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MOTEL 6 CACTUS BOWL: BAYLOR VS BOISE STATE

December 27, 2016

Phoenix, Arizona

Baylor - 31, Boise State - 12

THE MODERATOR: We'll begin with opening comments from Coach Grobe.

COACH GROBE: Well, that was fun. Fun for me, especially, because of the players. I love these guys. You know, everybody talks to me all the time about how tough this must have been.

But honestly, it's been an honor for me to have the opportunity to be with these young guys. Some of the best kids I've ever been around.

I'm proud of our coaching staff. We hit a couple of bumps in the road midway through the season, and we kind of regrouped and took us a couple of weeks and finally got the players regrouped a little bit. And I thought down the stretch, especially at West Virginia, I thought we played really well and had a chance and didn't make it happen.

So tonight's very rewarding for me to get a win, to watch our kids play as hard as they did tonight, to get out there and have fun playing football and get a win.

And so for me I'm very gratified that we won tonight. But mostly because of our players and our coaches. They've put in a lot of hard work. And I'm just blessed and honored to have a chance to be here this season with these coaches and players.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. Jim, that was probably the most dominating performance of the year, considering the opponent. Did you see that coming from both sides of the ball?
COACH GROBE: Honestly, no. I'd like to say yes and it would make me seem really smart. But I didn't see that coming. I know Boise State had a great year. Could easily have been undefeated, and they have great tradition.

And we knew we had our work cut out for us. They did a lot of things on both sides of the ball that gave us problems coming in. First, I'd like to congratulate them for being here, and I thought their kids played really, really hard tonight. I thought they were well coached and played hard.

But from my standpoint, you know, I was really going into the game hoping to be there in the fourth quarter with a chance. And we got a lot of big plays on both sides of the football and just probably played as hard as we've played this year.

And the one thing that was really fun for me tonight is our kids enjoyed it. You know, a lot of smiles on the sideline. A lot of kids playing hard and enjoying being out on the field. Our guys looked like kids out there playing, and that was fun.

Q. What does this mean especially for the senior class, because they have accomplished a lot in their four years, winning two Big 12 Championships and going through and overcoming the last 12 months? What is this like for the senior class here?
COACH GROBE: Well, it's got to be very, very rewarding for our guys. You know, I think it was maybe, the things that we've gone through this season have maybe been the hardest on the seniors. I think it's been hard on our entire football team to stay focused.

But it's really been hard on seniors going into their final year. And so much was directed off the field, you know, directed to outside stuff that had nothing to do with football.

And so for our seniors to hang in there the way they have, show the leadership they've shown, and to actually finish it off, you know, to play great in their last game, I think, you know, it just tells you what kind of character our kids have. And I think those seniors gave us some great leadership, especially these last few weeks getting ready for a bowl game.

We wanted to be here. We wanted to be here. Our guys wanted to play again. And I think that came more than anything from our senior class.

Q. Do you think there was carry over from West Virginia because of how you played despite the loss? And when you keep saying how much fun they had, when was the last time they did that?
COACH GROBE: Well, I think there was so much pressure on our guys and so many things going on in the middle of the year that there was a lot of stress, both with our coaching staff and with our players.

As the season went on, I think that went down a little bit. I think our coaches finally calmed down. I think the players kind of settled down. And we kept working really, really hard, but I just didn't sense a lot of joy.

And when we went to West Virginia, I felt like we wanted to play well when we were up in Arlington, but we turned the ball over a bunch and just didn't play our best football.

And then at West Virginia I sensed something different. It seemed like, hey, let's go have fun, let's go play football, let's go beat a really good football team. We came close.

And tonight it was just an extension of that. Really as I watched our players, I thought these guys are having a ball. These guys are really enjoying playing tonight.

Q. Aiavion, how key was that to stop the running game like you did, and then creating the turnovers, particularly down in the red zone?
AIAVION EDWARDS: It was huge for us. This whole week preparing, we've been preparing for the run game. They've done a great job this season. Their running back has done an amazing job. He's one of the best.

And we knew we had to stop that, and once we did that, I think that it made our game plan and made their game plan a lot simpler.

Q. Zach, you went to KD all night and he really burned them. Was it something about their defense, or what was happening out there that you kept going back to him?
ZACH SMITH: Yeah, I mean, they were just kind of giving us some one-on-one coverage, and with KD and with him on anyone one-on-one we think it's a win for us.

So I just tried to -- I go to him on some plays and he gets the job done. He's a big play-maker, so I go to him and he usually gets the job done.

Q. Zach, how much have you grown up, and where are you now compared to that moment when all of a sudden Seth Russell was injured against Oklahoma?
ZACH SMITH: I'm the same guy, but I feel like I have a lot more underneath my belt and a lot more confident in my game and going out there and going and getting the win.

This is a huge win for this program, I mean this team, the seniors, and it's going to translate over to next year. So it's a great time and I feel a whole lot more confident.

Q. Zach, building off of that, that was arguably your best performance as a starter. How important in the last game of the season, with what you've said, with next year coming soon, to put the right foot forward now?
ZACH SMITH: Yeah, I mean, I think it's huge. To go out and lose the last six games and then come in and win this game -- I'm sorry about that -- but win this game, I think it's huge going into next year, because I mean we're going to have a lot of confidence knowing what we can do, and we just showed a little bit of what we can do tonight. So that's huge going into next year, and we're going to build on it.

Q. Jim, you've said all along it's not about you, but how good did this feel? And then was that kind of a special moment when the players dumped the Gatorade on you?
COACH GROBE: Yeah, you know, I don't want to downplay how excited I am and happy that we won the last game. I mean, it's going to be a big win that stays with me for a long, long time. I'm truly blessed to get a win tonight.

I appreciate the guys giving me that. I'm just -- I told the team in the locker room after the game, what an honor it's been for them to let me in their family. And I'm sure when I first got here, you know, they were scratching their heads about this Grobe guy.

But tonight, you know, when they throw a bucket of Gatorade on you it makes you feel pretty good. So it's just an honor. And we've been through a lot this season, and I see Mack Rhoades sitting back there, and I've got to thank Mack for the support he's given me and our staff.

And Dr. Garland, I have to thank him. I think he has been a really steady influence. And so for me, personally, we've had a lot of help. We've had a lot of help. I've had a lot of help. And, but it was kind of fun getting dunked.

Q. Jim, there's been so much said, written about this Baylor football program. You've been in the middle of it now for the last six months. What will you say about this program with what you saw these players and coaches overcome?
COACH GROBE: Well, we've got, first of all, we've got a great school. Baylor is a fantastic school. We've got great people at Baylor. And the fun thing, I think, going forward, you know Zach kind of alluded to it, right now as far as graduation, we lose one guy on offense. We lose Kyle Fuller, the center, on offense.

Defensively I think we maybe lose three seniors on the defensive side of the ball. So a lot of these guys have an opportunity to come back, and I don't think Mack could have hired a better guy than Matt Rhule. I think Matt Rhule's going to a great job here. He's going to do great things.

And we've got depth issues. That's going to be a problem going forward. But I do think that we've got a great nucleus coming back next year for Matt to work with. And we'll lose some old guys like this guy on my right that will be missed.

But it's just been, for me, I just can't begin to tell you what an honor it's been to be at Baylor. Baylor Nation is fantastic and I couldn't be more proud.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297

MOTEL 6 CACTUS BOWL: BAYLOR VS BOISE STATE

December 27, 2016

Aiavion Edwards

Jim Grobe

Zach Smith