BIG 12 CONFERENCE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: BAYLOR VS OKLAHOMA STATE

December 4, 2021

Malcolm Rodriguez

AT&T Stadium

Oklahoma State Cowboys

Postgame Press Conference

Baylor 21, Oklahoma State 16

Q. Hi, Malcolm. After halftime with you being a super senior what was kind of your message to the teammates to get you all to lock in in the second half like you did.

MALCOLM RODRIGUEZ: Get a shut-out. We came out the half and said, hey, no more scoring, and the guys did that. We just kept fighting, and just kind of how it goes. Sucks it goes this way.

Q. You've been an Oklahoma State guy for a long time. To see the stadium like it was today, to be in a classic of a game but to come up short, what's your emotion and thought right now about what y'all did today?

MALCOLM RODRIGUEZ: We put our all into it. It came down to the end, so I wouldn't want it any other way with any other teammates just to go out there and give it our all to the very last play. I couldn't thank the guys enough for an awesome year.

Q. Do you think this team will be back here in the next few years? Do you think the guys that are coming back are going to have a chance to build on this?

MALCOLM RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, we got a lot of guys, and they're going to come back next year, and Knowles is here. That would be awesome. Just learning the system, it's going to be great. Those guys are going to be fueled different, so I think they'll have a real good shot at being back here next year.

Q. You guys have been successful defending short fields for a lot of the season. What made Blake Shapen and Baylor so difficult to stop in that first half?

MALCOLM RODRIGUEZ: They had a lot of eye candy. They kept using their tight ends, fake block, blocking a little bit and releasing out. They just took their shots, and some of those balls went their way, so just one of those things where we just keep throwing punches, and sometimes it goes our way, sometimes it doesn't.

Q. Obviously, you talked about the future of the guys, but for you individually, with everything that you knew that this game involved, how tough -- what was the emotion like for you knowing that this is basically one of your last ones?

MALCOLM RODRIGUEZ: I just wanted to hug the guys that this is my last year with. I hugged Brock. I hugged Devin. Guys like that. Just saying thank you for an awesome last ride. I just can't complain about that.

Q. Coach Knowles just told us the only thing he can do for his defensive players is to tell them he loves them. What does that mean to you guys and to you guys who hear that message?

MALCOLM RODRIGUEZ: It's just the type of bond we have. We've been here since he first got here, so for him just to say that is just a lot. I've always got his number, so it's not like it's going to be bad blood when I leave. It's one of those things where we'll stay in contact, and he has done a lot for me, and I appreciate them and the defensive staff.

Appreciate it.