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BAYLOR UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 15, 2016

Jim Grobe

Waco, Texas

Kansas - 7, Baylor - 49

COACH GROBE: Well, I tell you, I'm really proud of our football team. I thought from what Kansas did to TCU last week, I felt like we had a real challenge on our hands, and I think our guys accepted the challenge.

I think we came out today and played really, really well. Started really fast on offense and defense. Went into a little bit of a lull offensively. We had three or four three-and-outs there after we got a lead. But our defense in the first half was just fantastic. I was so excited to see our defense flying around and playing better.

We needed to step up a little bit because we were disappointed in our performance at Iowa State, so I was really excited about the defense, especially the turnovers that we forced. I thought that was really, really good. And you know, it's a good feeling right now to have the first six under our belt. But we know that the lion's share of our schedule lies in front of us, and the toughest part is the second half.

So our guys realize that we're happy to be 6-0 right now, but we know positively that we're going to have to play great down the stretch.

Q. Did you see that coming from the defense? You mentioned to go back and work on fundamentals, that kind of thing. Did you see that coming?
COACH GROBE: I sensed last week that we will some lighter practices. We worked hard, but we really wanted to get our guys to get fresh, get their legs back under them. This past week on Tuesday and Wednesday we had two of our better days of practice. I always worry about an open date. When you give kids time off, a lot of times we give them that weekend off and they come back and they're kind of sluggish and they don't want to get back into the flow of practice. But I really thought Tuesday and Wednesday were good practice days for us, especially defensively. I thought maybe a couple of the best practice days we've had all year.

I think two things happened. I think the coaches did a nice job, but I think the players got the message at Iowa State that everybody's got a lot of talent and you have to be ready to go every week.

Q. Like you said, the tougher schedule lies in the next six games. But what about this team in the first six games makes you believe you all can keep this up in the second half?
COACH GROBE: Well, I think the thing that I've noticed about this football team is we really enjoy playing football, and our guys play with a lot of energy. Talent-wise everybody we play is going to have good talent down the stretch, but I think we've learned a lot of lessons. I think we've learned a lot of lessons about forcing turnovers defensively, taking care of the football on offense, and we're still learning lessons, unfortunately, the hard way sometimes in the kicking game.

But I do think this is a football team, if I look at the maturity of our football team from the start of the season to where we are right now, I think we're just playing it a little bit smarter football. The thing I liked the best about this team is they just like playing together. We've got a really good energy right now. We know all the teams left on our schedule are going to be very talented and really, really present major challenges to us.

But I think our guys are going to play really, really hard, and that's what makes me feel best about this football team. This football team plays about as hard as anything I've ever been a part of.

Q. You've got the lion share of the schedule that you mentioned. Your young defensive line that came to play today was very disruptive. Are you seeing a maturation in them, and do you think they're up for the challenge knowing there are a lot of good running backs in front of you?
COACH GROBE: Yeah, I think so. I don't know that we're up to the challenge, but I think our guys are ready for the challenge. I think we're improving every week up front. I wish we hadn't lost Bravvion at Iowa State. I thought he was a young guy that was going to play a lot of football for us, and hopefully we'll have him back this week.

But we got another freshman in this week. Michael Johnson got to play some, and I really liked two or three of the young guys I thought Xavier played good coming off the edge. Guys that I think Ty Hunt did some good things down inside when we put him in for Ira today.

The key for us, I think, more than anything, up front, we do have some young guys. We have guys like K.J. Smith that are old guys that are really playing soiled. But I think one of the keys for us is we've got more than one deep. We're not experienced more than one deep, but we've got a lot of depth as far as getting guys in the game and keeping people fresh. So if the young guys keep playing good, then I think that is going to be good for us down the road.

Q. (Inaudible) Career leader in rushing touchdowns. What does mean to this offense of this team?
COACH GROBE: I think the thing we found, and I have to give Kansas some credit, I thought they did a nice job in stopping the run. We had such a great game against Iowa State so you would expect that the Jayhawks would come in and Dave and his staff would do a good job working against the run. I thought shock had some really good runs today, some tough runs. It wasn't easy. A lot of them were uphill.

But I thought today he played probably as hard as anybody. Every yard he got today was well-earned. It's just nice to see him really start coming into his own. He's practicing really hard right now. He's one of our guys that the past couple of weeks, two or three weeks since the Oklahoma State game looks like he's having more fun than anybody out there practicing right now. And I think it shows on Saturday. It shows how much he's enjoying taking the field and playing football right now. He's enjoying that last year.

Q. You mentioned kicking game. As you get into games that might be closer, how much of a concern is that? Is there an open competition for that starting kicking spot?
COACH GROBE: Well, we really hurt Drew today. I feel bad for him. He punts for us, kicks off for us, and he's our long distance field goal kicker and we actually told him to kick a field goal with two seconds on the clock. And he went out there and didn't make it. But that's what we want at every position we've got. We want competition at every position.

And for the kicking spot, Chris Callahan knows he's got to make field goals. Those are makeable field goals. There is a lot of involved, snap, hold, it's not easy. Anybody that's ever played golf and try to make a two or three foot putt when it really counts knows how hard it is to kick field goals. So I tell our team all the time, hardest job on our team is kicking field goals. So our guys understand that.

But going forward, Drew does a lot for us. Honestly, we worry about him kicking off and punting and kicking field goals. We'd like for Chris or Connor to end up being the field goal guy. But going forward, we need guys to make it. So I don't think we were fair to Drew when we threw him out there as late as we did today. But going forward, we have to take a look at that.

Q. Ryan Reid, the play that he made there, third drive, you're only up 7-0, the play he made, how big was that? Was that a veteran guy or was that just the way y'all had it schemed?
COACH GROBE: Well, I think the defensive coaches would say it was the scheme. But I think one thing we did as a coaching staff this week that I was really impressed with and that Phil and the guys did, I think they really had the guys tuned into what they like to do out of certain sets. Ryan would probably be better to ask that question too. But I think it's probably a little bit of both.

I think because of the coverages we had in this week and the set recognition probably gave him a little extra jump on the ball, but it was a huge play for us. Of course anytime you score defensively, it's huge. And I thought Ryan just made a great play.

Q. This being your first year at Baylor, new environment, new surroundings, how much fun is it for you as a coach to keep winning, and go undefeated and become bowl eligible?
COACH GROBE: What's really fun for me as a coach right now is I've gotten to know our players. When I was first here I didn't know many of the guys, and that was hard. About the time I started learning the faces, we put numbers on these guys. And I had to start learning numbers. I'm just to the point now about halfway through the season where I've really got a kind of feel for our guys and what their abilities are and what their energy level is.

It's just been a total blessing for me to have the opportunity to work with these guys. I keep talking about these guys over and over and over. But you asked a question, I don't know if I've had any teams -- we've had some great energy teams at Air Force and Wake Forest and some of the places I've been. But I don't know that I've had a team that's had anymore energy than these guys and guys that care more. We've just got a good group of guys.

So for me, it's been fun to win the first six games, but more important than that, it's been fun to watch our kids win the first six games.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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