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BAYLOR UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 24, 2016

Travon Blanchard

Waco, Texas

Oklahoma State - 24, Baylor - 35

Q. Can you just talk about the job you guys did particularly against Washington, he's one of the top receivers in the nation and for all intents and purposes, you guys really shut him down tonight?
TRAVON BLANCHARD: 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.

Q. The defense was really put in some tough situations, especially late in the game. Can you talk about y'all's mind-set and how you came through there?
TRAVON BLANCHARD: 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.

Q. Travon, particularly the play down on the go line where you get the fumble recovery, how happy were you just to see them stop and review the play?
TRAVON BLANCHARD: I was very happy. Aiavion, 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.

Q. You talk about the fourth down stop and all the turnovers you guys had, but the third down conversions, how do you fix that and make sure you get off the field on third down?
TRAVON BLANCHARD: It's very important to get off the field. 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.

Q. Specifically on the third downs, on the first opening series they had in the second half -- I think it was six in a row at one point. What adjustments did y'all make? Could you imagine the game ending the way it did?
TRAVON BLANCHARD: Yes, like I said, we just have to get better, getting upset (ph) on third down. Rudolph, he made a good -- he made a few good plays. We bailed him out a few times with some interference calls. We just have to be smart on third down and get off the field.

Q. Coach Grobe just said in here that he told you guys after the game that he's not ever seen a team or coached a team that's played as hard as you guys did tonight. What's kind of the mood in the locker room, knowing it's the start of Big 12 play and there's a long way to go but that everybody contributed to this and to have Coach Grobe be so proud of you guys?
TRAVON BLANCHARD: First, that's an honor from Coach Grobe that he thinks of us as a team and we just have to keep getting better. We have a lot of places where we kind of start off slow. We didn't execute like we should have. So we just have to keep getting better week by week.

We have Iowa State next week, it's a quick turnaround, and then we have a bye week. So just have to win next week, then we have a week off, recover, get our bodies back right, and then get ready for the second part of our season.

Q. At the end of games, you've been tired before but what is it like right now? You were on the field for almost a hundred plays, a huge difference in time of possession. What are you feeling right now and have you ever felt as gassed as you might?
TRAVON BLANCHARD: 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, 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.

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