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BAYLOR UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 19, 2016

Travon Blanchard

Waco, Texas

Kansas State - 42, Baylor - 21

Q. Travon, you've seen this program at its highest and now, of course, this has been a difficult year. But that crowd, for the group of seniors that have accomplished as much as you have, did that affect you in any way when you walked out there and it was basically about a third of the stadium empty?
TRAVON BLANCHARD: 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.

Q. Kind of what's the mood of the team right now? Do you feel like you can still turn this thing around in the last couple games?
TRAVON BLANCHARD: 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.

Q. First half, you guys held up so well. What was the difference? Did they change up anything or was it just a matter of y'all not being able to get off the field on those two long drives?
TRAVON BLANCHARD: 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.

Q. You mentioned that you have a couple of games left, but you also mentioned the bowl game. Is this team going to have enough gas in the tank to get to that and do you want to play a bowl game, no matter what happens the next two weeks?
TRAVON BLANCHARD: 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.

Q. You mentioned, it sounds like you feel like the mistakes y'all made are lapses of execution. Do you feel like anybody on the team players, coaches, has checked out mentally, motivationally?
TRAVON BLANCHARD: 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.

Q. You had gotten it back to 28-21. How deflating -- I know you guys are taught no matter what the situation -- but how deflating was the kickoff return?
TRAVON BLANCHARD: It's very deflating. 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 flip. We have to get, we have to bow our necks and bend, but don't break.

Q. You've always had your own energy, you mentioned that and you've always played with passion and a smile on your face. This was supposed to be your last game at home and also leading to something bigger. What is it like for you right now?
TRAVON BLANCHARD: 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.

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