be four weeks since our last home game, but it seems like a couple of months.”

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Asked about talk that the Big 12 could be going to a nine-game conference schedule in the future [teams now play eight league league games], McCarney sdaid, "At this stage, I haven't put much thought into it. I like the schedule we have. It's what I'm used to. Maybe I could get talked into a new one.

"I enjoy playing Iowa, and keeping that going. Beyond that, I'm getting ready for Baylor."

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“Guy Morriss and his staff are doing as good a job as anybody in the Big 12 Conference with their coaching,” McCarney said. “They played a tremendous game at Texas A&M. Baylor is a tremendous team and we’re going to get a major challenge from them.”

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Don’t say I didn’t tell you:

Iowa State 35, Baylor 21
Iowa 31, Purdue 28

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Vol. 4, No. 387
Oct. 3, 2005