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Baylor, Oklahoma State Postgame Quotes

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Football 9/25/2016 12:00:00 AM
Sept. 25, 2016

Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery | USATSI Gallery

16/15 BAYLORà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (4-0, 1-0) 35, RV/RV OKLAHOMA STATE (2-2, 0-1)à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ €  24
McLANE STADIUM - WACO, TEXAS
SEPT. 24, 2016 - ATTENDANCE: 45,373

Baylor Head Coach Jim Grobe
Opening statement...
"I told our team in the locker room after the game that we didn't always play our best. We did some really, really good things. And then we did some things that weren't our best, but I've never been around a team that gave a better effort than we have tonight. I thought the thing that saved us tonight is just guys playing as hard as they could possibly play. They are not -- the first and second units, there's not a lot left in that locker room on the defensive side, especially, offensively, we are used to getting more snaps than we did tonight. But some big plays really helped us out. Forced some turnovers on defense really helped us. But I was just really proud of the way our defense bowed their necks when they had to make plays down the stretch."

On coming back from the lightning delay with intensity...
"Well, I think the one thing that we did a good job of, we just got our kids to relax. You know, we tried not to have them stressed out. We didn't go in and start X'ing and O'ing them and all that stuff. We were told it could be a fairly long period of time before we got back out, and it ended up being over an hour and a half I think before we got going again. The thing I wondered, worried the most about, was we had a rookie kicker who had to sit in that locker room for an hour and a half before he got to come out and kick the extra point. I didn't know what was going to happen when we did that. We even discussed going for two to take the pressure off him, but he did great. I would have liked to have seen that not happen. I would have liked to have seen us take that momentum. We've been talking so much about starting fast, and then we take that first drive down the field, and then wait an hour and a half. So we didn't start as fast as we wanted to tonight."

On WR Ishmael Zamora and WR Chris Platt stepping up...
"Well, I think honestly, we knew Ish had potential. There was no question, we knew he had potential. I don't think he caught a lot of balls last year but we could see in spring practice, the coaches saw in spring practice, and then I could see in our summer practices, that he had talent. But he had not played yet. You know, a lot of young guys, they get playing time when it really counts and they don't play very well and I think we'll find that he probably didn't run some routes as well as he could have. He probably had some issues getting lined up split-wise from not having a lot of playing time so far, but from a big play standpoint, he was huge tonight. I mean, it was big for us."

On the defense's effort tonight, being put in tough spots and on the field for long periods of time...
"You know, we have done that, really, all season. You know it seems like when our defense gets their backs against the wall, we play better, and so I just like to go ahead and spot them on the 20 and say, let's play football. But it just was amazing tonight to watch the guys play so hard, and at times, we missed coverages, we missed some line stunts once in awhile. I thought Oklahoma State, I have to give them a lot of credit, I thought they had a great plan running the football tonight and that kept the clock spinning and kept our guys out there. But when you stay out there as long as we did tonight and still have some juice left at the end of the game, says a lot about the character of our defense."

On his emotions during a big game opening up Big 12 play...
"Actually when we left the locker room at half-time, I actually told the kids how proud I was of them for how hard we played. I said, guys, we haven't played our best but let's play better in the second half, but I couldn't be happier with how hard we are playing. And then I never dreamed we'd have to play that much harder in the second half to get a win. And I think this was really a testament to the toughness and character of these kids. You know, they just refuse to give up, even when our backs were against the wall. So for me personally as a coach, I think the No. 1 thing you want is to think that you're getting a best effort. You might not always get their best play, but if you get their best effort, you feel like you're doing something good, and I think -- I've got to give all the credit to our coaching staff for the way they have prepared them. You know, offensively, we didn't hit as many plays as we normally do, but when we had to make something happen, we did, and you know, defensively, I thought our coaches just kept sending them back out there and there were a lot of one-act guys on the defensive side of the ball tonight."

On going for it on fourth down deep in Baylor's own territory...
"Honestly, you're talking about the time we were backed up inside the 30-yard line? That was totally my fault. We go pretty fast offensively, especially if we've got a short yardage situation, and somehow I had clicked my headset the wrong way and I was yelling, "Punt the ball! Punt the ball! Punt the ball!" And KB (offensive coordinator Kendal Briles) goes so fast, that before I could run down and grab him, we had run the play. So you know, I've got to take total credit for that. That's just a little switch on my battery pack, and if you're not careful, if you touch that, it cuts your voice off. So I'm just casually saying, "Punt the ball, punt the ball," and then I see we're going to go for it and I start running down the sideline and couldn't get to him. But KB was happy to go for it. He never minds going for it."

On the press box and social media reaction to the fourth down call...
"It's really fun. I like the attitude of our offensive coaches because they are just going to go, go, go, until somebody says let's slow down. In that situation, we did it -- what was it, I can't remember -- the SMU game I think when we went for it on the 29-yard line and that was mainly because -- I was okay where that because I thought our defense had been out there so long and I didn't want to put them back on the field. But tonight, I felt like we needed to punt the football. I just didn't get the message to them quick enough, and you know, they are going to assume that if I don't say something, it's okay to go for it. So if we'd have gotten it, I'd take credit for it and say, oh, yeah, I wanted to do that."

Baylor QB Seth Russell
On managing distractions from a long lightning delay...
"It's not hard to do. It's what we're trained to do. It's what Coach Kaz (Kazadi) and them, that's what they train us to do every day. There's going to be distractions and there's going to be things that happen that are negative but we had to put those aside and come out and play football."

On how WR Ishmael Zamora stepped up after missing first three games...
"That was huge. I knew he was going to step up. He's a great football player and he showed that tonight. He's another weapon to put in the offense, and he's a great guy. He's working hard. He never took any days off. When he was suspended, he never griped one day. He came out to work and it showed tonight."

On WR Chris Platt's performance...
"Yeah, I think he's been pretty upset the last couple weeks. He had some big drops, kind of throughout the week, he had been beating himself up about it. I just kept trying to encourage him. He's a guy, he's a soft-spoken guy. He doesn't talk a whole lot. You just know by his demeanor he gets upset. Just like everybody, you want to make the big play. But he came out tonight, he came out firing and he did some great things like we knew he would. He stepped up big time and he made some big plays for us."

On the defense's effort...
"That's a huge testament to the defense, they have been holding us in the games the past four games now, they have held us in there. They have given us a shot. And give full credit to Coach (Phil) Bennett and their staff and OSU. They had a great game. They had a good game plan. They were tough, but Coach Bennett, you know, they did a great job of adjusting at half-time a little bit. But for the most part we put them in some bad situations, going for it on fourth down on our own 30 and they answered the play. They answered the call and got the fumble recovery on the goal line which is huge and they got the fourth-down stop. It just shows how hard those guys work. They kept us in the game and I give them all the credit for sure."

On the 99-yard drive and the rhythm he was in...
"I think so. You kind of have that, when you are playing a sport, you just get that feeling and I felt like I had it then. I was telling Coach (Kendal Briles), just give me the ball. Just let me try and distribute it around. I was feeling good. Our receivers were playing lights out. Our offensive line were playing lights out. I mean, I didn't think get touched -- I think maybe in the first quarter I got touched, but after that it was locked down up front and I give all the credit to those guys, Coach Clem (offensive line coach Randy Clements). But that 99-yarder, we knew we had to put it in there. If we got the points, it was going to be game over, because the defense was going to shut them down."

On the 89-yard touchdown to WR Chris Platt...
"Well, you know, Chris Platt is a fast guy. They were playing the stop and we just did a quick double move and he got open. He did the rest."

On TE Jordan Feuerbacher's big performance...
"Absolutely. We were trying to incorporate a lot more in our offense, try to throw some hiccups here and there, and Jordan's been Mr. Consistent. He's caught everything his way. He's a guy that comes and hits you in the mouth and he'll just flip and you get a quick ball for about 40. He's not going to break anything -- he'll break your face probably if he hits you. But no, he's a great guy. He's been working hard. Just all the things we've been doing in preparation, he's been there. Hasn't complained. He gets the ball, catches it -- makes sure he looks at it and catches it and does the rest."

Baylor WR Chris Platt
On breaking out with a big game after a few drops in first three games...
"I kind of like tried to put it behind me so it doesn't bother me in the future games. I knew I had to come out here and do what I had to do to help the offense keep running and score."

On getting loose for the 89-yard TD catch and the double move he used...
"It feels great. I probably haven't opened up like that since high school, so it kind of felt great to open up and see nothing but grass and the touchdown zone. I've been doing (the double move) ever since I got here, so I kind of perfected it."

On him and WR Ishmael Zamora being in same recruiting class with hype about both players and breaking out tonight...
"It was great, because we both came in at the same time. We redshirted and we went through all that. We sat there and watched each other struggle through everything, so it was a good thing to see him succeed today."

Baylor LB Travon Blanchard
On how the defense shutdown Oklahoma State WR James Washington, one of the nation's best receivers...
"I think he's a really good athlete. Last week he had 296 receiving yards. He's a very big part of their offense, so we as a defense wanted to make them prove that someone else was going to beat us. A lot of our coverages kind of took Washington out of it, so we were able to go out there and execute against a really good Oklahoma State team and we got the win."

On the mindset of the defense with being put in tough spots all night...
"As a defense, we understand that our offense runs a lot of plays really quickly, so there's a lot of chance it might be third-and-long, punting, or might go for it though. Just goes to show you what type of defense we are. We are a very opportunistic defense. Whenever we have our opportunity to get the ball back, catch interceptions, punch the ball out, we want to take our chances. We know that turnovers is a really big part of the game; it could change the complete output of the game. So really proud of our defense tonight."

On how happy he was after the replay review gave him a forced fumble and fumble recovery at the Baylor one-yard-line...
"I was very happy. Aiavion (Edwards), he did a good job wrapping them up. Like I said, take your opportunities. At the very last second, I thought about it, and I was able to get a really good punch on it. And the next thing I know, I saw the ball rolling around. So I just recovered it, they tried to tempo, and luckily the people in the press box or someone stopped and reviewed it. That was a really big stop for our defense. They were on the goal line. It was fourth and short. If they would have got first down, they would have had four more plays to score and get ahead. I believe it was 24-28 at that time, and so it was a really good thing for our defense. We got the turnover, offense went down and scored and like I said, it's a great thing."

On how to fix things to get off the field on third down more often than the defense did tonight...
"It's very important to get off the field. (Oklahoma State QB Mason) Rudolph, he's a very smart quarterback. He has tremendous touch on his throws. He made a lot of really good, smart safe throws. We tried to show him a few different coverages, different looks and he was able to deliver. So luckily as a defense we were able to get the win and we also have a lot of points that we can emphasize, things that we can get better on, so that's good for our defense."

On how he feels after the defense played over 100 snaps...
"Well, after playing 102 snaps, that's a lot of plays to be on the field. That just goes to show you our conditioning program, Coach Kaz (Kazadi), he keeps us conditioned. He helps to get us to think right after a lot of plays like that, and them converting a lot of third downs, have to be able to think positive. Thinking positive is a skill. So you have to still be able to think positive, get the call, get lined up and execute the call. Really big shout out to our strength and conditioning coaches on that one. God bless."

Baylor LB Aiavion Edwards
On the big stop on fourth-and-goal...
"Yeah, we were pretty tired but I think we all stuck together. It was all for the team, so we just wanted to focus on that. The offense, with the position we were put in, we were just trying to just make the best opportunity we could and came out and ended up with a turnover. It was exciting and just glad that everybody kind of stuck together, was on the same page and able to execute the game plan."

On Coach Grobe saying he has never had a team work as hard as they did tonight...
"I think it just says a lot about the team and the guys on it. We were extremely excited to get out there and just play for the coaches that are here, and we want to work hard for one another, so I think it's not really a big deal. We don't see it as anything a little different. It's just we are going to work for our brothers and the guy beside us."

On the coverage communication on third downs and if it was frustrating when OSU kept converting at a high rate...
"We just talk to one another. We try to keep our heads straight, just pushing towards getting off the field. That's a big thing, we just knew we had to get off the field. So everybody just paying attention to what they needed to and everybody just executing what the call was at the time."


Oklahoma State Head Coach Mike Gundy
Opening statement...
"This game's pretty easy to see. You travel on the road, turn the ball over three times and then defensively you give up way too many big plays. We got away with that last week. We had two turnovers that cost us points and we gave up big plays and we were able to overcome it. But now you're traveling down here and playing a good team, and when you're moving the ball and you turn it over, you just shoot yourself in the foot and then when you give up big plays, when you have them backed up against the wall, it's hard to beat a good team. It's really pretty simple."

On being inside the Baylor five yard line twice and coming up with no points...
"Well, that's kind of what I was talking about. One time we were going for it on fourth and two because I didn't feel like a field goal would win the game. I thought we had to score touchdowns. And second time we turned the ball over. I mean, it's real simple. And I hate it, because if you take those six or eight crucial mistakes out, we probably played well enough to win the game. Unfortunately, those count."

On RB Justice Hill having a good game but fumbling twice and if that canceled out his performance...
"Sure does. Got to take care of the ball. Doesn't do any good. If you can't take care of the ball, it doesn't do us any good to have you in there. And he's a freshman, I understand that, but he's got to learn to take care of the football. Take us out of the game against good teams."

On if it makes the game tougher to swallow when giving some things away...
"Right, yeah, I mean, I'm not going to try to hide it. You can tell by looking at me, and I told the team the same thing. You have to learn to take care of the ball and you have to learn to quit giving up so many big plays on defense. Pretty easy press conference for me."

On Baylor's 89-yard TD pass, 99-yard drive, two 38-yard touchdown passes...
"They run the stop-and-go on the outside. They are good at it. We know they are going to do it and we didn't play it right. We bid it both times, they ran right by us and he put the ball right on the money."

On winning the time of possession battle by emphasizing the run...
"We felt like the last two years we got in a track meet with them, and we couldn't run with them. And so we wanted to be able to establish some running game, use a little bit of clock with playing on the road. And that's why I'm so upset at everybody. It's not just the players. It's coaches. We've got to coach them better and put them in a better position so we don't give up those big plays. Because otherwise, our game plan, what our thought was, playing as a team, worked. But unfortunately turn the ball over three times and give up huge plays, you just throw all that out the window."

Oklahoma State QB Mason Rudolph
On playing pretty well and coming close but not winning in the end...
"You know, I'm really proud of our guys, our offensive linemen. They did an incredible job all game of moving the ball well on the ground. Our running backs made some great cuts, some great runs and just ball security just got us. So we'll work on that and we'll move forward but really proud of those guys up front. You know, it sucks, but you know, nothing we can do now. We're going to move on, have a great Sunday. I have to be better. This offense has to be better. But we'll move on, we'll make corrections like we always do and we'll rebound."

On coming back to tie it three times and what he learns from a game like this...
"I think it's good for our mental toughness that we never stopped fighting. We knew we could win and we kept pushing. You know, the chips just didn't fall our way. We had bad ball security, you know, partly my fault. So correctible mistakes, and like I said, we'll move on and bounce back."

On sticking with the run and being more patient tonight...
"We had so many long drives, man, gave our defense a chance to recover and game plan over on the sidelines and I think Coach Yurcich called an incredible game, a lot of successful runs, a lot of play action, a lot of different stuff. We've just got to finish when it counts and we'll get better, though."

-BU-
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Players Mentioned

Chris Platt

#14 Chris Platt

WR
5' 11"
Senior
3L
Jordan Feuerbacher

#85 Jordan Feuerbacher

TE
6' 4"
Senior
Chris Platt

#18 Chris Platt

WR
5' 11"
Freshman
Ishmael Zamora

#8 Ishmael Zamora

WR
6' 4"
Freshman
Travon Blanchard

#48 Travon Blanchard

LB
6' 2"
Freshman
Aiavion Edwards

#20 Aiavion Edwards

LB
6' 1"
Redshirt Freshman
Seth Russell

#17 Seth Russell

QB
6' 3"
Redshirt Freshman

Players Mentioned

Chris Platt

#14 Chris Platt

5' 11"
Senior
3L
WR
Jordan Feuerbacher

#85 Jordan Feuerbacher

6' 4"
Senior
TE
Chris Platt

#18 Chris Platt

5' 11"
Freshman
WR
Ishmael Zamora

#8 Ishmael Zamora

6' 4"
Freshman
WR
Travon Blanchard

#48 Travon Blanchard

6' 2"
Freshman
LB
Aiavion Edwards

#20 Aiavion Edwards

6' 1"
Redshirt Freshman
LB
Seth Russell

#17 Seth Russell

6' 3"
Redshirt Freshman
QB