Recap | Box Score | Notes | USATSI Photo Gallery

BAYLOR POSTGAME QUOTES

Head Coach Jim Grobe

Opening Statement:
"Well, that was a heck of a football game. Really disappointed that we didn't come out on top. Would like to have a couple plays back. Made a couple mistakes that hurt us, but I thought we had good effort the past few weeks. We just haven't played well enough. I thought today, we not only played really really hard, but we played really really good. A couple penalties that hurt us. A couple turnovers that hurt us. I was really proud of Zach Smith. He sprained his ankle pretty good and still hung in there for a freshman quarterback and really showed some toughness and was committed to trying to get the job done for the team there at the end. Kind of some crazy stuff going on today, but a great football game. If you don't care who won, then that's a heck of a football game."

On the onside kick in the fourth quarter:
"Well it's kind of crazy, I have to go back and look at it, but the rule is the ball's got to go 10 yards before you block. If they come forward and the ball hits them then it's a free ball. The ruling from what I understand is we blocked them before they had the opportunity for the ball to hit their player, but then there were some controversies to whether they blocked us to keep us away from the ball. So who blocked who is kind of the deal. So, I thought is was a little bit crazy. I thought that basically the first call was because they had touched the ball first before it got to 10 yards, that it was a free ball. I'm guessing that in the replay that they either didn't think the ball hit their player, or they felt like we had actually blocked them before the ball hit their player. So, that's the way it turned out.

On Baylor's effort throughout the entire game:
"We've really been an undermanned football team, really all year. Numbers wise, we're really down. It affects not only our depth in games, but it also affects our practice because we've got fewer guys to practice with. So it's been a tough deal for us; and then of course, losing Seth Russell was a huge blow to our football team. He was one of the better quarterbacks in the league, had been chosen to play in the senior bowl. It's hard to lose a senior that's playing that well. So that hurt, but I'm just proud of the way our kids have hung in there. With a freshman quarterback, Zach Smith has really grown the last three weeks, and our guys have really played as hard as they can play trying to rally around Zach. I wish we would have caught a couple more balls today. We missed some routes with some young guys; a couple of our freshmen are at the receiver position, freshman running back in JaMycal (Hasty). So, we have a bunch of freshmen on the field offensively, and I'm just proud of them. I though West Virginia is one of the best teams in the Big 12, if not in the whole country. I just felt like our guys played really hard today, and we actually played better today. We played hard the last couple of weeks, but we just haven't played very well. Today you still make some mistakes. When you're playing full speed, you're gonna make some mistakes, but I was just proud of not only the effort, but I felt that we started to play better as a team."

On Terence Williams not being able to play in the second half:
"Same deal, he's good until he gets that knee bruised. I think he's just sore and gets to the point where he can't go anymore. Hopefully, a little bit of rest will get him full speed and completely healed up. I thought he played great in the first half. Somebody said he had about 90 yards rushing in the first half, and then we couldn't use him in the second half, which was disappointing because I thought he was playing really well. Like what JaMycal Hasty did in the second half, he ran the ball well. For a freshman, missed a couple of seams that we had blocked for him, but that's what freshmen do. As far as playing full speed, I thought he did. And hopefully we'll get all of those running backs healthy.

NB Travon Blanchard

On the matchupà ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"I feel like the defense gave a really good effort. I feel like we had a good game plan coming in. We knew that West Virginia had a very hostile crowd. The weather up here is very different. It's colder than it is in Texas, so it's a lot of things that you've got to get used to, get accustomed to. But I feel like the defense gave us a good effort, a chance at the end to try to win. Offense made plays, but we couldn't execute when we needed to."

On the return of LB Taylor Youngà ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"Taylor being back is a big help. He's our leader, our source of energy when we need it. He's going to get in there and make some really good tackles. It felt really good having T-Young out there."

On facing West Virginia QB Skylar Howardà ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"We were just trying to show him some different looks. He's a really good quarterback. He makes some good throws. We tried to show him different pictures and tried to keep him uncomfortable. We just wanted him throwing on the run or having him throw somethings really quick when he didn't want to."

QB Zach Smith

On the turnoversà ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"We've just got to take care of the ball. The first (turnover) was a crazy play on the first drive of the game. It just didn't go our way. On the second pick, I probably should have just took off with the ball. I kind of tried to force it a little bit, but they ended up not getting anything out of it. We probably could have scored right before the half if we wanted to. We've just got to take care of the ball. We're just shooting ourselves in the foot once again."

On the team effortà ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"I think we had a good effort. We went out there and played a good football team in West Virginia. They're really good, and we went out there and played our butts off. And if a few plays here and there go our way, then it's a completely different ballgame. Some stuff didn't, and we didn't execute like we needed to, so we didn't win."

Opening Statement:
"Obviously, I am happy for our guys. Happy for especially the 21 seniors and our football team. I guess it's fitting that in a year where we battle and fight and get to 10 wins, we get to it the hardest way possible. Today, we got to a 24-21 win the hardest way possible. Was that the score? I know we won by three. I couldn't be happier for our guys. The bottom line is do what you gotta do to win. I think the bottom line today was four turnovers to zero turnovers. We didn't play great on offense. I thought (Justin) Crawford ran the ball really well. But didn't play great, but didn't screw it up either. That's the biggest thing offensively. Defensively, I thought we played really well. Gibby (Tony Gibson) did a great job. Covered them well. Stopped the run and then created four turnovers. You hold that group down like that, you've got a chance to win. We could've probably forced the envelope a little bit offensively and screwed things up, so I was glad that our guys didn't do that. It feels good to be 10-2. I guess I will be able to take a deep breath here for about 12-15 hours and then we'll get up and go recruiting. Take a week off and recruit a little bit. Obviously, be able to build on the momentum of a 10-win season and solidify the future as well, which we're all excited about that."

On if playing seven straight weeks had an impact during today's game:
"There's a lot of guys that have taken a lot of snaps for us this year that didn't play. A lot. Nobody cares about that. You can't use that as an excuse. We had a lot of guys that have taken a lot of snaps, that just weren't able to play. One of the reasons why we're able to win is because we've got guys continuously stepping up. Marvin Gross is a prime example for that. Kyzir White has been one of our best defensive players all year. Breaks his hand, can't play. Marvin steps in there and plays his tail off. Couldn't be happier for him. That's one example. Last week it was (Martell) Pettaway. This week, it's Marvin. There's more examples than that. I think Marcus Simms took every snap after Jovon (Durante) went out play four. You know, that's what this team is all about. We don't use any excuses. Just keep playing. The guys really want to continue to fight and do what they got to do to win."

On if the team tried to do too much on senior day:
"I think we probably pressed a little bit. I mean, it was important to our guys. The seniors, they're important to me, they're important to this program, important to the coaching staff. They wanted to win bad. Our team wanted to win bad. Wanted this 10th win for the WVU Athletic Department, for the Mountaineer Nation, the fans and prove our bowl stance, which I've got some thoughts on that as well. We probably did. We probably pressed a little bit. At halftime, the biggest message at halftime was we've been here before and we came out on top a lot. So get out there and fight your tail off. I was a little disappointed in us with our sideline energy, which we were so good at that last week at Iowa State. I thought our sideline energy tonight was terrible. We addressed that at halftime. We had to get rid of a few people from our sidelines because they were bringing us down. Went out in the second half and it was good. Excitement level was good and we were fired up a bit."

On his emotions in the last few minutes of the game:
"I have a headache, coach. It hasn't went away yet. I have a headache. I am exhausted and happy. Bevy of emotions. There's no question. But, it'll sink in probably here in a little bit."

On being one of the few coaches to have multiple 10-win seasons:
"It's big. It's happened twice in six years, which we're excited about that. It's the first time it's happened in the regular season, so that's something to be proud of. That was our message all week with the guys. It ain't about me, I can assure you that. It's about these guys. And for our team to get to 10 wins in the regular-season, that's putting you up there with a lot of those teams on that wall on the other side of the building when you go by a lot of these BCS wins. It's the same-type deal. We can't go to a BCS game because there isn't any. We can go to a power-six bowl and I think we probably deserve to. For the life me, I can't figure out how we're ranked 16th. I haven't commented on this, but I will now. We've got two losses to two top-10 teams. There's other schools that have two and three losses that are ahead of us that don't have losses to two top-10 schools. I don't get how that is. Doesn't make any sense to me. This team has fought hard. Maybe we win too ugly. At the end of the day, I thought it was about winning football games. And we've won 10. And this group is going to be remembered for that. And they're going to be on that wall back there because they're a great football team. There's a lot of good bowl games out there and no matter where we go, we're going to be excited about going and hopefully we'll get to eleven."