BIG 12 CONFERENCE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: BAYLOR VS OKLAHOMA STATE

December 4, 2021

Jairon McVea

AT&T Stadium

Baylor Bears

Postgame Press Conference

Baylor 21, Oklahoma State 16

Q. Jairon, can you just tell us what you saw on that last play and what you thought you had to do to stop him?

JAIRON McVEA: Yeah, as far as what I saw, I saw the running back with the ball, and what I thought, I just said, I've got to run this guy down. Tried my best to do that, and it worked out, so it was good.

Q. Jairon, when you brought him down, did you know where the ball was and if he was stopped short?

JAIRON McVEA: No, not really, but I saw the ref signal not a touchdown. When I seen that, I was pretty happy, yeah.

Q. Jairon, how satisfying, gratifying is this, especially just considering your own personal journey at Baylor?

JAIRON McVEA: Yeah, it's amazing. It's an amazing way to finish my senior year, my sixth year here at Baylor. It's a fairy-tale ending and you couldn't have wrote it any better than this. It's amazing.

Q. I saw some people mentioned your recruiting after the game, that you weren't exactly highly recruited. What was your recruiting process like coming here, and what's it now mean that you're ending your career with maybe the biggest play in Baylor history alongside RG3 to Terrance Williams?

JAIRON McVEA: Yeah, it was a couple emails. It wasn't an extensive recruiting process at all. A couple emails and then I kind of showed up on report day and got to work. No official visit, none of that stuff, but it's been amazing. It's been amazing here at Baylor.

Q. Speaking of that, we were all trying to figure out when you were put on scholarship. When exactly? Was that Coach Rhule?

JAIRON McVEA: Yeah, Coach Rhule 2019.

Q. Spring of 2019?

JAIRON McVEA: Yes.

Q. That journey, did you see this coming maybe even last year when y'all were 2-7, did you see something like this, winning 11, winning a Big 12 title?

JAIRON McVEA: Yeah, I for sure saw this. The work ethic that everyone has on the team, the work they've put in, the extra work, you can see that -- this is just something for y'all to see, but I could see that we were a championship team way before we actually won the championship. It's amazing for everyone else to see it.

Q. You were making plays all throughout the game, so it wasn't just the last play, but when it came down to that last play, were you glad that it was you who was going to have to make it?

JAIRON McVEA: Yeah, everyone dreams of that, game on the line, it's them to make the play. Yeah, for sure it was nice for it to fall on me, and it was nice that I could make a play for my teammates and coaches.

Q. Jairon, your grandfather couldn't make the game; I know he wanted to be here. What message do you have for him?

JAIRON McVEA: I love you, Pawpaw. That's all.

Q. Did you know he couldn't make it here?

JAIRON McVEA: Yeah, I knew he couldn't make it here, but he was watching on TV, so he talked to me about that. It wasn't a surprise to me, but I just love him and thank him for supporting me.

Q. I asked Dave about this, about the other goal-line stops that you guys made, holding them to six points. Talk about the value of what that meant in the process of this game obviously since it came down to your play.

JAIRON McVEA: Yeah, we preach stopping teams on the goal line and making them kick field goals. Anytime we can hold someone to a field goal down in the red zone, we take that as a win on the defense. It's a huge game plan thing for us, and we went out and executed it.

Q. Last year of course your season ends against Oklahoma State in a game that's very different from this one. This year and especially heading forward with Oklahoma State, probably going to be one of your top rivals in this new Big 12. What does it mean for Baylor to capture this Big 12 Championship in the way that it did?

JAIRON McVEA: Yeah, it means everything. We've worked all year for this, so to see my teammates and coaches with the joy that they had in the locker room means a lot, and we'll see where it goes from here.

Q. Jairon, several of us actually wanted to vote for you for most outstanding player and you weren't in the online portal. Does that maybe speak to, again, the journey that you've made from obscurity?

JAIRON McVEA: Yeah, for sure it speaks to that, but all my teammates know the work that I've put in, so that's all that really matters to me is what they think of me, so that's it.

Q. Have you had the chance to think about what that play means for not only Baylor's season but college football as a whole? Has that hit you at all yet?

JAIRON McVEA: No, not at all. What does it mean?

Q. Oklahoma State is not going to make the playoff, Baylor could make the playoff. Like this is going to go down in history.

JAIRON McVEA: When you put it that way, no. We'll just have to see what happens. I haven't thought about the big picture yet, though.

Q. You're a geology major in grad school now?

JAIRON McVEA: Yes, sir.

Q. What do you hope to do with that?

JAIRON McVEA: Hopefully work something science related after football. I have an amazing advisor, Dr. Joe Yelderman. Shout out, Dr. Joe. He takes care of me and he helps me through all that. It's an amazing journey.

Q. Would you like to continue to play football or are you going to go into that?

JAIRON McVEA: Yeah, for sure I want to continue to play football, but when it ends I'll have a backup plan, so yeah.