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Baylor Head Coach Jim Grobe
Opening statement...
"Well, obviously very disappointing. Thought we had a great week of practice, thought we had a really good shot of winning a football game today. But the thing that we worried about is exactly what happened. Coach (Bill) Snyder and his team did a nice job controlling the clock. They had 36 minutes of possession time. In our offense, especially when we're trying to go fast pace, you have to make first downs and you have to score points. So, the 14 points in the first half were really off short fields, off turnovers. And then in the second half, to come away with seven points is not good enough. Defensively, I really thought that we had a good plan going in and I thought that we played good early. But start of the third quarter, we felt like we finished the second quarter really well and needed to go out and get a stop and get a little bit of momentum. We weren't able to do that. And then, of course, offensively got nothing done. They went down and scored begin. So we were fighting back uphill the rest of the day. It's the way that we told our offense that they wouldn't have as many possessions as they're used to, not as many opportunities to go score points, so they need to take advantage of every possession we had. We weren't able to do that. Zach (Smith) played okay, I think. He did some really good things, he made some mistakes that hurt us. We have to take better care of the football and we have to protect him better. I didn't think, especially early, we did a very good job protecting him. I thought that we had some miscommunications at times with the receivers and we weren't able to run the football. I thought, had we been able to run the football a little bit, that would have taken some pressure off Zach. So, all in all, it's a team loss. I didn't think we, obviously, played well enough defensively in the second half to win and the offense didn't help them. We didn't do what we typically do, which is move the football and score points. Then, in the kicking game, I think we're going to see some things that we did well. But, certainly, the long kickoff, when we cut it to seven, kickoff return hurt quite a bit. And just really not good enough in any of the three areas to beat a good Kansas State team."

On third straight loss, home loss here and what the team mood is like...
"Well, our guys aren't happy, the locker room, we play to win. And we had a good week of practice, I thought. That's disappointing. I thought Kansas State played really well. But I will say that with four losses, I think that the last two weeks, we have had really good practices. And so the guys haven't given up, we're just not playing well enough to win right now. The thing that's a little bit disappointing, and you got to give credit to other good players, but I thought we didn't tackle very well today and that really hurt us defensively, because we had chances to get off the field. Some of our third down situations where it was third and long, we didn't get off the field and that's really disappointing. Those are things that, to beat good teams, you got to get off the field on third down. Especially when it's third and long. We didn't do that today. Then, offensively, we really had no consistency. And we practiced pretty well this week, so that's disappointing. We'll continue to work hard on special teams. But I think that going forward, I'm pleased with what we have done the last two weeks. I wasn't pleased with, certainly, with TCU. But I thought our kids played really hard against Oklahoma. I don't think we're going to be disappointed in the effort we got today. But, defensively, we have to find ways to get off the field, we have to tackle a little bit better, need to have some three and outs, force some three and outs. And then offensively, we have to make plays. I thought with Zach, I thought that he's typical freshman, we knew that he needed help and I don't think we gave him a lot of help. But I think going forward, even though we have loss four now in a row, I think we're practicing hard and doing the things we need to do to play well, so we just need to play well."

On the difference in the defense from the first half to the second half...
"Yeah, and I think again, we had opportunities in both drives to get off the field on third down and didn't get it done. And that's what you just can't do, you can't let people keep drives alive. So we have to look at it both ways. We have to challenge our players to make plays on third down, but we have also have to look at what we're do you think scheme-wise and see if there isn't anything we can do to help a little bit, whether it's bring more pressure or whatever. I do think that, defensively, if you stay out there too long, you just get worn down. That's not necessarily always the defense's fault. The offense has to help them out a little bit. And you have to score points. There's a part of it mentally that, when you're within a touchdown, three points, whatever, no matter how tired you are, you keep finding a way to reach down. I thought when we closed the gap to seven, I thought, here we go, we're going to hold them and go back down and score and make it a horse race. But we had the long kickoff return and that was really disappointing, because their kickoff cover team is, for the most part, been pretty good this year. So just didn't make enough plays to get it done. I think, defensively, we were just out there too long."

On how to get the team locked back in for last two games and if team wants to play a bowl game...
"Well, I will tell you this: I sense that our guys like playing. I think that's the key. If you really like football and you like playing and you look the challenge each week, I think that would be the biggest concern. If we got to where the guys didn't enjoy practice, they didn't look forward to having another opportunity, I told them in the locker room after the game, the best thing about this loss, it's not the last game. I think there was a feeling among all those guys that we want to find a way to get better and find a way to win. So with that said, you know, in football, unlike a lot of other sports, you got 12 opportunities. So you don't have many opportunities to go play. So I would hope that our guys are looking forward to playing football still. We have a lot to prove. We really, I think we're a better team than we're showing right now, and I think our guys need to bow their necks a little bit and show that."

On if it is easier or harder with a short turnaround to face Texas Tech...
"I think that you make a good point. I think playing sooner rather than later's the best. I think getting right back at it, getting right back out there and playing again. The thing that we have to do a great job of in a short week is we have to give the guys a plan that gives them a better chance to win. And we'll -- one good thing about today, I think from our perspective with Zach, is that we had a, we got a pretty good idea now what he can handle and what he can't handle and what we need to be doing to help him play better. Certainly, we need to protect better, run better routes and run the ball better, of all those kind of things. But I think from a coaching standpoint, we'll have a better beat on how to help him and that may be actually cutting some things out of the game plan. And in a short week, that's probably a smart thing to do."

On Blake Lynch starting at running back and who else has stepped up to fill injury voids...
"Yeah. Blake's been just really, I don't know that it's a surprise, because we know he was in high school, he played a lot of positions and was a great athlete and we know he's got lots of ability. But watching him play against good competition, it kind of gets you excited, especially going forward. He's a guy that we need to find a way to get out there on the field. One of the things that's nice about Blake, with him being able to play running back is when you go empty sets, you can do that with him on the field, and he's one of our better receivers. And then when you want to plug him in at running back, you can do it in a hurry. So with the paced offense, he's a guy going forward that could give us an advantage, because you don't know whether they're going to, we're going to put him in the back field and let him run the ball or put him out wide and throw it."

On if he feels like the offense has regressed lately...
"Yeah, I think that, obviously, today that was the case. Trying to give Zach things that he's comfortable with and at the same time, try to do enough stuff to get the ball down the field, that's something we'll have to look at. Because I think that a big part of our offense has been explosive plays. And honestly, a lot of the explosive plays are not long throws. We hit slants and things across the middle, stop routes and things that turn into big plays. So, we have to find ways to help Zach get the ball down the field, but we probably have to also challenge our wide receivers to make some people miss tackles and get going."

Baylor QB Zach Smith
On what happened in the second half...
"We just didn't go out and execute like we had to. K-State came out and executed and they played really great football. We, offense or defense, we didn't execute coming out for the second half and when you don't do that, you lose."

On his three interceptions...
"Yeah, the first two were completely on me. I just tried to force the ball and maybe fit it in too tight of a window. The third one, I'm not real sure. I think that Blake said the ball was in the sun. I don't know if he could see it or not. It might have been high. I'm not sure. But, yeah, the others were on me, for sure."

On the mood of the locker room...
"Yeah, we're obviously frustrated. We didn't go out and send those seniors out at home like we wanted to. But we still have two games to go out and win out and that's what we need to do."

On what it was like getting his first start under his belt and what he can learn from...
"Yeah, went out there, played four quarters. It was, obviously, a little bit more than I've done before, but I think it helps with my experience. And next week I think I'll be able to pick up on some more things and maybe not be, maybe not try to force as many things as I did."

Baylor LB Travon Blanchard
On the difficult season and if playing in front of a lesser crowd today was a factor...
"Personally, not for me. I can't speak for other teammates. But for me, I like to have my own energy. I like to keep myself going. A lot of our teammates, I feel like, they had their own thing going, really didn't focus too much on the crowd. It was noticeable, but it wasn't just the main focus of us."

On the mood of the team...
"The mood of the team is we just have to rally together. Right now the easiest thing to do is to abandon ship, play the blame game, point fingers. Right now, we have two regular season games, we have a bowl game that we need to prepare for. Right now, we're not making the plays we need to make when we need to make them. We need to play better offense, defense, special teams. So as a team, we need to rally together and commit to getting better."

On what the difference in the defense was from first half to second half...
"Yes. We had a pretty good game plan. Kansas State, they're a very good team. But the key to beating them, of course, is a bunch of things, but winning the early downs. You have to, they're perfectly fine with getting three yards, four yards and a cloud of dust. You want to get them to second and long, third and long, something predictable and get off the field. First half we were able to do that. We led the half 14-7, I believe. Second half, we had them on like a third and 20 something. We have to get off the field at that time. I think they were able to go down and score on that drive, but we have to get off the field on third downs."

On if the team will have enough gas left in the tank to finish seasona nd play a bowl game...
"For sure. This is what we worked for. We worked hard to get to that bowl game. Of course, we expect to win every season, it hasn't been happening, but we don't, it's not like we're just giving up. We understand we have two regular season games and this bowl game, we're very excited, we take and just prepare each week. We have a very explosive Texas Tech team this Friday, so defense, speaking for the defense, we have to commit to getting better. They're going to be completely different from Kansas State, they're actually going to spread the ball, air raid type of offense, so secondary linebackers, the ends have to understand the rush lanes and not let Mahomes be too mobile and create explosive plays."

On if any players or coaches have checked out mentally...
"I don't believe so. I can only speak for myself, I'm all in. I'm bought in with the program. At practice, our coaches are still coaching their butts off. Our players still have good spirits in the locker room and everything. So I don't think that there's any mental lapses going on anywhere."

On how disappointing the long KSU kickoff return was after Baylor made it a seven-point game...
"It's very disappointing. Kickoffs, once being on that unit, coaches, they preach to us that kickoffs is the first play of defense. So, just having our backs up against the end zone, that's kind of where they want the ball, of course, on their side of the 50. They were able to get into a tight formations and run the ball. So we have to work on our special teams. And defense, once our backs are against the wall, our mentality has to change. We have to get, we have to bow our necks and bend, but don't break."

On the last home game for the seniors and what it's like for him right now...
"Personally for me? For me, it's, I've never, in my career, I've never had this type of stretch, four-game losing streak. But I'm viewed as a leader on the team, so I have to make sure I keep a positive mentality, positive vibes. A lot of people are writing us off now. We can't give them what they want. So, personally, it's just keeping your head up, try to inspire someone, make sure that you're getting better each day, getting better than you were the previous day. Sic'em Bears and God bless."

Baylor LB Aiavion Edwards
On K-State's offense...
"Those are the things that kind of took us a second to kind of, adjust to and it took us a while to get a way to stop them. And it kind of resulted in those long drives. They do a great job with that, continuing to keep their guys out there, gaining yards after yards. And I think that by the time we got there and kind of figured it out, that it was just a little, took a little too long."

On the mood of the locker room...
"We were down. It's not fun losing. It's hard. We're fighting hard to get back on the winning streak, but right now, nobody likes losing. But have to put this behind us now and just kind of move on and look forward to the next game."

On what it's going to take to get back on track...
"I think we just have to keep focusing on getting better each and every week. I think when we come back to practices next week, that we have to practice a little harder and focus on little details, rather than just trying to change everything. So I think that's just going to be a big deal, just getting everybody on the same page and focusing in on winning."

Kansas State Head Coach Bill Snyder
On what he liked most from Alex Barnes in the second half
"Well, I just liked that he did what he always does, and that's run extremely hard. He makes a few miss on his way, sometimes, not always, but he's a gifted, powerful-type runner, which we have always known, I think."

On if he helped change the tempo of the game...
"Well, I don't know if it changed the tempo so much. It kind of depends on how you want to define the tempo, but we're slow as molasses all the time. But I think that he just made some things happen that -- who knows whether another running back would have done the same thing or not. But he knocked some balls in the end zone, he got some first downs when he had people hanging on him. So he just ran aggressively and hard."

On his approach defensively coming into the game...
"Well, we just needed to -- we played reasonably well against the run, we needed to continue to do that. We just need to stop giving up big plays. That's been our nemesis all along. And when you take away the big-play aspect of the game, then people have to go a long way. Then you look at our offense and how hard it is to get from one end of the field to the other and for a team that doesn't have the patience to do that, I'm not saying Baylor is one of those teams, but that's -- you take away the big plays, there's, it's more difficult to get the ball in the end zone then. So, we did a little bit better job of that."

On if it is satisfying to play that well in the second half and close out a game better than he has lately...
"Well, yes. You always have to finish. I think we have, sometimes we have, sometimes we haven't. You take two ball games that have gone down to the wire -- that shouldn't have -- that go down to the last snap of the ball game, you have a chance to win, can't finish it off. So, yeah, to be able to do that. And I think the thing that probably did that as much as anything, again, was the benefit of the kickoff return. They still weren't totally out of it until that happened, I think. So it's a major play in the ball game."

Kansas State RB Alex Barnes
On how it felt to have a really good game...
"It felt really good. It was a lot of fun."

On having one carry in first half and taking over in second half...
"Yeah, we're not really sure. It's kind of unpredictable, but whoever is in there, we know that we're really just going to try to tear it up. And our O-line has been killing it, so it was a lot of fun. I just kind of slowed down. With game reps, the more you get, the more it starts to slow down. You start to see what they're doing and see how you can counter it."