STANFORD UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 26, 2024

Teva Tafiti

Postgame Media Conference

Wake Forest 27, Stanford 24

Q. Just walk us through that touchdown that you scored. What did you see on that play?

TEVA TAFITI: I just got the call in and I knew he was going to rush off the edge. During the off-season I was trying to really practice my edge rushing and it finally paid off. I give credit to Coach April giving me the play, the free rush, and giving credit to the interior D-line creating the pressure inside and him rolling out.

Q. The defense only allowed three points the entire second half, including a big goal line stand. What was the message in the locker room that allowed you to play that way?

TEVA TAFITI: You know, we just got to execute our jobs. That was Coach April's big thing. Got to come better in the first half and just execute harder and just don't -- yeah.

Q. I asked Coach Taylor the same question. You guys back to back weeks have gotten down early in the first quarter. Just what needs to change for guys to not dig yourself in such early holes defensively?

TEVA TAFITI: We just got to start faster. We got to execute, trust the plan, and that's it.

Q. How would you characterize the mindset of the team right now after a loss like this?

TEVA TAFITI: We're almost there. I feel like people can feel it and we just got to come next week and ball out.

Q. Just talk about what was it like facing the slow mesh offense? Thoughts on facing that and what did you guys do well to prepare for that?

TEVA TAFITI: I feel, yeah Coach April talked about it all week. We just stayed in our gaps and don't peek inside, making him bounce around. I feel like we did a pretty good job with that.