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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 Harsin.

COACH HARSIN: All right. Well, first of all, congratulations to Baylor. They played extremely well. That was a good football team. We knew that coming in. And we didn't really even talk about their record because we knew what type of football team they had.

Disappointed, obviously. Wanted to come in here and play better. And certainly thought that we prepared to do that and it didn't show tonight. I did think that our guys played hard; we just didn't come out with some of the things we needed to execution-wise when it was all said and done. That responsibility falls on me making sure that these guys are prepared.

But still very proud of this team and told those guys that in the locker room. Proud of the senior group. We've had a tremendous group of young men that are seniors right now that we're going to miss.

And you started looking around that room, there's some hard guys to replace. At the same time, we've got a team coming back that we've got to learn from this moving forward, and find a way to be better in the end when it's all said and done.

But proud of our coaches and players. Disappointed that we didn't get the win tonight. But certainly did see our guys go out there and fight. Just came up short there at the end. So, with that, open it up for questions.

Q. The red zone struggles again, second game in a row, four trips inside the red zone you get six points. How tough was that?
COACH HARSIN: You saw it. Your question answers itself. It's really tough. When you're playing a team, doesn't matter who you're playing, you're trying to score points when you get in the red zone. We didn't do that. The field goals, they're only going to last so long.

You've got to find ways to get six points on the board, and we didn't do that tonight.

Q. Surprised at all, I think a lot of people maybe not you guys, but a lot of people expected Baylor to come out slow and uninspired. It seemed like they looked motivated. Maybe you came out slow. The start of the game, were you surprised at all about how that went?
COACH HARSIN: Was I surprised that Baylor played hard and do they have good players? No, not at all. I thought we started fast. We had a turnover early on in the game.

And that's a fast start for us, too. So I thought both sides came out ready to play. But no, we didn't think that Baylor was not going to come out there and show up. We thought we'd come out and play as well, which we did early on.

Q. Tough sledding on the ground for Jeremy. I think 46 yards, 19 carries. What were they doing, I guess, for him not to have much success?
COACH HARSIN: I don't think it was him. They did a good job up front. They moved their "D" line and they got on some edges. But I thought he ran hard. We just got behind. We had to get into position, too, where we had to throw it a little bit more.

We were not able to run it as much as we would like to. But I thought when he did run it -- early on they did a good job. I thought we settled in, found a few concepts that were working well for us and he was running physical.

And then we needed to throw the ball a little bit to get ourselves back into field position and try to get some touchdowns. But they did a good job with their safeties at times where we couldn't get to them and some of the wide receivers. But I thought he ran really hard and did a good job tonight in pass protection as well.

Q. Have you all played against a faster receiver than KD Cannon? And how difficult was it to contain him?
COACH HARSIN: Well, yeah, he's one of the most elite wide receivers in the country. He's one of those top players. We've seen some really good ones.

And I thought our guys did a good job. He's going to make plays. You can't double cover him the entire time.

There are other guys on the team that can go out there and play, but he's certainly a great player and a guy that you gotta make sure that you know where he's at all the time. And he made some plays tonight and made great catches.

But we've anticipated it and we've seen some great players too on the perimeter. I thought our guys battled well against him and knew what they were getting into.

Q. How costly were the two interceptions from Brett? You were driving both times?
COACH HARSIN: We talk about turnovers all the time, right? Whether it's a fumble or in special teams or an interception, either way they're all costly. And we had some opportunities there. And they also made plays, too.

Without going back and just watching exactly what happened, Baylor also went up and made some plays. They did a good job on the defensive side, which they've got good players. But it certainly slows you when you have those turnovers and you're taking points off the board, regardless.

And your defense has got to go back out in the field.

Q. Do you feel like the game kind of turned a little bit on the roughing-the-punter call that may or may not have happened? It seemed like after that they got some momentum back.
COACH HARSIN: That was a big penalty. I'm not going to comment on the call itself. But it was a momentum-changer, yes. I thought our defense did a good job. We got a stop in there.

And then we had an opportunity to get the ball back, probably with fairly decent field position as well. And that penalty came up and it gives them a first down.

So anytime -- that's a possession taken away from you when you do that. And the defense had played well in that drive. So that opportunity did hurt us.

Q. Do you think the defense played well enough to win this game? And comment on that effort and how the offense had to play based on how many points you had to score?
COACH HARSIN: Yeah, you know, overall no because we didn't win the game. I wouldn't say anybody on our team -- special teams, offense or defense -- because we didn't win the football game.

Certainly the offense did not put up the points that we hoped they would. And this is an entire team. If we start breaking it down by phase and somebody did this, somebody did that, that's not what we're about.

So we should have put up more points. We wanted to put up more points. We had some opportunities there. Was hoping in the special teams area we could get some more field position.

I thought we had some good opportunities there with returns. We slipped on a few. But overall this is a team game. So we didn't win the game. That happens to fall on the team. Happens to fall on me, and you gotta give Baylor credit, too, they came out and played well.

Q. You look at the guy on your left and on your right. What will you remember most about this senior class?
COACH HARSIN: Yeah. Well, I said it. There's a lot and too much for me to talk about right now.

It's a fantastic group. It really is. And these guys, they came here to play in games like this. They came here to play under the expectations that we have. And these guys have left a legacy not just on the football field but with this team, with these young players, with this coaching staff, with this program.

This has been a group of guys now that -- I've been doing this for a while and this senior class is really special. And so when I said that, you look around there, and yes, every year you're going to lose a group of seniors.

This one's going to be a tough one not only because of what they did on the field, but because of who they are and what they've brought. And we had adversity this season. We've had some things happen to us that have not been favorable. And these guys never once flinched or folded. And they would come back and try to lead this football team just like we did after the Air Force game into this one.

And that's what these guys have brought to this program is that. And they'll continue that. When they go on and play or they go on and do whatever they do, this is the mentality that this group of seniors have.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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MOTEL 6 CACTUS BOWL: BAYLOR VS BOISE STATE

December 27, 2016

Bryan Harsin

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